Page 71 of Forever Summer

“So, tell me something,” I asked, taking the liberty of sitting in Ringer’s fishing chair. “How long have you known?”

Ringer shrugged. “Christ, I don’t know, since Point Shank.”

Point Shank?

Had Tammy let it slip? Unbelievable.

“I remember Adam telling me he liked you, the night on the roof top.”

“W-what?”

What did he just say?

Ringer grinned, looking back at me with interest. “You didn’t know?”

I shook my head, my mouth agape as Ringer’s words rolled over in my head.

“Wow, love really is blind.” He laughed. “I’ll be your decoy, Ellie Parker, under one condition.”

I blinked, trying to focus. “Sure, anything.”

“Get him to lighten up a bit. One Chris Henderson is more than enough.”

I burst out laughing. “Leave it with me.”

Thirty-Five

The Onslow Beer Garden was more than your run-of-the-mill courtyard for cricket club discos and drunken, screaming netball break-ups. No, this was much more than that. I shouldn’t have been so surprised; after all, I had helped bring the overgrown, leaf-and-rubbish-littered back section of the hotel to life. But since the boys had taken over the hotel, things had really gone to the next level. The ivy that once engulfed the surrounding fence lines was now trimmed, giving it that evergreen, lush, oasis feel. The courtyard had been transformed from dust bowl to newly bricked with pathways straying off to meet up with picnic tables dotted throughout. Tables lit with tea candles matched the glow of the fairy lights that snaked around the garden. It looked like a wonderland, like a dream. Making my way through the entry of the side gate, I paused, my eyes landing on something that was most definitely not there last time I had been here. A beautiful ornate, timber gazebo had been built in the far corner of the beer garden. It was big enough for the most epic dance floor or to house a brass band if need be; it was beautiful. At a guess, it was the handy work of Sean Murphy, builder extraordinaire. Getting him to put up shelves in my room was like pulling teeth, yet he could whack up a gazebo at the pub in no time at all.

For the first time since Sean and Chris took over the Onslow Hotel, the new and improved beer garden was to be shut off from the public. The side gate was closed with a sign saying ‘Private Function’.

Everything throughout the day had been such an adrenalin rush to get ready; now it was all coming together I was worried, deeply worried.

Pacing around the beer garden, barely aware of the chatter around me as Tammy swept debris from the concrete path, Tess and Amy stood in the gazebo, Tess with a sticky tape holder and Amy with a stapler as they discussed which tool would be most effective.

“Am I being ridiculous?” I asked, standing still yet panicked beyond belief.

Tess turned, her inquisitive eyes settling on me. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know, it’s just this isn’t a John Hughes movie set; things like this don’t happen in real life.”

“Well, it’s going to happen,” said Amy, jumping from the gazebo platform. “You know, you could have just done this at the lake house.”

I had thought about it, it would have been much easier, but then it wouldn’t have felt right. There was something poetic about the Onslow, it was as much a part of Adam as it was me; we had history here.

Tess grabbed me by my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. “It’s not ridiculous, remember what you said to me this morning?”

I sighed. “Go big or go home.”

I had said it in the height of optimism; having just discovered that Ringer had roped Adam into leaving the Onslow for the afternoon gave me room to work around the hotel freely, undetected. It was one of the bigger parts of the plan, and despite the amount of people involved, I knew that above anything, people were very much capable of keeping a secret. It was actually impressive; thanks to a joint effort, Adam had no clue I was even in town.

“Where’s Stan?” I said, glancing at my watch. “He should be here by now.”

“Relax, Ellie, he’ll be here, it’s Stan,” said Tammy.

“Seriously, Ellie, you need to calm down and go get ready, we’ve got this,” added Amy.

“But what about the—”

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