Read Online One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon - Free Book Online

looks across the table at me and grins. I know she wants to talk to me about Joe, but she can’t until he’s back inside. I’m acutely aware of his presence around us – I can hear him clinking glasses together from the other side of the beer garden, and when my ears fail me I seem to have an innate sense of his whereabouts, even when he’s behind me. Finally Lizzy raises her eyebrows and leans in for the kill.
    ‘Is he a good kisser?’
    ‘Mmm.’ I try to keep a straight face.
    ‘On a scale of one to ten?’ she asks.
    ‘Off the scale.’
    ‘No!’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Have you . . .’
    I know what’s coming.
    ‘No.’ I shake my head abruptly.
    ‘Okay.’ She seems to relax a bit. ‘But you really, really fancy him?’
    ‘Can’t you tell?’
    ‘Does he have a brother?’
    I start to laugh, then remember that it’s not funny. ‘He does, actually.’
    Her eyes light up.
    ‘But you’d never go there.’
    ‘Why not?’ she asks with a mixture of disappointment and curiosity.
    ‘He’s in jail.’
    I explain to her about Ryan – what I know of him, anyway.
    ‘Joe doesn’t talk about him much.’
    ‘Too busy kissing you,’ Lizzy teases. I don’t deny it. ‘I hope you’re not going to do a Pippa on me,’ she adds jokily.
    I try to laugh off her comment with a roll of my eyes. ‘Not likely,’ I reply.
    ‘Good,’ she says, laughing. But I know she’s worried. She’s worried about losing me, about us drifting apart, going in opposite directions . . . This is one relationship which she has no part of, and that’s unsettling.
    We move onto the subject of Joe’s parents.
    ‘Is that his dad behind the bar?’ she asks.
    ‘Yes. I don’t know where his mum is – with a bit of luck, she’s upstairs for the night.’
    ‘I can’t believe she called you a cheat in front of everyone! Still, he’s worth it, right?’ Another grin, another raised eyebrow.
    ‘I bloody hope so.’
    By ten thirty, my friend is fading, and we still have to walk home.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ she says. ‘These last few weeks have been exhausting.’
    ‘I know,’ I murmur with sympathy. ‘I feel so bad that you’ve had to go through all that.’
    ‘Fingers crossed the worst is over.’
    ‘I’m sure it is,’ I say, although I have no idea. ‘I’ll let Joe know we’re leaving.’
    He’s popped out to see us every so often with drink refills, when he’s been able to escape unnoticed. I haven’t dared to go into the bar, even for a loo break, but now the alcohol is giving me some much-needed courage.
    ‘I’ll come with you,’ Lizzy decides, grabbing her bag.
    We walk inside. To my dismay, Joe’s mother is now serving. Thankfully Joe sees us before she does. His wary look in her direction, however, doesn’t go unnoticed.
    ‘We’ve got to head off,’ I say.
    ‘I’ll walk you out.’ He motions to the door.
    I turn and glance in his mum’s direction, and at that same moment she looks up and sees me. Her mouth is set in a hard, thin line. Permanently? Perhaps.
    ‘Can’t you stay a bit longer?’ Joe asks us when we get outside. ‘Then I could walk you back.’
    ‘Sorry,’ Lizzy interjects. ‘It’s my fault. I’m really tired, with everything that’s been going on recently . . .’
    ‘Of course, of course,’ Joe says quickly.
    ‘We’ll see you tomorrow?’ I ask hopefully. We agreed yesterday that he shouldn’t come to the cottage while Lizzy is there – three’s a crowd, and all that.
    ‘Definitely. Come over as early as you can.’
    ‘JOE!’
    We turn to see his mum come around the corner of the pub.
    ‘I’ll be there in a minute,’ he says wearily.
    ‘You’ll be there right bloody now!’ she snaps.
    ‘I’ll be there in a minute,’ he says firmly.
    The look on her face . . . Uh-oh.
    She storms towards us. Joe steps in front of Lizzy and me, protectively. What the hell does he think she’s going to do?
    ‘Get your arse inside right this second!’ she hisses. She jabs her finger at