Page 11 of Just the Beginning

With a folder of information tucked under his arm, Rick locked up the shop and set the alarm. He pulled out his phone and called Davy as he started the short walk along the quay.

‘No, I’m not dead yet,’ his uncle snapped by way of greeting.

‘Glad to hear it. How’s your headache? Did you get that list of symptoms I texted to you?’ In between all his other searches, Rick had popped on to theNHSwebsite to check what to look for when it came to concussion.

‘The only thing giving me a headache is you nagging at me,’ Davy grumbled.

‘Come on, Uncle D, humour me,’ Rick pleaded.

His uncle sighed. ‘I took a couple of tablets and it’s a lot better.’

‘And you read that list, right? No red flags from it?’

‘None, I promise. No sickness or dizziness, no brain fog. Do I sound compos mentis?’

‘You don’t sound any more doolally than usual,’ Rick said.

Davy snorted. ‘Cheeky young whelp. Look I know I was a pain earlier, but I was still a bit shocked from the accident. Now you know everything, I’ve got no reason to give you the runaround, have I?’

‘I guess not. Okay, well I’m going to leave you in peace.’ A familiar voice called his name and Rick glanced round to see his father. He paused to wait for him to catch up. ‘Promise to ring me if anything changes and just pop me a quick text before you go to bed.’

‘Okay.’ His uncle paused. ‘Look, son, I’m sorry I dropped such a heavy weight on you earlier…’

‘I’m not,’ Rick assured him. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. Dad’s here, so I’ll speak to you in the morning.’

‘I’ll text you later.’

A warm hand rested in the small of his back and Rick immediately felt some of the tension he was carrying ease. Jago Penrose was a burly bear of a man and even though Rick was more than capable of taking care of himself, being around his father always made him feel better. ‘Hey, Dad.’

‘Hey, kiddo, busy day?’ Jago patted his back before adjusting the weight of the backpack slung over his shoulder. ‘Your mum said you’ve been out and about a lot.’

They began walking towards the steps that led from the quay to the top of the wall that had protected the village from the ravages of the sea for hundreds of years.

‘It was my session at the Hub this morning and then I popped in to the hotel to drop off some lunch for Davy and he’d had a bit of an accident and banged his head.’ Rick had been thinking about what he could say to his family and had decided to stick as close to the truth as possible. There was no hiding the injury Davy had sustained, and pretending he knew nothing about it would trip him up sooner or later.

‘Bloody hell, is he all right?’

It was on the tip of his tongue to say Davy was fine, but that would be a lie. He’d promised to keep his uncle’s secret for now, but he didn’t have to feel good about it. ‘It looked worse than it is; you know what scalp wounds are like for bleeding. Once I got him cleaned up, it only needed a couple of Steri-Strips and one of those gauze pads to keep it covered. That’s who I was talking to just now, checking in.’

A frown creased his father’s tanned brow. ‘Do you think I should go and see him?’

Rick shook his head. ‘He got the night manager to come inearly and he’s planning a quiet evening. He’s promised to text me before he goes to bed.’

Jago smiled. ‘I should’ve known you’d have it all in hand, though how you managed to get him to cooperate like that is beyond me.’

‘I threatened to set Mum, Ma and Aunt Helen on him if he didn’t let me help.’ Which was the truth, though again not the whole story. Rick swallowed, already hating the deception. He would have to work on Davy, get him to see it would be best if everyone knew about his health.

Best for who, though?

That stopped him short. He’d known about Davy’s condition for all of half a day and it was already overwhelming; how must it have been for his uncle wrestling with it for however long he’d known about it? He had confided in Rick, and for better or worse it was his responsibility to try and do right by everyone. If things really were as dire as his uncle had suggested and this was his last summer, he would need help with putting his affairs in order. Had he even thought about a will? What would happen to the hotel? Rick started putting together a mental list of questions.

‘Everything all right?’

His father’s question shook Rick out of his introspection and he nodded. ‘Sorry, I was just thinking about Davy. I… uh, I kind of took advantage of his accident to persuade him it was time to take on a bit more help at the hotel.’

Jago paused at the base of the steps, that disapproving frown once again darkening his brow. ‘What do you mean you took advantage of him?’

Rick’s insides shrank and suddenly he was back to those times in his youth when there’d been a call from school because of some scrape or nonsense one of the Penrose boys had startedand somehow dragged in the rest of them. ‘Nothing bad,’ he protested, holding his hands up defensively. ‘I suggested it might be time to take on an assistant at the hotel, that’s all. The summer season will soon be in full swing, and as fit and active as he is, he’s still getting on a bit.’

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