Page 61 of The Key to the Last House Before the Sea

‘Oh, thank God.’ He breathed out slowly.

‘I found it on the ground outside. It must have fallen out of your pocket. I rang Driftwood House and left a message to tell you.’

‘I think Rosie’s out. Thanks. I need it for work.’

‘I thought as much. I did consider chucking it in the sea, but that seemed a bit mean.’

He gave her a straight stare but then the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. ‘Very mean, I’d have said.’ He switched his attention to Lily. ‘Hello, there.’

‘Hi.’ Lily, startled by Gabriel’s arrival, had moved close to her mother, with her arms round her waist. ‘Do you live here with Mummy now?’

‘No, not at all. I call in early morning – that’s when I lost my phone – and late evening. That’s all.’

‘Why?’ asked Lily, her cheek pressed against Nessa’s stomach.

‘Just to check,’ said Gabriel, a faint pink washing across his cheeks.

‘To check what?’

To check, heaven forbid, that your mother isn’t bunking off to a comfortable bed for the night, thought Nessa. Gabriel looked embarrassed. She’d never seen him flustered before and there was something quite nice about it. Quite humanising. But she spared him any more cross-examination.

‘Come on, Lily. Can you give Gabriel his phone? It’s over there.’

‘I can,’ Lily declared. ‘Mummy loses her phone all the time.’

‘Does she?’ Gabriel smiled. ‘She has a lot on her mind.’

His eyes met Nessa’s and she held his gaze for a moment before looking away.

‘Here it is!’ Lily picked up Gabriel’s phone from the mantelpiece and waved it triumphantly. ‘I found it.’

‘You did.’ Gabriel took the phone and put it in his pocket. ‘Thank you for being so eagle-eyed.’ He glanced at the picnic basket. ‘Don’t you have school today?’

‘It’s an insect day,’ Lily informed him.

‘An inset day,’ corrected Nessa gently. ‘No insects involved.’

‘An inset day, so there’s no school and we’re going to the secret beach instead.’

‘A secret beach? That sounds exciting. It’s a perfect day for it.’

‘It’s not exactly secret. There’s a tiny cove I know nearby so we’re heading there,’ said Nessa. ‘Heaven’s Cove beach is beautiful but it gets busy at this time of year.’

‘I see. Well, that sounds lovely.’ Gabriel undid a second button on his white shirt. He seemed to have ditched his tie for good these days. ‘I hope you have fun, Lily.’

‘Do you like having fun?’ asked Lily, tilting her head to one side and regarding him thoughtfully.

‘Yes, I suppose so. I don’t have much of it.’

‘That’s sad,’ said Lily, a furrow appearing between her eyebrows.

Uh-oh. Lily only frowned when she was having a Big Idea, and Nessa had a horrible feeling she knew where this idea was heading. She went to speak but Lily got there first.

‘You can come too. Come to the beach with us. I can swim and you can watch me. It’ll be fun.’

‘I’m sure Gabriel is far too busy with work to come to the beach with us,’ said Nessa, raising her eyebrows to convey she doesn’t understand how busy and important you are.

But Lily wasn’t to be dissuaded so easily. Sometimes she reminded Nessa of her grandmother. Lily ran over to Gabriel and looked up at him.

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