Page 32 of The Path to the Last House Before the Sea

‘A bit serious about life, in general.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with being serious.’

‘I didn’t say there was.’

Alyssa bit her lip. This wasn’t going the way she’d planned, when she’d decided to slip out and enjoy the last rays of the sun. She’d planned to sit on the clifftop in perfect peace and think some more about the map – the possible map – that had been found at Driftwood House.

‘A bit serious about life,’ Jack repeated slowly. Alyssa thought he was about to throw a strop but, instead, he stared at the sunset for a moment and said: ‘I suppose I am, yeah.’

‘Oh.’

‘Oh?’ Jack shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. ‘I admit that you’re right and that’s the best you can come up with? “Oh”?’

Alyssa shrugged. ‘Sorry. In my defence it’s getting late and it’s been a long day. Plus, I’ve never heard you say I’m right before.’

‘What about you?’

‘Me? What do you mean?’

‘We’ve ascertained that I’m not the life and soul of the party. So what’s your character flaw?’

‘I wasn’t implying that being serious is a character flaw.’ When Jack said nothing, Alyssa folded her arms. ‘All right. My character flaw is… I don’t know.’ She was going to make something up. Give some trite response. But she was suddenly desperate to tell the truth for once. And why not to this man whose face was bathed in pink rays from the dying sun? ‘My character flaw is that I’m a coward.’

Jack frowned. ‘From what I know about you, I doubt that.’

What did he know? What had people said? It was a small village and secrets were often uncovered. Though not hers. Please, never hers.

When Alyssa shuddered, Jack glanced at her. ‘Are you cold?’

‘Not really.’ But he’d already taken off his jumper and was holding it out to her.

‘The temperature’s dropping, so take this,’ he insisted, thrusting it into her hands. ‘And we’d better be getting back before it gets too dark to see the path properly. I don’t fancy taking a dive off the cliffs.’

When he started walking back down the path, Alyssa slipped his jumper over her head and put it on before following him. The soft grey wool swamped her, but she rolled up the sleeves.

She took a good look at Jack as he picked his way, ahead of her, down the steep path. He’d swapped his usual grey cord trousers for blue jeans and a grey polo shirt made of thin cotton. But if he was cold, he didn’t show it.

Alyssa stared at his arms but no goosebumps were visible. His arms were surprising, actually. She’d expected him to have pale, skinny arms – the physique of a man who worked in a research lab and probably spent his weekends reading academic journals. But Jack’s arms carried the hint of a faded tan. And he had muscles – not bulging I-work-out biceps, but his arms were nicely toned.

Overall, with his hair curling where it touched his collar, Alyssa had to admit he looked rather handsome. In a nerdy kind of way.

She was so deep in thought that when Jack stopped walking abruptly, she almost barrelled into the back of him.

He turned to her, the sun a blazing golden globe over his shoulder.

‘There’s something you should know,’ he said gruffly. ‘Seeing as you work in the shop now and will be around when I go back to London.’

‘OK.’

Alyssa waited as the boom of waves hitting the cliffs reverberated around them.

‘I’ve had some bad news about my dad.’ He swallowed. ‘Can you keep a secret?’

You have no freaking idea! Alyssa kept her expression neutral.

‘I am very good at keeping secrets.’

‘Only you were so good when Dad fell the other day and he’s going to need support from the people around him.’ Jack closed his eyes briefly. ‘Dad told me this evening that he has a neurological disorder and his prognosis isn’t good.’

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