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Looking puzzled, Joss smiled at her. ‘Follow me, I’ll take you to Ray’s houseboat.’
Abigail got out her phone and rang Gerald as she followed Joss along the riverbank. ‘Oh, hi Mum.’ She hadn’t expected her mum to answer the house phone. Normally, she was too busy with the guests to get to the phone. ‘Oh, Mum, you haven’t rented out my room, have you?’
Abigail frowned when her mum immediately jumped to the conclusion that she was going to stay at Shingle Cove. ‘No, it’s not for me. I have a friend who needs a room for a few nights if you still have that vacancy. She smiled when mum replied that the room was still available. ‘Great. Can you reserve it for Joss—’ She didn’t know his surname.
‘Hold on …’ She hurried forward to catch up with him. He’d stopped beside a planked jetty leading to a houseboat that Abigail thought looked totally out of place here in an English harbour. ‘It’s a floating house,’ she blurted. ‘Oh, I’m not talking to you, Mum.’ She said again, ‘Hold on.’ Abigail caught up with Joss. ‘What’s your surname? I’m booking you in.’
‘It’s Wheeler.’
Abigail nodded and repeated his surname on the phone. ‘Mum – are you still there?’
‘Er, yes. Actually, I think that room may be booked now.’
‘Pardon, you just said a moment ago—’ she paused, thinking of Joss’s uncle, wondering if Gerald had mentioned that horrible man to mum. Or whether his reputation had preceded him. Abigail turned her back to Joss and lowered her voice. ‘Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but Joss isn’t his uncle. He is very nice.’
There was a moment’s silence before her mum said, ‘Okay, I’ll book him in.’
‘Good. I’ll let him know.’ Abigail turned around to find Joss standing beside her, grinning. He’d overheard the booking was confirmed. ‘Is the room prepared if he wants to come now?’ She was looking at Joss as she said this. He gave her the thumbs up.
‘It is? Great.’ Abigail followed Joss along the wooden jettytoward the houseboat. There was a gate halfway along with a sign saying,private.They passed through the gate. Abigail was still listening to her mum on the phone, who was asking when she was coming over to visit. ‘Soon, I promise,’ Abigail replied. ‘By the way, how’s Emily?’
‘She’s feeling much better, so will be returning to her job at the Hall.’
Abigail felt awkward telling her she hadn’t been doing Emily’s cleaning job, although Carys had reassured her that her sister’s position was still there when she got over the flu. Abigail was about to tell her mum that when she heard a doorbell down the phone. ‘Have more guests arrived?’
‘Yes, sweetheart, so I must go. I’m glad you phoned, though, so I could tell you Emily will be back next week, so you won’t need to go to the Hall anymore.’
Abigail didn’t get a chance to tell her about the work she was doing with Oliver on the Somervilles’ accounts before she rang off. She thought perhaps it was just as well, otherwise her family might think she was moving down there permanently.
