He looked at me and chewed his lip and I made a point of looking anywhere but into his spellbinding green eyes. I wasn’t sure how I had been expecting him to react to my announcement, but the fact that he wasn’t reacting at all was horrible. He could have at least asked what had prompted my decision or whether I might change my mind. Not that I would have known what to say in response.

‘You can leave it where you found it.’

‘Under the pot on the doorstep,’ I said for confirmation and he nodded. ‘Okay,’ I said, walking back into the bar. ‘That’s where I’ll leave it.’

‘You know, Tess,’ he suddenly said, closing the hatch between us again, ‘you really aren’t the person I thought you were when you first arrived.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah,’ he carried on, not caring to lower his voice. ‘For a while, I had you down as someone who had fallen in love with Wynmouth. I thought you got the place and really wanted to see it thrive, but now I know it was all a sham. I daresay you actually wanted everything you suggested to fail, didn’t you?’

‘What?’

‘We all thought you were the sort of person who could make a difference,’ he said bitterly, ‘and you did have us fooled for a while, but you’re not the girl I thought you were, Tess Tyler.’

I had no idea what he was talking about and it was on the tip of my tongue for me to blurt out that he hadn’t been the boy I’d thought he was either, but I’d learnt my lesson when it came to making rash announcements in packed bars so instead I turned away and walked out.

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I didn’t pack properly before I went to bed, thinking that a good night’s sleep would be of more benefit than time spent sorting and tidying. And besides, that would be a welcome distraction to busy myself with when I got up and was waiting for the courier to deliver the phone I no longer needed. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep, but lay awake scrutinizing Sam’s words and wishing that I’d never set foot in Wynmouth again.

I wasn’t in the best of tempers by the time I realized sleep was never going to come and my mood slumped even further as I trundled down the stairs only to be disturbed by a far earlier than expected knock on the door.

‘This isn’t the slot I booked,’ I snapped. ‘What’s the point in me paying for timed delivery when you don’t stick to the schedule?’

I wrenched the door open, my best scowl in place as I made ready to take my annoyance out on the driver, but it wasn’t the courier.

It was my father.