The Holiday Home Page 0,92

firm?’ she asked.

‘You probably won’t have heard of it: Carew Family Board Games? To be honest, I barely scraped through my final exams. I fell in love with sailing while I was out there and instead of knuckling down to my studies I was off to Cape Cod at every opportunity, mucking about in boats.’

The taxi came to a halt. ‘This is me,’ she said, waiting for him to open the door for her. As she jumped out, she offered a pound note as her contribution to the fare. Henry refused it.

‘Absolutely not. My pleasure. Good night.’

*

A week or two later, Henry was walking along Oxford Street, heading towards Selfridges to buy his mother some perfume for her birthday, when he saw a bright-red PVC coat coming towards him. It was raining and the wearer had her head hidden by a smart umbrella. He looked at the feet and saw black wet-look boots. As they drew closer, he called, ‘Susan?’

The brolly shifted and Susan’s face was revealed.

‘Hello.’ He smiled, offering his hand.

She accepted his invitation to coffee in Selfridges café and later helped him choose his mother’s perfume. ‘Would you care to have dinner with me one night?’ he asked, holding the heavy shop door open for her.

‘I’d love to. Tomorrow is my night off. Is that too soon?’

‘Not at all,’ he beamed. They arranged to meet at an Italian restaurant on Kensington High Street.

It wasn’t long before she had moved into his rented cottage in Battersea. Henry was head over heels in love. Susan was beautiful; he never tired of looking at her. He loved to take her shopping and would buy her any outfit she wanted. When they walked down the King’s Road together, arm in arm, Henry was on cloud nine. He saw the way other men looked at her and found it hard to believe that he had found someone like her, who actually wanted him too.

The sixties may have been drawing to a close, but London was still swinging, and Henry and Susan made the most of what it had to offer. They would hit the town with James, often with a pretty girlfriend in tow, and life became one long round of parties and cocktails.

But their lifestyle took its toll on Henry’s bank balance. Eventually there was nothing for it but to bite the bullet and ask his father for more money.

‘If you are to take over the running of the family firm, then you need to exercise some restraint, Henry. Learn to economise and cut your coat according to your cloth!’ said his father sternly.

‘Does that mean you’re not going to give me a loan?’ Henry was furious. The company was doing well and he knew his father could afford it.

‘Correct.’

‘Fine. In that case, you can find someone else to take over the family firm. I only came back here for your sake – I should have stayed in New England and pursued my own dreams. In fact, I think that’s exactly what I will do. I still have friends in Cape Cod; I’ll have no problem getting a job there. To hell with you and your board games!’ Henry raged.

‘Henry, don’t be so childish!’

But it was too late. To his father’s dismay, Henry accepted an offer to skipper a yacht from Boston down to the Carolinas for the summer.

And his father wasn’t the only one who was less than happy about the arrangement. Susan was horrified when Henry told her what he’d done.

‘What about me?’ she wailed.

‘You can come with me, darling.’

‘And leave the Playboy Club? And what about my modelling?’

He put his arms round her waist and drew her to him. Closing his eyes, he buried his face in the scent of her hair and murmured, ‘I can’t live without you.’

She pulled away from him. ‘Then don’t go.’

‘But it’s all arranged. Wait till you get there – you’ll love it. And we can get you a job over there.’

‘Doing what?’

‘We’ll need a ship’s cook.’

‘I’m a dancer and a model and I have a good job at the Playboy Club. If you think I am going to spend the next six months scraping a living as a cook, cooped up in a tiny cabin, you are very much mistaken.’

Before Henry knew what was happening, the row had escalated, culminating in Susan walking out.

When she came back, two days later, she found Henry hung over and unshaven with red-rimmed eyes. He was pathetically pleased to see her.

However, when he tried to kiss her,