A Summer to Remember. Sue Moorcroft

face heated up. ‘If I interfered, it was totally unwittingly—’

      He waved her words aside. ‘I’m not blaming you. Gen began demanding answers and I handled it badly. I was honest, I suppose, but not particularly gentle. She asked me if I loved her and I sort of became paralysed. So she ended things. I hate that me not wanting to commit definitely – or indefinitely – caused her pain but I can’t force feelings I don’t have.’ He dunked another biscuit.

      Clancy froze. His words had jolted her heart into an uncomfortable rhythm. ‘You feel bad because you can’t care for her as much as she wants you to?’ she clarified.

      ‘Basically.’ He popped the biscuit into his mouth.

      She felt clammy. ‘Why should you share your home with someone if you don’t want to?’

      He nodded as he swallowed. ‘That’s it. I live alone because I like it that way.’

      A sigh slipped out from somewhere deep within her heart. ‘That must be how Will felt too. Have you got someone else?’ She was probably getting all up in his business even voicing the question but he was being pretty open with her.

      His hand froze over the biscuit packet, his black eyebrows up in his hairline. ‘No! I haven’t cheated.’

      ‘That’s a significant difference.’ Now Aaron had provided the key to the puzzle she felt compelled to share what it unlocked. ‘Will does love someone else. Her name’s Renée. He’s loved her for years but she married a friend of his so he presumed it was hopeless. Then she came back into his life as an employee of an IsVid client. She was single again and his old feelings flooded back.’ She stopped to ease the tightness in her throat with a gulp of coffee. ‘He didn’t know how to tell me … so he kept quiet. I thought it was from malice but what if he couldn’t tell me out of affection? I found out about Renée in a particularly horrible way, but he couldn’t help how he felt about her and he couldn’t help how he felt about me.’ She suddenly realised that Aaron had abandoned the biscuits in favour of holding her hand.

      ‘That’s crappy for you,’ he said feelingly.

      ‘For him too,’ she acknowledged for the first time. She’d punished Will for something he couldn’t help; was punishing him still.

      Aaron seemed at a loss for an answer. When they’d sat in silence for several minutes, she got a hold of herself and introduced a new subject, one unlikely to lead to as much heart-searching as the last. ‘Do you know a couple of teenagers called Harry and Rory?’ Her voice came out reedy and she battled to make it sound normal as she explained how she’d met them. ‘They had me really worried when they didn’t come straight back up to the clifftop.’

      Aaron grinned ruefully, accepting her change of topic. ‘Harry Drew’s my second cousin’s son. He’s a live wire all right. I expect they hid out on Secret Beach to give you a scare.’

      She screwed up her forehead. ‘The beach at the foot of Zig-zag Path? I ran back to look and I couldn’t see them.’ She remembered the minutes of worry that she’d have to take action when it felt as if a wrong choice could mean the difference between life and death.

      ‘That’s Zig-zag Beach,’ Aaron said. ‘If you go off The Leap, which most of us have tried at some time, between where you land and Zig-zag Beach there’s a tiny cove that disappears at high tide. We call it Secret Beach. You can swim to Secret Beach from Zig-zag Beach if you don’t want to go off The Leap – which is about as high as those boards the Olympic divers go off, so not recommended for poor swimmers or anyone of a nervous disposition.’

      Glad to focus on a nice safe emotion like indignation, Clancy withdrew her hand from his large, warm one. ‘The little gits! I was running backwards and forwards like an idiot.’

      ‘Yes, they’re pranksters. They have too much time on their hands.’

      They chatted about the village for a little longer, then Aaron rose, clicking his fingers and interrupting Nelson’s snooze on the sofa, which he’d crept onto when no one was looking.

      She accompanied them to the door. ‘It’s a shame everyone focuses on the negatives of this village. No village hall, no pub, nothing for youngsters. But it’s beautiful! You have the sea on your doorstep, the salt marshes either side, flint and chalk cottages, pretty gardens and a real community. My stress levels dropped the moment I drove into Nelson’s Bar. Although that wasn’t hard at the time,’ she added fairly.

      He smiled down as he opened the front door and the sea breeze romped in to blow his hair forward over his face. ‘You should be the village’s PR officer.’

      ‘PR came into everything at IsVid. Except writing terms and conditions or privacy policies.’ She sighed, wondering how everyone was getting on without her. Without her. Her heart flinched.

      Hoping it didn’t show, she stooped to ruffle Nelson’s fur. ‘I was thinking today that I’ve never had a dog.’

      Aaron moved out into the porch. ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to practise on Nelson tomorrow? Mum has him if I’m working somewhere I can’t take him, which is much of the time. With Aunt Norma being on that walking frame it might be awkward though. He tends to get up on his hind legs to greet people and might bowl her over.’

      ‘I could,’ Clancy said impulsively, liking the idea of a bit of a dog-share. ‘The garden here’s secure, isn’t it?’

      ‘It is. Are you sure? I was half-joking, really.’ He looked from Nelson to Clancy and back again.

      She was gathering enthusiasm for the idea though, envisaging walking around the leafy lanes with the big dog beside her and having something – someone? – to talk to in the Roundhouse. ‘Of course! At least, let’s try it. Bring him tomorrow and see if he settles. What kind of dog is he, anyway?’

      Aaron regarded his pooch gravely and Nelson flattened his ears and grinned. ‘He looks like a wolf, stands on hind legs like a meerkat and plays on his back like a bear cub. He’s just a Nelson.’ After they’d made arrangements for the next day, Aaron stepped out into the dusky evening and left. Clancy stayed at the door, watching.

      She felt a sudden prickle run over her skin. She wasn’t watching the way Aaron’s body moved so easily under his clothes, was she?

      No, she told herself, stepping back indoors. She was admiring the grace of her new borrow-dog loping at his side.

      Obviously.