Page 63 of The Key to the Last House Before the Sea

GABRIEL

Gabriel felt his shoes sinking into the sand and shaded his eyes with his hand. He should have brought his sunglasses but they were still in the glove compartment of his car – which would be like a sauna by the time he got back to it.

Part of him wished he’d resisted Lily’s pleas. He’d been going to, until she’d declared that being too busy to see a dolphin was sad and he’d realised that she was right.

He was too busy to have any kind of life outside work. Too busy to meet friends, too busy to paint, too busy to fall in love. And he’d been alarmed by how panicky he’d got after losing his work phone this morning – though some of the panic had stemmed from the grief he was anticipating from his father.

So he’d said yes and highjacked Nessa’s trip, which she obviously wasn’t happy about. And here he was in this absolutely beautiful cove.

Nessa had brought him down a path he would never have noticed on his own. It was overgrown in places and narrow, but it led to a perfect beach that was invisible from the land above.

‘It’s amazing here,’ he said, taking in the china-blue sea lapping at the soft sand. He’d been on exotic Caribbean beaches that paled in comparison to this hidden gem.

‘It’s unspoiled because so few people know about it,’ said Nessa, taking the basket from him that he’d carried down the path. ‘The locals know about it, of course. But lots of them are working today, or they’ll have headed for the beach at Heaven’s Cove. This one isn’t the easiest to reach and it disappears at high tide so this area isn’t practical for development.’

Gabriel frowned. Did she really think he was going to poach this cove and build houses on shifting sand?

He took off his shoes and shook out what felt like half the beach.

‘Are you keeping your socks on?’ snorted Lily, already stripped down to the swimsuit she was wearing beneath her shorts. ‘You look funny.’

He supposed he did look funny, standing on a beach in a heatwave, in his suit and socks. Nessa, beside him, was dressed far more appropriately in blue denim shorts, and a white, sleeveless top.

Lily had given up waiting for an answer about his socks and was running towards the sea, keen to splash in the water. She stopped and waved at Nessa, who smiled broadly and waved back.

Nessa and her daughter belonged here, and he did not. A rush of sorrow took Gabriel by surprise. He didn’t belong here and yet he didn’t really belong in London either. What was there in the city for him, apart from a 24/7 job, and persistent heartburn, which seemed to have vanished in Devon?

He was, he decided, as homeless, in his own way, as Nessa. And this trip to the beach wasn’t proving to be as much fun as Lily had promised.

He sat down on the sand with a whump, took off his jacket and pulled off his socks. At least he wouldn’t look quite so out of place with bare feet.

Nessa sat down beside him and pulled her knees up under her chin.

‘Lily loves it here.’

‘I can see why.’ Gabriel squinted at Lily, who was running, squealing, into the sea, her hands sweeping through the waves that swelled against her knees. ‘Can she swim?’

‘Like a fish.’

‘I suppose she would, being brought up on the coast.’

‘Can you swim?’ asked Nessa, looking across at him.

‘I can, though I didn’t learn until I was older than Lily. I was brought up in Wimbledon so it was the local baths for me, rather than the sea.’

He thought back to his one-on-one swimming lessons at the local swimming pool. He’d been frightened of the water at first but his father had insisted he go every week, even though the chlorine made his eyes sting and he had nightmares about sinking beneath the water.

He’d thought his father was being unkind at the time, but maybe he’d been right. Gabriel had learned to swim in the end, though he never went swimming now. Not even when he was in some flash resort with white sand and sea the colour of lapis lazuli.

‘Penny for them,’ said Nessa, pulling sunglasses from the basket and putting them on. Gabriel wished again that he’d brought his sunglasses, and a hat. It was so hot.

He undid another button on his shirt and Nessa smiled.

‘You can go crazy and undo four buttons if you like. I won’t tell anyone.’

She was making fun of him, but it was gentle and he didn’t mind. When he undid another couple of buttons on his white shirt, Nessa glanced at his chest before looking away, out to sea where Lily was still whooping and splashing.

‘Do you ever strip off?’ she asked, then her cheeks flared red. ‘I mean, in the sunshine. Do you ever ditch the suit completely?’

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