Page 55 of The Diary at the Last House Before the Sea

‘Not really.’ He ran a hand through his fringe. ‘It’s just, talking of Bartie, you have to be a bit…well, you know, with him.’

Clara stared at River. ‘A bit, well, you know? No, I don’t know.’

‘What I’m trying to say is I know that Bartie is flirting with you and there’s possibly more going on, and he’s incredibly good looking and charismatic and you’ve always been a bit in awe of him, but you should be careful.’

‘One, I’ve never been in awe of Bartie, and two, why do I need to be careful?’

‘Well.’ River shifted from foot to foot. ‘Just in case he’s—’ He stopped mid-sentence. ‘No, it doesn’t matter.’

‘Of course it matters. Just in case he’s what?’

River breathed out slowly. ‘Just in case he’s trying it on with you but he doesn’t really mean it.’

‘He doesn’t really mean it?’ Clara blinked, annoyed with herself for suddenly wanting to cry. ‘Why doesn’t he really mean it? Because you can’t believe that an extremely handsome and successful man like Bartie would be interested in boring little me?’

‘No.’ River frowned. ‘That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m sure he would be interested in you. Any man would be interested in…’ He trailed off and scuffed his feet in the grass. ‘All I mean is, he can be disingenuous when it comes to women.’

‘In what way?’

‘He likes women, all women, and he likes them to like him.’

‘So what you’re saying is that he’s not particularly fussy?’

‘No, I’m not saying that, but it might be that you’re around and available.’

‘I’m around and available. Nice.’ Clara puffed out her cheeks. ‘Well, thank you so much for your advice on my love life and your ringing endorsement of my desirability to the opposite sex.’

‘You know what I’m trying to say. That didn’t come out right,’ said River, but Clara was too angry to take any notice.

‘You never liked Bartie much, even when we were kids. You were jealous of him then and you still sound jealous of him now.’

River looked up from his feet and caught Clara’s eye. ‘That’s not true. I’m only trying to warn you that he doesn’t always tell the whole truth.’

‘Such as?’

‘Well, I…’ River looked as if he was floundering but then he pulled his shoulders back. ‘He said it was his idea to try and save your mum’s cottage, but actually it was mine.’

‘So, you’re saying he stole it.’

‘Yes.’ He wiped a hand across his face. ‘That sounds petty and it’s not a great example but it points to a…a…less than stellar moral compass.’

Clara held his gaze for a moment before looking away.

‘Bye, River. I’m sure I’ll see you around.’

Then she walked away without looking back, berating herself for mistakenly believing that she and River Brellasham could ever again be friends.

24

RIVER

A less than stellar moral compass. River winced, replaying his conversation with Clara in his head for what seemed like the hundredth time. How pretentious and prissy had that made him sound? He’d been trying to warn her about Bartie but had probably succeeded in pushing her even further into his arms.

‘Nice one, mate,’ he muttered to himself, dodging a family whose melting ice creams were dripping over the cobbled lane.

Heaven’s Cove was busy at midday but he hadn’t been able to settle to anything at the manor, and he didn’t want to bump into Clara, so he’d come out for a walk instead.

It felt strange to be walking through the village because, although he was different after so many years away, this place seemed eerily the same. The whitewashed cottages, the ancient pub festooned with hanging baskets, the stone walls of the quay reaching out into the sea – nothing had changed.

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