Page 46 of Just the Beginning

They did a bit of juggling and soon both she and Chloe had an armful of smiling, plump, oblivious baby each while Shelly clung onto Leo, who had burst into tears the moment he was safe in her arms.

‘Thank you, thank you,’ Shelly repeated over and over.

‘It’s fine, he’s fine.’ Any hurt she’d felt at the way the other woman had spoken to her when they’d met previously vanished in the face of her obvious distress.

Her aunt Helen placed a hand on Shelly’s back. ‘Come on, let’s all go and sit down.’

They settled on their towels and Rick immediately set Freya down in Anya’s lap. ‘I’m going to speak to the lifeguards, find out if they caught up with those idiots.’ His hand settled on her shoulder. ‘You okay?’

‘Yes, thanks to you.’

His fingers flexed against her skin for a second before he removed them. ‘I’ll be right back.’

Freya snuggled close, curling up like a kitten, and Anya wrapped a spare towel around her and rocked gently. ‘I couldn’t find you, Mummy.’

Hot guilt lanced through her once again. ‘I’m sorry, darling. I’m here now.’

23

Just over a week after the debacle at the regatta, Rick parked hisSUVin the car park around the back of the hotel and let himself in the rear entrance using the key code. Anya had been understandably reluctant to spend time with him since the near miss with Freya, and he couldn’t blame her. Given how guilty he felt about persuading her to sneak away for a few minutes, he could only imagine how bad Anya must’ve been feeling. Not that she’d spoken to him about it. When he’d tried to raise the matter, she’d clammed up. At least she’d carried on speaking to him though, and he eventually persuaded her to go out with him for lunch.

He had a picnic lunch in a cool box in the boot and they were going to drive to one of the viewing points just outside the village. He hadn’t even thought about mentioning her offer to get Chloe to babysit again. It would take time for her to feel okay about leaving Freya for anything other than work, and Rick was prepared to wait as long as she needed.

He wandered along the back corridor of the hotel, notinghow tired some of the paintwork was starting to look. Everything was spotlessly clean, but there was a slightly depressing air about the space. Might be worth mentioning it to Anya or Davy because it wouldn’t take much to brighten it up – a couple of framed prints on the wall to draw the eye up and away from the scuffed and faded skirting boards.

All thoughts about flaking paintwork shot out the window when he walked into Davy’s office to find him pale and clammy. Anya had one arm around his waist as though trying to hold him up, her face almost as white as his great-uncle’s. ‘I’m fine,’ Davy was saying, though there was no heat in the words. He sounded exhausted.

‘What happened?’ Rick demanded as he rushed over to take Davy’s weight.

‘I don’t know,’ Anya replied. ‘I just gave him the cushion I made for his chair and when he stood up to put it behind him he keeled over.’

‘I did not keel over, girl!’ Davy growled, sounding a bit more like himself. ‘I just stood up too quickly, that’s all. Let me sit down and stop fussing, the pair of you.’

Anya scowled at him. ‘Next time I’ll let you fall on your stupid face, you stubborn old fool!’ She might have sounded furious, but Rick could tell she was really scared for Davy.

Rick helped his great-uncle into his chair then stepped back so he could look at both of them. ‘What do you mean next time? Has this happened before?’

‘It’s nothing, bit of a blood sugar drop,’ Davy protested, though Rick didn’t miss the way he wouldn’t meet Rick’s eyes.Yes, you should feel bloody guilty.

‘He had a wobble last week when he was climbing down a stepladder after changing a lightbulb in reception,’ Anya statedin a flat tone. ‘Though that time it was down to him being a bit light-headed because he hadn’t had any lunch.’

‘Two funny spells in a week? Sounds like we need to take you to the doctor and find out what’s going on,’ Rick said to Davy.

‘No! I’m fine. It’s probably just a virus or something.’

‘A virus.’ Rick tapped his index finger as though counting off. ‘A drop in your blood sugar.’ He tapped his middle finger. ‘Light-headed from skipping a meal.’ He tapped his ring finger. ‘I think we definitely need to find out which one it is, don’t you?’ The foul glare from Davy might’ve scared off another person, but Rick was absolutely at the end of his tether, and sick with worry to boot because he knew it was none of those things. He turned to Anya. ‘Can you do me a favour and fetch Davy a glass of water while I try and talk some sense into him?’

She snorted. ‘Good luck with that.’ But she did at least leave the room.

As soon as she was gone, Rick rounded on Davy, who already had his mouth open as though about to voice another protest. ‘No!’ Rick snapped. ‘Not another bloody word from you. We are going to the surgery right now or I swear to God I am going to phone Mum and let her deal with you, because I can’t go on like this.’

‘You wouldn’t dare!’

Rick didn’t bother to answer, just pulled out his phone and began to scroll through his contacts for his mum’s number.

‘Okay, okay,’ Davy agreed. ‘But not a word to anyone else.’

Rick put his phone away just as Anya returned with a glass of water and a plate of biscuits. ‘In case it really is just your blood sugar,’ she said as she put them down in front of Davy.

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