Escape for the Summer (54 page)

She passed Rock Cakes, peering through the window just in case Gemma might be inside. Andi felt a pang of guilt for missing Gemma’s big night. She hoped it had all gone well. When she managed to charge her phone she’d text Gemma an apology.

“Andi! Hey! What are you doing here? I was just on my way back. I’ve got us some lunch.”

Jonty was striding towards her, a brown paper bag from the deli swinging from his hand, and his face was aglow with pleasure at the sight of her. Andi’s treacherous heart lifted before it came plummeting down to earth again. She wanted nothing more than to turn time back, to not have heard Jax’s ugly words and seen that triumphant sneer. How could he look like her Jonty, still have that smile that made a flutter of butterflies take flight in her stomach, and yet be a total stranger?

Her head ached. It just didn’t make sense. Just being close to him was overwhelming. She wanted nothing more than to step forward and feel his arms close around her, and it took every ounce of self-control she had to step back when he went to kiss her. The expression of hurt on Jonty’s face took her breath away.

“What’s wrong?” Jonty said. Concern was written all over his open features. “You look really upset. What’s happened?”

Andi was silent for a moment. She simply didn’t know what to say.

Jonty’s eyes searched hers. “You can tell me, whatever it is, Andi. You can tell me anything.”

Andi’s patience finally snapped. “Like you can tell me anything, you mean?”

Although tanned from the sun and the wind, Jonty paled.

“You’ve spoken to Jax.” It wasn’t a question.

She nodded. “She’s told me everything.”

“I doubt it,” Jonty said. He ran a hand through his hair, looking lost for words. “Jesus, Andi, I didn’t want you find out like this.”

“You didn’t want me to find out at all!” The words flew from her lips like bullets. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth, Jonty? Why did you lie to me? Couldn’t you trust me? Or is it true, I’m just a bit of summer fun for a bored rich guy?”

“Of course that isn’t true!” Jonty shot back. “How can you even say that? You know me, Andi,
me
!”

She stared at him. “Do I? The man I know lives in his sister’s pool house and fixes boat engines or mows lawn for money. He has an old boat and loves watching the wildlife on the river. That’s the man I know. The other one, the CEO of Safe T Net, is a stranger.”

“Hardly a stranger. You were talking to me for months when I was managing the floatation,” he pointed out. “PMB? Andi, that was me!  It’s amazing.  We were already friends in cyber space before we even met!”

“And just when were you planning to share that piece of information with me?”

Jonty looked stricken. “I wasn’t deliberately
not
telling you. I didn’t realise for ages that you were the person I’d been talking to at Hart Frozer. You never mentioned that you worked there, remember?”

“I hardly think not telling you where I once worked is the same as totally lying about my entire identity! I don’t know you, Jonty. I haven’t a bloody clue who the real you is. How do you think that makes me feel?”

“This is the real me!” Jonty’s bright eyes flashed, like the darting wings of the kingfishers in the reed beds. “That’s the whole point of this. You have seen the real me.
This
is whom I am, me here right now, holding a bag full of brie and grapes and trying to convince the most amazing, wonderful, sexy woman I’ve ever met not to walk out on me. The rest of it is bollocks.”

Tears stung her eyes.

“It might all be bollocks to you but it isn’t to me. You lied to me, Jonty. Not just once but for weeks and weeks and weeks. At what point did you just happen to forget you were a multimillionaire and businessman? And Mel and Simon lied too. Simon probably only gave me the job because of you.”

“No way! He gave you that job on your own merits.” Jonty stepped forward to try to hold her but Andi raised her hands to ward him off.

“I can’t believe a word you say,” she told him. “How can I when it’s all been a lie? How could you have spent last night with me and still not told me the truth?” Her voice caught in her throat and tears threatened to blur her vision. “You had every opportunity to tell me the truth but you didn’t. You’re as much of a liar as Tom.”

Jonty looked as though she’d slapped him.

“If I told you that I’ve tried a hundred times to tell you, would it make any difference? I’ve lost count of the times I’ve almost told you. But Andi, I loved the way things are with you, the way that I can just be myself – my real self – when we’re together. You see me, the real me, and I can’t tell you just how wonderful that is. I couldn’t bear the thought of spoiling it. It sounds wanky I know, but my life has turned upside down. One minute I was renting a room from a mate and writing a computer program; the next the whole deal went mental and I was richer than God.” He pulled a wry face. “I’ll confess it turned me into a bit of a prick for a while, but I was still the same guy.”

Andi said nothing. She didn’t think she would ever get over the fact that he’d lied to her. In her mind Jonty’s deceit was interwoven with Tom’s.

“You didn’t trust me,” was all she could say.

Jonty looked bleak. “If you’d been through what I’ve been through you’d find it hard to trust too. Jesus, you’ve met Jax. It crucified me when she left and it was a million times worse when she came back just because I was rich. But Andi, I was going to tell you about me; you have to believe that.”

Did she believe him? Andi wanted to but right at this minute the pain of being deceived, even by omission, was too much to bear.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he said. “I wanted to but it never seemed the right time and, stupid as it sounds, I was scared.”

“We all get scared,” Andi said bitterly. “But this is something else. I don’t know who you are, Jonty, and I don’t think I ever did. “

He looked at her long and hard. “Nothing I can say is going to change the way you feel about me now, is it?”

She shook her head. It was over before it had even begun. This was probably a good thing. At least he’d never hurt her again and she’d never face the pain of being abandoned when Jax next clicked her fingers or a stunning model type came along. It was probably for the best. Jonty was, and always had been, way out of her league.

“I don’t think so,” she whispered.

The fight seemed to seep from him.

“Fine,” said Jonty defeatedly. “You can’t handle the truth, I get it.”

“The truth I could handle; being lied to and made to look like an idiot I can’t,” she said softly. “Goodbye, Jonty. Enjoy the rest of the summer.”

With her shoulders back and her head held high, Andi walked away. Tears stung her eyes but she knew she was doing the right thing. Of course she was. Men lied and cheated and only let you down. Why waste any more time on Jonty? He was the worst of the lot. Stepping away now was going to save her a whole world of pain a few months down the line when he got bored or decided that the chilled-out life in Cornwall was no longer quite so exciting.

No, this was definitely the right thing to do.

Which just raised one thorny question: why then did it feel so totally and utterly wrong?

Chapter 48

The champagne cork exploded from the bottle with a loud pop and a hiss of foam. All eyes in The Wharf Café swivelled to the furthest table at the end of the balcony, where a group of people were toasting each other and laughing. It didn’t really need the opening of the champagne to grab the attention of the other customers: the presence of a major TV star – who’d been splashed across the papers all week long – was quite enough to make them whisper behind their menus, and the stunning blonde pouring the bubbles into glasses was already attracting glances. Add to that an oligarch who looked as though he’d be more at home torturing Bond, an ex-City trader turned cake-maker to royalty, a genuine viscount, plus the heir to one of Britain’s biggest pet-food companies, and the eclectic mix was bound to draw attention.

Partying at lunchtime and midweek, the group were certainly having the time of their lives. Even the infamous TV star didn’t look very sad about his public humiliation; instead he was smiling at a girl whose tumbling blonde curls and eye-watering curves would have had
Playboy
sign her on the spot.

Their good mood was infectious. Lashings of sunshine were pouring down from the sky in celebration with them while the dark clouds on the horizon stayed firmly in the distance, as though reluctant to spoil the festivities. Even the seagulls strutting along the edge of the rooftop didn’t interrupt with their usual squawking.

Angel raised her glass and grinned at the others. She was so over the moon that they had not only listened to her idea but liked it, she was practically in orbit. It had taken all the courage she possessed to visit each one and put her plan to them. Even though Laurence had assured her that she was onto something good, and she was convinced that this was the biggest stroke of genius since the invention of the wheel, everything depended on the other parties agreeing to it. After arranging to meet everyone here she had been on tenterhooks all morning and had almost driven Laurence to distraction. Combined with a late night worrying about her sister’s whereabouts that had only ended once Andi had texted to say she was with Jonty, it was amazing that Angel hadn’t started to gnaw her new acrylics all the way to her elbows. The last twenty-four hours had been beyond crazy.

“So, we’re all agreed, then? You really want to give it a shot?” Angel gazed at them all nervously. As, one by one, they nodded, her heart began to thud with excitement. Call it instinct, call it business acumen, call it psychic powers, call it whatever you wanted – Angel knew with every fibre of her being that this was something good. Something huge.

Mr Yuri, resplendent in a tight white suit that made him look like an obese version of the man from Del Monte, slammed his glass down on the table while his wife nodded like the Churchill dog.

“I have not ever given my backing to a project that fail! With my team to help, it will be beeg, beeg success. Is very good idea. I tell Abramovich and he say, ‘Yes, is very good.’” Already he was tapping away on his BlackBerry with his sausage fingers, and when he looked up Angel could almost see pound signs in his eyes. Phew. The concrete boots could go right to the back of the metaphorical shoe cupboard.

“I second that,” agreed Dee. “The business plan that Anton and I will put together will help to make some forecasts, but my gut feeling is that this has the ingredients to do very well indeed.” Holding up her hands she began to tick them off on her fingers. “Baking is huge business at the moment, the nation still loves reality TV, we’ve got an A-list celebrity on board as a big name – and throw into the mix a dilapidated mansion—”

“Steady on,” said Laurence, looking hurt. “Kenniston isn’t that bad.”

“It bloody well is,” Angel said firmly. “Babe, I’m still thawing out! But that’s the whole point. It’s kind of
Downton Abbey
meets
TOWIE
meets
The
Great British Bake Off
, with a dollop of Sarah Beeny and
Made in Chelsea
thrown in.”

“Which is what makes it such a fantastic pitch,” Cal added. His brown eyes were bright with excitement and it said everything about Angel’s idea that he was more interested in discussing it than reaching for the breadbasket. “Mike and I had a preliminary chat with ITV2 and they made some very positive noises. They like the idea that this could cash in on my latest escapade and actually turn it into a positive for us. Jaysus, who’d have thought it? Being papped stuffing me face could be my best career move yet. And it’s all thanks to Gemma.”

Gemma blushed. “I don’t think I can take the credit. They also loved the idea of being able to give the BBC’s
Bake Off
a run for its money.” She entwined her fingers with Cal’s and smiled at him adoringly. “Paul Hollywood had better watch out. There’s a new sexy TV baker in town. The female viewers will go crazy.”

Cal kissed her. “I only have eyes for you, Gemma me darlin’!”

God, I must be going soft in my old age
, Angel thought, because her eyes were going all misty. It was wonderful to see how happy Cal and Gemma were together. Since the night of the play when he’d declared his feelings in such a dramatic fashion, Cal hadn’t let Gemma out of his sight; they were like Siamese twins joined at the lips. No wonder Gemma was losing pounds: she was far too busy snogging to eat!

“And you’re really happy about this?” Angel turned to Laurence. Kenniston was his ancestral home and she knew just how much it meant to him. Would he really want to fling open the doors and invite the world inside? Although the Elliotts were only months away from finding themselves in serious danger of losing the place, she knew that the changes she had in mind would alter life at Kenniston forever. Lady Elliott had been surprisingly thrilled; she was a massive fan of Cal’s apparently, and an even greater fan of Travis, who had leapt at the chance to be involved and invest a chunk of his inheritance. Angel knew that he was still riddled with guilt from almost running Gemma over with his speedboat and, naughty as it was, if this was his way of atoning then she wasn’t about to tell him that Gemma had long since forgotten about the incident.

Laurence just raised her hand to his lips and brushed his mouth across the soft skin. Delicious shivers of desire dusted her limbs and suddenly she longed for everyone else to vanish so that it was just the two of them again. It was little short of miraculous that she’d actually managed to drag herself out of bed to put her idea into action.

“It’s the answer we’ve all been looking for,” he said firmly.

“Even you, Gemma?” Angel was worried. She’d sat down with Gemma and Cal, since he was the key to her idea succeeding, and they’d both been very enthusiastic. Gemma, who’d been inundated with rave reviews following her performance in
Twelfth Night
, had since turned down a plum TV role. Her ex-agent, Chloe, had called the day before, frantic to make amends and convince Gemma to sign a contract, which Gemma had flatly refused to do. Angel hated to think that Gemma might yet again be putting her own dreams on hold. She gave her friend a hard and searching look. “I don’t want you stepping away from your acting because of this. I don’t want anything else to get in the way of all your dreams.”