Free One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon Page A

dazed stares.
    ‘I love him.’ It comes out of my mouth automatically, before I’m sure if it’s a good idea or not.
    ‘Do you really?’ she asks with widened eyes.
    I nod.
    ‘I can’t say I’m that amazed, actually,’ she goes on. ‘The way you were looking at him last night . . .’
    ‘He loves me too.’ I try not to sound defensive.
    ‘Has he told you that?’
    ‘He said it first.’
    ‘Oh,’ she replies. ‘Wow.’
    I don’t want to let her surprise bother me, but I can’t help it.
    ‘Where did you go last night?’ she asks. She appeared to be asleep when I finally got to bed.
    ‘We went for a walk. Could you hear us?’
    ‘Not what you were saying.’ Aah. So she was awake, then. The walk was a good move.
    I remember with a sudden shiver how heated things got last night.
    ‘You’ve gone red!’ she exclaims. ‘Did you . . .’
    ‘No!’ I respond hotly. ‘I told you, we haven’t done anything like that!’
    She falls silent, and it’s not a pleasant silence. But I don’t want to talk about last night to her. It felt special. Just between Joe and me.
    And Dyson. Ahem.
    Feeling awkward, I slice one of my scones in half and proceed to carefully smear it with strawberry jam and clotted cream. She does the same. After that, we manage to strike up a conversation that doesn’t involve Joe.
    ‘So what are we going to do tonight?’ Lizzy asks in the car on the way back to the cottage. ‘Do you want to try going back to the pub?’
    ‘Would you do that for me?’ I ask with amazement.
    ‘Of course I would. You and me, we can take on that silly wench,’ she says buoyantly.
    I smile. ‘There’re also his dad and his jailbird brother to consider.’
    ‘Easy-peasy.’
    I think for a moment. ‘Maybe we could drive over there now and I’ll see if I can get Joe’s attention?’
    ‘That’s an idea.’
    ‘You can stay in the car and keep the engine running in case I have to make a mad dash for it.’
    ‘We’re not robbing a bank,’ she teases.
    ‘Unlike his brother,’ I add. I can’t actually believe I’m joking about it.
    Dyson is nowhere to be seen. Heart pounding, I scan the packed beer garden for any sign of Joe, and then wait off to the side for a while in case he comes out. After ten very long minutes my pulse still hasn’t settled and I’m wondering if I dare venture inside. A middle-aged man seated at the table near me stands up and asks his wife, I presume, if she’d like another Chardonnay. I grab my chance.
    ‘Excuse me!’ I say urgently. He looks over at me. ‘Would you mind . . .’ This doesn’t sound very good. ‘Would you mind looking to see if a young man is behind the bar? Dark hair, eyebrow pierced . . .’
    He gives his wife a knowing look and I inwardly squirm. ‘No problem, love.’
    I relax slightly now that things are in hand, but I’m still unbearably tense by the time he returns.
    ‘There was a young man there, yes.’ My heart lifts. ‘But he had blond hair and tattoos. I didn’t see an eyebrow piercing.’
    That must be Ryan. Where’s Joe?
    ‘Sorry,’ he says, seeing my face.
    I back away, mumbling my thanks, and return to the car.
    ‘Was he there?’ Lizzy asks.
    ‘No, I don’t think so.’ I put my seatbelt on.
    I’m on full alert the whole way back, peering across the field to see if I can spot him wandering.
    ‘You watch the road,’ Lizzy insists. ‘ I ’ ll look.’
    ‘Have you seen Joe, by any chance?’ I ask my mum the moment we’re through the door.
    ‘No,’ she replies, frowning. ‘Isn’t he at the pub?’
    My dad comes into the kitchen. ‘Hello, you two!’ he says brightly, then, when he sees our faces: ‘What’s up?’
    Lizzy looks away, bound by her promise to me to not breathe a word, but here and now I’m so concerned that I don’t know how I can keep this from them.
    ‘Joe’s brother has come out of jail,’ I blurt out. ‘He hurt Joe really badly when he was a kid, and I’m worried he’s done something