Free Summer of Secrets by Rosie Rushton Page B

muttered.
    Izzy jumped up and grabbed Jamie’s arm.
    ‘Come on – let’s go into Brighton and celebrate! Ice creams on the pier and then I’ve got some serious holiday shopping to attend to!’
    ‘Me too,’ Caitlin added quickly. ‘I’ll just go and get my purse.’
    ‘Can I take your car, Mum?’ Jamie asked. ‘If all three of us are going . . .’
    ‘I suppose,’ his mother said, tossing him the car keys.
    ‘Do you have to tag along?’ Izzy hissed at Caitlin, as Jamie went to fetch the car. ‘I wanted Jamie to myself and––’
    ‘Hey, hang on!’ Caitlin argued. ‘I’ll have you know that you wouldn’t be going if it wasn’t for me – Jamie got me to set it up with Summer. And
don’t let my parents know, but he’s intending to take you off somewhere else most of the time. Summer’s just the alibi.’
    Izzy flung her arms round her friend’s neck and hugged her.
    ‘So you were right – he really does love me! Oh, I’m so happy!’
    ‘Won’t you . . . well, be worried about what’s going on at home?’ Caitlin asked. ‘You know, with your dad and . . .’
    ‘Oh for pity’s sake, don’t keep going on about it!’ Izzy snapped. ‘My father can wriggle out of anything, trust me. Of all the people in the universe you need to
worry about, he’s not one of them.’
    ‘So come on, Izzy, tell me about Summer’s mother!’ Caitlin insisted, after Jamie had escaped to buy a car magazine and they were slumped outside Café
Nero with cappucinos and chocolate brownies, waiting for Summer to arrive. ‘You’ve been hinting at stuff for ages. What’s with all the secrecy?’
    ‘Well, I don’t know all the details but my dad used to play golf with a guy who worked with Summer’s dad, right? Apparently, she was out walking in the middle of a thunderstorm
and she fell, hit her head and that was it.’
    ‘How awful!’
    ‘And,’ Izzy went on, dipping her tongue into the froth on her coffee, ‘she lay there for two days before anyone found the body. What do you make of that?’
    ‘My God!’ Caitlin gasped.
    ‘Of course, Summer said it was a tragic accident, but she would, wouldn’t she? I mean, would you want the world to know that your mother drank herself into an early grave?’
    ‘You never said – you mean, she was an alcoholic?’
    ‘I guess. I mean, I don’t actually know for sure,’ Izzy confessed, ‘but this guy told Dad that she used to party like mad and get really off her face.’
    ‘Poor Summer,’ sighed Caitlin. ‘That must be why she hates parties – you know, bad memories and all that.’
    ‘I never thought of that,’ Izzy remarked pensively. ‘You’re quite clued up sometimes, aren’t you?’
    Caitlin suddenly remembered that Summer had asked for a white wine at Mango Monkey’s and mentioned all the drinks she enjoyed in Italy. Could that mean, just possibly, that poor Summer had
inherited her mother’s genetic profile? Maybe she was heading the same way. Maybe that’s why she was a loner – all the magazines said that people with issues often hid themselves
away for ages at a time to try to disguise their problems . . .
    ‘I’ll have a chat with her when we’re on holiday,’ Caitlin said. ‘Find out . . .’
    ‘Not if you value your life, you won’t!’ Izzy exclaimed. ‘I told you – it’s a total no-go area with her. You’re much better to keep quiet about
it.’
    ‘She’ll tell me things,’ Caitlin assured her. ‘We’re on the same wavelength.’
    ‘Really?’ Izzy’s tone changed. ‘That’s not something I’d be bragging about.’
    Caitlin was unloading her shopping on to her bed when her mobile rang. Private call .
    She frowned, flipping open the lid. All her mates were programmed in with their names.
    ‘Hello?’
    ‘Pretty cool picture in the paper, wasn’t it?’ Her heart sank. It was Tom.
    ‘Not from where I’m standing,’ she replied. ‘My parents went ballistic.’
    ‘Well, I think you looked really sexy,’