His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,47

line farther and into waters a whole lot deeper. Trees covering the lane made the windscreen reflective, Rob’s flinch visible when Jude said, “He has to miss you.”

“Well,” Rob finally said a long, slow minute later. “Like I said….”

“It’s complicated?”

“Yeah. That.” Rob’s gaze remained fixed on the screen of his phone for a few seconds before his face reanimated, segueing into a different subject as if his life depended on it. “You know what else was great about that village?” He raced on with his new topic just as smoothly as the car managed the incline inland, almost at the coast road junction already. “I’ll have to tell you myself because you probably didn’t even notice, but have a guess first.” He brandished his phone like it was some kind of clue to a puzzle Jude had no interest in solving. “Go on. Guess!”

“I don’t know. The way they’ve spread markets all through the year instead of just holding them in the summer?” Locals coming to Porthperrin in the same way year-round would breathe new life into the village. “The different festivals sound great too.” Art, music, and a book festival had been detailed on the leaflets on their table, and would likely attract more tourists.

“Nope.” Rob waggled his phone again as they crested the hill, text and app notifications chiming one after another as his phone found a signal. He raised his eyebrows as if Jude should make something of those sounds. “Oh my god. You really didn’t pay any attention, did you?”

It would only swell Rob’s head to tell him he’d been the focus of most of his attention. Jude chose to ignore the question rather than give him any more ammunition.

Rob responded as if he’d said no. “Okay, okay. I’ll give you one more clue. Think about while we were eating. What did you notice about everyone sitting around us?”

That they’d all been happy? Chatty? There had certainly been lots of laughter. Jude pulled at the seatbelt crossing his chest as if it had tightened. “There were a lot of families.”

“You are as thick as mince, aren’t you?” Rob said in wonder. “It’s a good thing you’re so pretty.” He held up his phone one more time. “Did you happen to notice if anyone was on their phone while we were there?”

Jude hadn’t noticed, but now that he thought about it, he couldn’t say that he had.

“It’s just like at home.” Rob pointed at a road sign for Porthperrin. “There’s virtually no signal.”

“And that’s a good thing?”

Rob didn’t answer.

Jude stopped at the coast road junction. “Which way, Rob?”

“Hang on.” Rob stared at his phone, reading a text message before saying, “Turn left.”

“Home? I thought you said we should stay out for the whole day? Give Lou some space.”

Rob held his phone towards him, Louise’s name at the top of the screen, her message only containing four words:

Come home right now.

Three dots appeared while he watched followed by another message.

We got an early booking.

The final text had Jude almost stalling Betsy’s engine.

It’s a food critic from London.

16

After reading that message, Jude drove back, very aware that Rob sat beside him in uncharacteristic silence. He finally spoke when the Porthperrin turnoff came into sight, his curt tone another signal that something was up.

“Pull over. There.”

“Why?” A food critic’s arrival meant they’d need to pull together, even if Lou had asked for some space. It was likely a good thing; a chance to show her that they could still work together. “Why don’t we go straight ho—” Jude cut off his question after he glanced Rob’s way, almost fooled for a moment that he sat next to a stranger. Jude stopped at the next lay-by. “What is it?”

“I need to make a quick call before the signal gets too patchy.” Rob selected a name from his contacts and held the phone to his ear, his body angled away and shoulders hunching. Someone answered. There was no salutation, no mention of a name to help Jude guess who Rob had called. All he said was, “Who did you send?” Then he straightened his shoulders. “Don’t pretend you don’t know why I’m calling. I know it must have been you.” He listened for a moment. “You’re telling me that a busy critic like Guy Parsons would come all the way from London for pub grub without you calling in a favour?”

Guy Parsons? When he wrote up a restaurant, the whole of London took notice, but that wasn’t the part of the conversation