The Secret Seaside Escape - Heidi Swain Page 0,107

that Sam and I had kissed at the party, so that was something to be thankful for.

‘Before we talk about that,’ I said, ‘can I ask what’s going on with you and Sam? I saw him the other day and he said you weren’t talking.’

‘Oh,’ she said, waving the question away and making her many silver and gold bangles jangle, ‘it’s nothing. Just a silly disagreement. I’d made up my mind to do something and he said I shouldn’t. It’s all forgotten now,’ she went on, ‘although of course, it’s meant that I haven’t had a chance to find out what’s going on with him and Joe, so I hope you’ve come up with something.’

I sucked at the paper straw in my lemonade and swirled the ice around.

‘Oh well done,’ she said, sounding excited, ‘you can’t have gone that colour for nothing. Spill the beans, Tess!’

At the point when Sophie had sat down and told me how brilliantly her business, and everyone else’s in Wynmouth, had been faring this summer, I had pretty much made up my mind to keep quiet about Joe’s impending deal. After all, it was nothing to do with me, but Sophie’s words had made me doubt my decision and as Joe clearly still had feelings for Hope and they were still friends, I reasoned that she was the one person I could tell.

‘I have found something out,’ I confessed. ‘Let’s go down to the beach and I’ll tell you.’

Hope had thought my cloak-and-dagger suggestion was excessive, but as I explained what I had seen and overheard, her steps faltered and her eyes grew wider and wider.

‘And you’re absolutely sure?’ she asked, as we sat on the sand out of earshot of the few visitors to the beach.

‘Yes,’ I nodded. ‘One hundred per cent.’

‘The paperwork was definitely current?’

‘Yes,’ I reiterated, ‘dated this summer, and there was no doubting the phone call. He was standing practically right next to me, so I didn’t mishear any of that.’

We looked behind us to where the land in question sat atop the cliffs, currently undisturbed. I tried to imagine how the view would change when it was covered in rows and rows of caravans and the local roads were choked with cars trying to get to them.

‘But this could ruin everything,’ said Hope, sounding tearful.

‘I know it’s not ideal,’ I said, trying to help her see it from Joe’s point of view, ‘but having listened to Joe talk about falling yields and failing crops, especially after that storm, I can understand why he’s doing it.’

Sophie looked at me as if I’d gone mad and I began to think I’d made a mistake in telling her.

‘And at least now we know his secret has nothing to do with the crash,’ I pointed out, trying to paint a silver lining. ‘Getting him and Sam back on proper speaking terms might be easier to achieve than we first thought.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding?’ Hope laughed. ‘Can you not imagine how Sam’s going to react when I tell him about this?’

‘Do you have to tell him?’ I asked. I could feel my face beginning to burn in spite of the fact that the sun was still hidden. ‘I only told you because—’

‘Of course, I have to tell him,’ she interrupted. ‘I do understand why you are sympathetic to Joe’s cause, Tess, because he’s talked to me about how difficult it all is, so to a certain extent I get it too, but the implications of what he’s proposing are going to be felt a whole lot further than the Upton farm boundary.’

‘Why don’t you talk to Joe before you tell Sam?’ I suggested.

‘What and drop you in it?’ She frowned. ‘If I talk to him, then he’ll know you were snooping.’

‘I wasn’t exactly snooping,’ I reminded her. ‘It was all right there.’

‘Even so.’

‘All right,’ I said, changing track. ‘How about I talk to him? I’ll explain about Bruce knocking off the papers and how I heard his side of the phone call and maybe he’ll tell me the rest.’

Hope didn’t look convinced.

‘It might not be as bad as we think it is,’ I pleaded.

Having seen the marked-out boundaries on the map, I knew that it was, but I had to try and do something to stop the flood I had just unleashed. Even if I could plug the dam long enough to give Joe a heads up, that would be something.

‘Please,’ I said, ‘before you tell Sam, or anyone else, let me talk to