Page 112 of Playing for Keeps

“How about I call Eva’s mum and have a chat with her about everything …”

“No way.” Her eyes widened. “You can’t do that. It’s so embarrassing.”

“But she could talk to Eva. I’m sure if the girls know their messages upset you, they’d be more sensitive …”

“No!” She glared at him. “Promise me you won’t call anyone’s mum.”

“Okay. But why don’t you talk to the girls yourself? That might help.”

“Maybe,” she said. “I’ll think about it.”

“Maybe we can think of something fun for you to do with them too. Make up for the stuff you missed out on.”

“Like what?” she asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know. The cinema? Bowling?”

“Sounds like an eight-year-old’s birthday party.”

“Speaking of birthdays,” he said, “what do you want to do for yours?” It was less than two weeks away and usually she’d have been excitedly planning by now.

“I’ll just have a sleepover.”

“You could also do something with your friends in the afternoon.”

“A sleepover is fine.”

“Okay.” He patted her leg. “Whatever you want. In the meantime, I’ll talk to your mum and sort everything out. Don’t worry about it. You talk to your friends about your birthday. Maybe they have ideas about what you could do as well as a sleepover.”

“Thanks, Dad.” A hint of a smile played at her lips. “So will you see if Allie’s free tonight?”

He got his phone out and felt horribly guilty at the sight of another message from Allie. She wrote that she had a shift at the restaurant but hoped to speak to him later.

“She’s working,” he told Emmy, feeling a rush of disappointment. Having solved one problem in his life, he was suddenly keen to tackle others.

“I’m feeling much better,” Emmy stated with a mischievous grin.

“That’s good.”

She nodded eagerly. “I feel so much better that I’d really like to go out for dinner.”

“Would you now?” He raised an eyebrow. “Would you like to go to the restaurant at the golf club, by any chance?”

“You have the best ideas,” she said mockingly.

CHAPTER 40

In the time that Allie had been in Hope Cove, she hadn’t worked a shift where Kevin wasn’t at the golf club. Of course, on the day she wanted to speak to him, he was nowhere to be found. Apparently he wouldn’t be in at all on Wednesday, which left Allie getting on with her restaurant shift while her brain whirred over her conversation with Phil.

Who on earth were Stephanie Michaels and Jacob Mills? And why were they being paid so much without working? It had crossed her mind that Kevin could be funnelling money out of the business by way of fake employees, but she didn’t see him as a likely candidate for embezzlement. Gross incompetence, maybe, but not fraud. But surely he wasn’t incompetent enough that he could have accidentally added two employees to the payroll.

The restaurant was quiet, and with Freddie working too, there was far too much downtime for Allie’s liking. In a particularly vulnerable moment she messaged Hugh again, then cursed herself. As though two unanswered messages didn’t look desperate enough, she’d added a third.

Why wouldn’t he reply?

An hour later, she was pouring drinks when her phone lit up with a new message. Seeing it was from Hugh, her heart leaped. Even if he was angry, it would be better than the silent treatment.

The message wasn’t angry. He apologised for not being in touch sooner and told her they’d speak soon. It was a little vague but it was better than nothing, and she felt instantly lighter. She’d try calling him after her shift. Hopefully they could chat things through and she’d be reassured that everything was okay between them.

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