I bet you did, thought Simon.
‘But what if Alastair hadn’t been stung by the jellyfish?’ asked Sorrel. ‘That was, after all, quite random, wasn’t it? Or are you saying that was fate?’
Valentina raised an eyebrow. ‘Who is to say I did not help fateun petit peuby making that jellyfish sting Alastair so that I could rescue him?’
Amidst the laughter, and thinking that fate had clearly had nothing to do with Alastair being ensnared by Valentina, he’d as good as had a target on his back, Simon said, ‘I’ve always believed we should expect the unexpected, but never trust it implicitly. Human nature being what it is, we turn things into what we want them to be.’
‘Valentina, you’ll have to excuse Simon,’ said Alastair, ‘he’s a boringly cynical lawyer.’
‘Dad might be cynical,’ said Rachel, ‘but I agree with him.’
Callum scoffed. ‘That must be a first.’
‘No, he’s right. I did that with Paul, I badly wanted him to be The One, but I can see now it was all in my head. He was on the rebound, needed an ego-boosting girlfriend after his ex dumped him, and along I came, a handy diversion to get him over Perfect Paula.’ She shook her head. ‘And look how well that turned out.’
‘Don’t be too hard on yourself, love,’ Simon said kindly. ‘You win some; you lose some. You did nothing wrong.’
‘Other than ignore what my closest friend was saying.’ She turned to Jenna. ‘You kept trying to make me see sense, didn’t you, but I wouldn’t listen?’
‘That’s what friends are for, to be ignored,’ said Jenna with a smile.
‘It certainly is,’ said Simon, catching Alastair’s eye, ‘but let’s not forget that friendship is like marriage; it’s for better and for worse, till death do us part.’
Rachel looked impressed. ‘Dad, that might well be the smartest thing you’ve ever said.’
‘Oh, I’m full of smart stuff like that, it’s just nobody ever listens to me.’
They were packing up to go home when Alastair approached Simon on his own. ‘Are you going to be like this the whole time Valentina is with us?’ he demanded, his voice low and tight.
‘Like what?’
‘Needling the whole time, trying to make Valentina feel uncomfortable.’
‘I don’t know what you mean. We’ve all been enjoying ourselves here this afternoon.’
‘Come off it, Simon, you know full well what I’m talking about. Going on about friendship being like marriage, till death do us part, hardly subtle, was it?’
Simon felt his cheeks colour with indignation. ‘It’s true though, isn’t it?’ he retaliated. ‘The three of us have been through thick and thin together. We’ve always been there for each other.’
‘And why the hell do you think that is going to change?’
Simon sighed deeply. ‘It’s already changing, old buddy, you just can’t see it.’
‘All I can see is a jealous friend trying to offend the woman I love.’ He pushed a hand through his hair and rubbed at his chin hard. ‘You all want to stay the same, but I don’t. I want to grab hold of life and wring from it every last drop of hope, love and opportunity. So just give it a rest, will you? Leave Valentina alone. If not for my sake, then for your own.’
‘My sake?’
‘Yes, you’re embarrassing yourself.’
Simon took a step back. ‘I don’t believe this, you’re talking to me as if I were a child.’
‘That’s because you’re behaving like one!’
Not since they’d been at school and fallen out over something petty and instantly forgettable had they ever had an angry exchange like this. The crushing humiliation of Alastair’s rebuke felt like a punch to his gut and made Simon realise he was on a fool’s errand – there was no saving Alastair from this woman. She had him hook, line and sinker. She had not come here to make friends with any of them; she was absolutely here to separate them from Alastair. And look how easily that was happening.
Not even twenty-four hours at Linston End and already she had driven a wedge between him and Alastair.
Chapter Thirty-Three
