Page 71 of Somewhere Only We Know

‘Sure, there’s no school tomorrow, so I’ll be slaving away for Dad anyway,’ she told me.

‘That would be really helpful,’ I said, but her attention had already moved to the boy jingling his car keys in the hallway.

‘Ready?’ she said, sidling up to him.

‘Are you two going somewhere … together?’ Jono asked, waving a finger between the two of them.

‘No, Dad, we’re going to sit in Tom’s car in the yard. Duh.’ She was attempting to be cool, but the tell-tale pink circles on her cheeks gave her away.

‘My Auntie Sue’s dog has had a litter of pups. Daisy wants to see them,’ Tom explained.

Do you like puppies? In a flash, Jackson’s face appeared to me in my mind’s eye. Our first date. In a dark forest by torchlight, the ebb and flow of the distant ocean waves creating our own personal soundtrack.

Jono relaxed. ‘Gotcha. Well, have fun. Drive safely with my daughter on board, Tom.’

Daisy grabbed Tom’s hand. ‘Then we’re going out for food. Bye, see you at breakfast, Maggie.’

After they’d gone, Jono puffed his cheeks out and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Jesus.’

‘Pretty girl,’ I said, sipping my tea. ‘How old is she?’

‘Fourteen.’ He smiled wistfully. ‘And growing up fast.’

Young to be dating a boy who already held a driver’s licence, I thought, but it was none of my business, so I kept my opinion to myself.

‘My girl is the best thing to come out of my marriage,’ said Jono, settling back in his chair. ‘What did Pete tell you about me and Andrea?’

Max returned from seeing off Daisy and Tom and chose to sit next to me, his chin on my knee. I stroked his head and bopped his black nose with my fingertip. He must have liked that because he stood on his hind legs and tried to lick my face.

‘The bare minimum. That you’d split up, that Daisy was living with you and that you could use a spare pair of hands during the harvest.’

‘Not only the harvest, to be honest. And we didn’t split up; she left me.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘I should never have employed a Frenchman.’

‘What do you mean?’ I gave him a quizzical look, hoping he wasn’t about to blame an entire nation for his wife’s defection.

‘She couldn’t resist his accent,’ he explained. ‘Even when he said, “Your dog has eaten his own shit,” he sounded romantic.’

I moved Max’s face away from mine, in case that had been a real quote from the Frenchman.

‘I can forgive her for leaving me. But leaving Daisy? Never.’ A muscle in his neck twitched. ‘I lost all respect for her the day she walked out. There’s no coming back from that. Daisy cried for weeks. I can handle the dent to my ego, but Daisy doesn’t understand why her mum has chosen not to be in her life anymore. Poor kid.’

Max removed his paws from my knee, padded over to Jono and gave a single low woof.

‘I know, boy, it’s time.’ He set his mug down and got to his feet. ‘Time for his walk. I’m going to head out to the vines, check we’re on track for tomorrow’s picking. I’ll leave you to enjoy the view.’

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if I could go with him, but something told me he didn’t want company.

‘I’m not here to just enjoy the views, Jono,’ I said, as he put his hat back on. ‘Put me to work.’

‘Okay.’ He looked at me evenly. ‘Can you drive a forklift truck?

‘Um …’ I winced. ‘I’ll give it a go?’

He laughed. ‘Kidding. Don’t worry, there’s plenty to do, but for today, relax, okay? Make yourself at home. Come on, Max.’

I watched them head out, silhouetted by the setting sun, Max’s nose to the ground exploring the scent of his surroundings, Jono’s attention fixed on the field of vines beyond the fence. Cold and frosty England seemed a long way away right now, and I had no rush to get back.

Chapter 24