The Summer of Secrets: A feel-good romance novel perfect for holiday reading

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘OK,’ she said, trying to focus her mind. ‘How about you come to see me at the museum and I fill you in on some of the facts? I can’t show you the find as it’s in the possession of the coroner right now, but I can take you to the discovery site over at Silver Hill Farm. The farm’s owner doesn’t know a great deal about the history of the building but there are parish documents I’ve been meaning to get hold of that might shed some more light on it. There should be plenty of land-registry papers and so on at the libraries hereabout too, although Cerne Hay only has scant bits held by the church so we might have to travel out to look at those. Do you have transport?’

  ‘Yes; transport is not a problem.’ He drained the last of his tea and replaced the cup in the saucer, his eyes bright with expectation. ‘OK, so when can we start?’

  * * *

  It wasn’t exactly Ministry of Sound, but it was better than hanging out with the coffin dodgers of the Rising Sun. As long as they served a steady supply of gin Allie didn’t really care. She was currently leaning against the bar of the Tinker’s Cuss, a lively pub in a neighbouring town, as music pulsed, pool balls cracked at the table where a gang of hungry-eyed youths threw curious glances her way as they played and she got steadily drunker. Let them look; at least somebody wanted to. Other patrons were equally curious. But as she was in a black sequinned mini-dress and sky-high stilettos on a Wednesday night, perhaps they had good reason to be. She wanted to stand out; she wanted people to stare at the curve of her hips and the swell of her breasts; she wanted men to pant after her and have their girlfriends hate her for it. The wrong sort of attention but better than no attention at all.

  As she ordered her fifth gin, a youth of around twenty broke away from the pack at the pool table and made his way over.

  ‘I’ll get that,’ he said, waving a tenner at the barman, who glanced at Allie for approval. She nodded and he took the money. ‘On your own?’ the lad asked.

  ‘Yep,’ Allie said. ‘Want to do something about it?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Want to do something about me being on my own? Quite honestly, it’s shit and I could do with a laugh.’

  She was distracted by the barman giving the youth his change, but when she turned back she could see he looked confused.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m pissed,’ she said. ‘I’m not usually this forward.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ he said, now beginning to look as though he wished he hadn’t come over. He shot a quick glance back to his friends, who were all watching with interest, sniggering and nudging each other. One of them nodded encouragement. ‘So,’ he continued, rather less assured than he had been, ‘where do you live? Haven’t seen you in here before.’

  ‘I haven’t been here before. I’ll probably never come again either, because it’s awful.’

  ‘It’s not that bad,’ he said. ‘We get a good crowd in most nights and you can have a laugh.’

  ‘I don’t want a laugh,’ Allie said. ‘I don’t care about the crowd.’ She leaned into him and whispered, ‘I want a man inside me…’ She let the statement sink in, watching him swallow loudly, his face turning puce, before she collapsed into giggles. ‘Know any?’

  ‘Good one,’ he said with a nervous smile. ‘I might know one or two, yeah.’

  She nodded towards his friends. ‘That lot over there? I don’t think so. You’re the cutest of the bunch.’

  ‘You think so?’ He grinned now, buoyed by her compliment.

  ‘Come here…’ Allie grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt and smudged her lips over his. He pulled her close, and she felt his erection press against her. That was more like it – a man who could respond, a man who needed her. She was beautiful, and she was wanted. She was on fire, digging her hands into his shirt as they locked mouths a second time.

  ‘Easy tiger,’ she said, the echo of cheers coming from the pool table reaching her muddled thoughts. ‘We don’t want it over before it’s begun.’

  ‘Want to go somewhere private?’ he asked eagerly.

  She studied him for a moment. He was good-looking, in an inoffensive way – sandy hair swept into a quiff, a sprinkling of boyish freckles, a decent enough physique. ‘Why not?’

  He took her hand and led her outside. Dusk had fallen now, and the nip in the evening air crept beneath her dress. She was too drunk to care.

  ‘There’s trees around the back of the pub, out of sight,’ he said.

  ‘Trees?’ Allie halted, yanking her hand from his. ‘Don’t you have a place to go?’

  ‘No… I don’t live on my own.’

  ‘A girlfriend?’ Allie asked.

  There was a pause. ‘My parents,’ he mumbled.

  Whether it was the night air sobering her, or the thought of what she was about to do, Allie had no idea, but suddenly it was like a veil dropped from her eyes and she saw clearly this situation for what it was. Madness. She looked at the boy.

  ‘How old are you?’

  ‘Nearly nineteen,’ he said, sounding now like a sulky sixth former who’d been caught smoking by the head of house. ‘Does it matter? I’m a man.’

  Just about.

  ‘I suppose,’ she said uncertainly. At least she wasn’t about to break the law with someone underage. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Josh.’

  Allie staggered back. What was wrong with her? This boy… this could be her own Josh in less than ten years and she was about to have sex with him at the back of the pub!

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled, nausea rising in her throat. ‘You’d better go back inside.’

  ‘What have I done?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing. I’m not in the mood now.’

  His expression twisted into one of confusion and distrust. ‘What are you, some kind of freak? Was it some kind of bet? You can’t do that! You can’t lead a man on, get him worked up, make him think something is on offer and then take it away!’

  ‘You’re not a man though, are you?’ she fired back. ‘So you can piss off back inside to your mates and finish swapping your Pokémon cards or whatever it is you do on your play dates.’

  ‘You’re a freak, you are!’ he shouted.

  ‘Oi!’

  They both spun round to find a man standing behind them. While the youth shrank back, Allie let out a cry of shock and relief.

  ‘Shay!’ she squealed. Before her thoughts had coalesced, she’d thrown herself into his arms.

  ‘You!’ Shay jabbed a finger at the youth. ‘I ever catch you bothering her again I’ll rip your head off and shove it down your neck – understand?’

  Without another word, the youth scuttled off inside. Shay took off his jacket and wrapped it around Allie.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, wiping away the mascara that had smudged beneath her eyes. ‘We’re miles out from Cerne Hay.’

  ‘I could ask you the same thing,’ he said.

  ‘Fancied a change of scenery.’

  ‘You mean you had a bust-up with Greg?’

  ‘He’s gone to London.’

  Shay’s eyes widened. ‘For good?’

  ‘Overnight.’

  ‘Right…’ He dug his hands in his pockets and shot a look at the pub entrance. ‘I don’t suppose you’re in the mood to go back in there now?’

  ‘I don’t think I’d be very welcome.’

  ‘What the hell were you doing?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ she said, and then she started to laugh, a note of hysteria in it. ‘I’m such a fuck-up, Shay. I don’t know what I’m doing in any area of life.’

  ‘Never say that. You’re gorgeous and amazing.’

  ‘Says the man who’s about to marry the practically perfect Harper Woods,’ she sniffed, pulling away from him. ‘I’m surprised she’s not with you now.’

  ‘We’re having a night off. She’s probably in the Rising Sun, so I thought I’d make myself scarce.’

  ‘All the way out here? There’s more than one pub in Cerne…’ She narrowed her eyes and then s
tarted to laugh again, but this time there was genuine humour in it. ‘You had a bust-up with Harper too!’

  ‘Sort of.’ He gave her a foolish grin, an adorably bemused expression that made her stomach flip. His smell was on the jacket she wore around her shoulders now, warm and inviting. Would it be so bad if she spent a little time with him? They wouldn’t have to be lovers, but if he needed to talk and she needed to talk, who better to do it with than old friends who understood each other? They could sit together and offer each other comfort and an empathetic ear. There was no harm in that. Greg could never find out, of course. Talking was all she and Shay were going to do, but Greg would never believe that was the truth.

  ‘Want to get a drink somewhere else?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ll have to call another taxi,’ he said. ‘I was planning on getting shit-faced so I haven’t got the car with me.’

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘Where do you fancy then?’

  She was thoughtful, staring at the yellow light bulbs strung along the eaves of the pub. ‘I don’t know. There’s not much around here and a taxi to Salisbury would cost an arm and a leg when we need to get home.’

  ‘We could go back to my place,’ he said.

  She turned her gaze to him. ‘Do you think that’s wise? What if Harper comes over?’

  ‘We won’t be doing anything that would bother her, will we?’ he asked pointedly. ‘We’ll be having a friendly drink and a chat, that’s all. If she can’t handle a man and a woman spending time together, then it’s time to give up. After all, two people of the opposite sex can be together without it becoming sex, can’t they?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  Shay nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket. Watching as he dialled the number for the taxi firm, she pulled his jacket tighter around her shoulders to keep the evening chill at bay. A man and a woman, just spending time together. No snags, no sex, no complications. That was OK, wasn’t it?

  Chapter 13

  Something was buzzing. Allie screwed her eyes tight, the light painful and unwelcome. All she wanted was the soothing darkness of sleep again. But that buzzing… what was it?

  Gradually, the answer crept into her consciousness, forcing her eyes open. Her phone was ringing. She rolled over in bed and a rush of memories barrelled into her sluggish brain. Shay was next to her, his legs tangled in the sheets, his naked torso rising and falling as he snored lightly.

  They’d come back to his place in a taxi last night, hadn’t they? She vaguely remembered opening a bottle of wine and putting on a DVD – she had no idea what. Neither of them had paid it much attention as they shared the things that ailed them. It had been good at first – nice, cathartic. But then he’d opened the second bottle, and maybe even a third. It was hazy after that, only the vague recollections of his lips on her neck, hands on her breasts, tongue in her mouth.

  She shot up in bed and grabbed for the phone, sending it skittering across the wooden floor. Greg’s name flashed on the display. Raking her teeth over her bottom lip, she watched and waited until the screen went black again. She couldn’t talk to him – not now.

  Dropping out of bed, she hunted for her clothes: shoes on the steps, dress on the landing, bra hanging from the balustrade like in some cheesy porno movie. God she’d been pissed. Had they even used a condom? She couldn’t remember. How much of the wine had she drunk? The way her head was thumping, most of it.

  ‘Allie?’ Shay’s voice came from the bedroom.

  Yanking her dress over her head, she went back and stood in the doorway, arms wrapped around herself as she clung to her underwear.

  ‘We shouldn’t have done that,’ she said.

  He patted the bed. Against her better judgement, she went over and perched on the mattress next to him.

  ‘I know,’ he said. ‘But was it that bad? Two lonely people finding comfort for a few hours?’

  ‘You’re hardly lonely,’ she said.

  Something in her brain was moving, clicking into place, and she was beginning to feel as if she’d been had. When they’d slept together the first time, she’d been lonely and vulnerable that night too, and he’d been there – a shoulder to cry on, a friendly ear, someone who made all the right noises, someone who made himself look like a man you could trust. And then it had been easy to seduce her, make her feel like the most special and loved woman in the world. She’d fallen for it once, and now he’d done it again. She looked at him; so relaxed, so amiable, so handsome in the early morning light. She wanted so desperately to believe that her hunch wasn’t true, that he really did feel something for her.

  ‘We were both lonely last night,’ he said, reaching for her hand to pull her back into bed. She pulled it from his grip and moved down the mattress and out of his reach.

  ‘Shay… do you think I’m pretty?’

  ‘I think you’re gorgeous.’

  ‘And you like me?’

  ‘You know I do. We have a good laugh, you and me; we’re mates.’

  ‘But do you like me?’

  He propped himself up on an elbow and held her gaze. ‘What is this? Last night was good for what it was – why complicate it?’

  She shook her head. ‘I have to go.’

  ‘Right now? It’s early and we still have time to snuggle.’

  ‘Snuggle?’ Allie let out a snort. ‘I don’t think so. I have to pick up Josh from my mum’s.’

  ‘He won’t be up yet.’

  ‘He will; it’s a school day.’

  ‘Can’t you call your mum, make some excuse, ask her to take him? Greg won’t be back till later, will he?’

  ‘What about Harper?’

  There was no reply. Instead, he fell back onto the pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

  ‘I thought so,’ Allie said. ‘Not feeling quite so guilt free when she’s mentioned.’

  ‘It’s complicated,’ he said, rubbing a hand through his hair.

  Pulling her knickers on, Allie reached for her phone to check how many times Greg had called. She needed to phone back and give a plausible story for ignoring him, but then she noticed the other missed calls and her insides turned to ice. A dozen over the course of the night: from her mum and her dad, as well as more from Greg.

  ‘Something’s happened,’ she said, dialling her mum’s number.

  Shay offered no reply. Not that Allie wanted or needed one. Her insides churning, she waited for her mum to answer.

  A thudding on the front door had her twisting to look at Shay, panic in her eyes. Seemingly unconcerned, he pushed himself from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans as the door went again.

  ‘Alright…’ he muttered.

  ‘What if it’s Harper?’ Allie whispered, covering the phone with her hand.

  ‘I’ll get rid of her,’ he said. ‘Don’t stress – find out what your mum wants.’

  The phone rang out, and Allie was about to dial her dad’s number when she heard shouting from downstairs and she froze.

  Greg.

  What was he doing here? Had someone seen them come back to Shay’s and told him? But who would do that? And wasn’t he supposed to have been in London last night? Had he really gone to London, or had it been an elaborate ruse to catch her out? And she’d been stupid enough to walk right into it.

  ‘She’s not here!’ Allie heard Shay shout.

  But then there was another series of thuds and unintelligible shouts, and Allie was rooted to the bed as she listened, waiting, dreading that Greg might appear at the doorway. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and what would be the point? Perhaps it would be a relief for the boil to finally burst, to get everything out in the open and slug it out once and for all. She’d slept with Shay, but Greg had to understand there was a reason she kept coming back here. God knew she’d tried to make her marriage work over the past year but there was only so much even the strongest of women could take.

  Greg appeared at the top of the stairs, staring at Allie with enough hatred to shrivel her up. S
hay followed, yanking Greg from the doorway by his shirt, but Greg turned and shoved him so hard that Shay reeled back, grasping for the banister to stop himself falling down the stairs as Greg marched over to Allie and grabbed her by the wrist.

  ‘I might have known I’d find you here.’

  ‘Greg, I—’

  ‘Get up!’ he growled. ‘We need to go to the hospital.’

  Allie’s legs refused to work. She sat and stared at him, her head swimming and her pulse roaring in her ears.

  ‘Are you listening? Get up!’ His voice rose, his tone one of utter contempt.

  ‘Greg, calm down—’ Shay began, making a move towards them but Greg rounded on him.

  ‘How dare you! How dare you interfere! Don’t you think you’ve done enough?’ He turned to Allie and pulled her to her feet. ‘We can discuss divorce later, but now you need to come with me. Josh is in hospital and, for some unfathomable reason, he wants his useless whore of a mother.’

  ‘In hospital,’ Allie repeated, blinking, dazed. ‘What…’

  ‘He had an asthma attack overnight, and despite his grandparents’ best efforts to locate the inhaler that you obviously forgot to pack, they couldn’t find it. Then they couldn’t find you. They had no choice but to call me, and when he got worse they had to call the emergency services.’

  Shoving her towards the doorway, he continued, ‘I hope you’re proud of yourself. I hope you’ve enjoyed the last nine years of Josh living with you, because I intend to make damn sure you don’t get custody when we’re divorced. You’re not fit to be a mother,’ he spat. ‘What kind of mother leaves her son without his medication and sneaks off for a shag? What kind of mother would be uncontactable? I thought you couldn’t sink any lower, but you’ve done it in spectacular fashion.’

  Allie looked hopelessly at Shay, who simply turned away. What else could he do? He was involved in the affair, yes, but Josh was nothing to do with him, and whatever else this was about, Josh was the number one priority here. Her darling son. She was about to lose him, and it was her own stupid, stupid fault.