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“I feel ill,” she cried. “And you don’t believe me.”
He sighed, not sure what to say since she was right – he didn’t believe she was ill. Clearly she was upset though, and he couldn’t exactly force her to go to school.
“Okay,” he said on a sigh. “I’ll call the school.”
She nodded and wiped at her tear-soaked cheeks with the corner of her duvet.
“Do you need anything?” Hugh asked.
She shook her head. “I just want to sleep.”
With work increasingly feeling like the only part of Hugh’s life that he was in control of, he closed the door to Emmy’s room and made for his office. After a quick call to the school to say that Em wouldn’t be in for the day, he pulled his keyboard out of the drawer and switched the monitor on. It sprang to life with the design for the golf course open, reminding Hugh of his lunch plans with Allie, which he’d have to cancel.
With his phone to his ear, he rubbed at the creases on his forehead as he told her they’d need to postpone.
“It can’t be helped,” she said, but the disappointment was evident in her voice. “I hope she feels better soon.”
“I don’t think she’s really ill.” Hugh leaned back in the chair, arching his back until he felt his spine crack. “I told her I was having lunch with you. I think that’s the real problem.”
“She was trying to sabotage our date?” Allie asked dubiously.
“I don’t know.” He really didn’t want to think the worst of his daughter, but his gut told him that was the issue. He only wished he knew how to deal with it.
“Did you try asking her?” Allie said a touch impatiently.
“She doesn’t seem to want to talk.”
“You should ask her outright. Everything is easier to deal with when it’s out in the open …” She paused and growled a curse.
“Are you okay?” Hugh asked.
“Yes. I just realised I need to take my own advice about getting things out in the open.” She paused again. “This is really awkward, and I really wanted to tell you in person, but I just need to tell you.”
“You’re making me nervous.” The ensuing silence made him even more nervous. “What’s going on?” he asked cautiously.
“My dad owns the golf course,” she said in a rush.
“Yeah.” Hugh pressed his fingers to his forehead. “You already told me he owns a golf course.”
“Not a golf course. He owns Thurley Beach Golf Club. We lived here when I was little. Then Dad had this idea of a chain of golf courses, so they bought one in Surrey. Mum died a few weeks after we moved there. We stayed in Surrey but he held onto Thurley Beach club. Dad put shares in my name so technically I own it. I’m the majority shareholder.”
“Of Thurley Beach?” He closed his eyes, not entirely sure he’d understood correctly.
“Yes. I should have told you ages ago …”
“Wait … how come everyone thinks you’re just a waitress?”
“Because I let everyone believe that. We wanted to get a proper picture of how the club was being run, so my dad had this idea of me working there as a waitress.”
“You’ve been working undercover in a place you own?”
“Yes.”
“Right.”
“It was a stupid idea to start with – especially since the club seems to be running well. Mostly it was just my dad scheming to get me to take a break. But that’s not even the point. The point is, I wanted you to know the truth …”
“Okay.” He couldn’t quite take the information in, so he was struggling to come up with any comment.
