Page 75 of The House Swap

There were two messages waiting on the screen, but to her relief they were from Jem and Tom.

First, she replied to Jem, who was checking in on her, letting him know she was okay, then she opened Tom’s message.

Happy Monday, Pops. I’ve got a flight back to London this morning. Am I okay to crash at your flat again?

Instead of typing a reply, she tapped the call button, needing to hear his familiar voice. He answered on the third ring.

‘Good morning, trouble,’ he greeted her.

He sounded so warm and familiar, it wrapped around her like a blanket and suddenly she wanted to cry. She wished he was here in Crete.

‘Hi,’ she managed, her tone soft.

Tom being Tom, he picked up that something was wrong immediately. ‘You sound tired.’

‘Yesterday was a weird day,’ she confessed.

‘I thought you were having dinner with your friends?’ he asked, and she could hear the frown of concern in his tone.

‘I did. It’s just…’ She fell silent, unsure where to even begin.

‘Talk to me, Pops. What’s wrong?’

He sounded so worried about her, and after another moment of hesitation, she found herself telling him more than she had planned.

Not everything. She was still embarrassed describing the dinner scene in full, but enough to explain the strange tension of the evening and the uncomfortable feeling that something had been off.

Tom listened without interrupting.

‘I ended up running out of their villa,’ she admitted, her face hot with the humiliation. ‘And then I walked back.’

‘All by yourself?’

‘I didn’t dare go back. And I couldn’t get a signal to call a taxi.’

‘Oh, Poppy.’ For a moment, it sounded like there was pity in his tone and she cringed, but then he added, ‘I’m so sorry you were made to feel like that.’

She swallowed down the ball of emotion in her throat, grateful he understood. If Keira had been here, she would have told her if she was overreacting. But she wasn’t. At least she still had Tom to steady her.

‘I keep wondering if it wasn’t them. If it was me imagining half of it,’ she whispered.

‘I know you and your instincts are pretty solid,’ Tom quickly said. ‘So I doubt that.’

Poppy sat up, pushing her hair back from her face with her free hand. It was Monday morning and she should really be trying to do some work. Not lying in bed feeling sorry for herself.

She moved to the window, pushing open the curtains.

‘Everything just feels… wrong lately,’ she confessed. ‘I came here for a break, but since Keira left, I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind. I mean, first the stuff in the villa that I can’t explain, then last night.’

‘Hey, you’re allowed to feel rattled,’ Tom said quietly. ‘You’ve had a lot thrown at you in a short space of time.’

His tone had softened in a way that made her feel calmer.

Drawing in a deep breath, she stared out through the window at the glistening pool on the terrace and the bright blue of the sea beyond the olive trees. The water seemed calmer today. She just wished she felt the same.

‘I hate doubting myself like this.’

‘I know.’