The Secret Seaside Escape - Heidi Swain Page 0,127

remember,’ Sam explained, ‘and by the time I had worked out that he did, I knew I wasn’t going to be charged and that calling him out would have been too much for his poor parents to bear.’

‘So, you let everyone think it was you,’ Hope whispered, and Sam nodded.

I had heard the occasional muttering from various Wynmouth locals about things from that night not adding up and I was fairly certain that no one was entirely convinced that Sam had been responsible, but having no proof, and no denial from the man himself, they had let it lie. That said, I could now see Sam’s reaction to Joe’s return for what it really was and understand why, given his track record, people had assumed the farm sale was Joe’s doing. Hopefully now things were settled, and the friendship between Sam and Joe was re-formed, they would see that he wasn’t the same person he had been back then.

‘I didn’t have it confirmed that Sam knew the truth about that night, that he wasn’t the cause of the crash, until earlier today,’ Joe told us.

‘The farm sale wasn’t the only thing we talked about earlier,’ said Sam. ‘And when Joe said he had something to tell me about the crash, I shocked the hell out of him by telling him that I already knew.’

‘I can’t believe you’ve carried it all these years, Sam,’ Joe said huskily.

Sam shrugged.

‘I would never have told anyone,’ he said, ‘but I did always hope that you would come and talk to me about it, and today you have.’

In that moment, I fell even deeper in love. Not only was Sam the best kisser on the planet, he was also the most compassionate and generous person. He had been prepared to sacrifice his reputation to save a friend’s family from further hurt. There couldn’t be many people willing to go to such extraordinary lengths to deliver an act of such unprecedented and unselfish kindness.

‘I would have said sooner,’ Joe began.

‘But you wanted to get the farm situation sorted first,’ Sam finished for him and Joe nodded.

‘I can’t tell you what a relief it’s been to get it all off my chest,’ he sighed, drying his eyes and letting out the longest breath.

‘Oh,’ Sam smiled, ‘I’ve got a pretty good idea.’

Hope leant over and kissed his cheek.

‘And,’ he added, ‘I want to keep this between the four of us. There’s no need to rock the boat by announcing any of it to the great and good of Wynmouth. It won’t change anything. Some would argue that Joe should have spoken up at the time, but I understand why he didn’t. I’m just grateful that he has now and I want this to be the end of it.’

We clinked our bottles together to seal the deal and quietly finished our picnic. After all the weeks of wondering what was really going on between the two men, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted.

When I thought back to the day Joe told me about the crash, I was certain that he’d never said that Sam had been the one driving. At the time it didn’t register because given that it was Sam’s car, I thought it was obvious, but now I knew the truth. Joe hadn’t pointed the finger of blame at Sam because he wasn’t the one responsible.

‘What a day,’ I sighed, as I thought back over everything that had happened with Dad and Sophie too.

Hope smiled and nodded in agreement. The guys didn’t know the half of it. It was little wonder I felt so exhausted.

‘I don’t know about you lot,’ Hope yawned, ‘but I’m all in. I think I’m going to call it a night.’

She stood up, stretched out her back and then offered a hand to pull me to my feet. She was clearly intent on giving the guys some ‘alone time’ and I didn’t think that was a bad idea at all.

‘I’m with you on that one,’ I said, quickly kissing Sam before she pulled me up. ‘I’ll walk back with you, Hope.’

Once off the sand, we linked arms and when out of earshot began quietly discussing our day.

‘Sisters,’ said Hope, squeezing me into her side. ‘Can you believe it?’

‘I couldn’t to begin with,’ I admitted, ‘but I’m quickly getting used to the idea.’

‘Well, that’s because I’m so brilliant,’ giggled Hope, with a hip-swaying swagger. ‘Who wouldn’t want me as a cool younger sister?’

‘Exactly,’ I laughed. ‘Brilliant and modest. Two very admirable