Read Online The Summer Without You by Karen Swan - Free Book Online Page B

In a flash he had grabbed her, scooping her off her feet and cradling her in his arms as he headed
furiously towards the water.
    ‘Stop it! Put me down!’ she screamed, shocked and kicking her legs uselessly as he began to wade in, splashing them both. ‘You’re a bloody maniac! You can’t do
this!’
    ‘I was very clear,’ he said through gritted teeth as he stepped in deeper, moving towards the waves breaking forcefully just a few metres away.
    Ro threw her arms round his neck, holding on to him like grim death. ‘All right! OK!’ she shrieked, forced to turn her body into his to protect the camera still hanging round her
neck from the water frothing around them.
    He stopped walking. ‘Do it,’ he said, his unfamiliar voice reverberating in her ear.
    She pulled away, disgusted to be so close to him, to be held by him like this. ‘I said I would, didn’t I?’ she said furiously, her cheeks red with anger and humiliation.
    ‘You said it before too. I don’t trust you. Do it now before I drop you on your ass right here.’ He was thigh-deep in the water, his navy linen shorts well and truly soaked. If
he dropped her here, the camera would be a write-off. His face was just inches from hers, and she could see from the look in his eyes that this was no bluff: he absolutely would do it. With a
furious huff, she let go of his neck and opened up the screen again.
    ‘There!’ she said, as the bin icon popped up on the screen, tears stinging her eyes. She’d never felt such rage before – to have a total stranger accost her on the beach
like this and threaten to destroy her camera, throw her in the water . . .
    ‘Thank you.’ His voice had changed again. He sounded calm, almost polite, and as though it was normal to wade into the ocean with unwitting passers-by.
    He turned and walked them both back out of the water, setting her down on the sand gently as though he’d just rescued her. Several people had stopped to watch, and the children had come
over and were standing in front of them now.
    Ro was trembling and not just from the chill of the water. What the hell had just happened? Was this assault?
    ‘What you doing, Daddy?’ the little girl asked. She looked to be maybe three, four? Blonde bobbed hair, wide blue eyes and wearing a navy and white striped pinafore dress that looked
more expensive than anything Ro was wearing – or owned.
    ‘Just playing,’ the man said, his hand smoothing the little girl’s hair. ‘Did it look funny?’
    The girl nodded.
    ‘Me now!’ said the little boy. He was smaller, probably not long out of nappies, his hair dark brown like his father’s.
    ‘Uh-uh. Not in those clothes.’
    Ro felt another surge of anger. Oh! But it was fine to get her soaked, was it? She shook out her khaki cargoes and pulled away Matt’s grey T-shirt, which was now clinging to her skin.
    She looked up to find the man watching her. At least he was even wetter than she was. ‘Well,’ he said quickly, nodding at her, ‘thanks for being a sport.’
    Ro’s jaw dropped.
A sport?
A bloody sp— She realized he was covering in front of the children and bit her lip, certain she would draw blood. What could she say, anyway? It was
done. He’d got what he wanted, even if it had humiliated her in the process. Without a word, she turned and stomped away, back towards the car park, her breath coming in short, angry hiccups.
Her Converses were where she had left them in the sand and she sat on the wooden railing to pull them on. In the distance, she could see the man walking away after the children as they ran ahead of
him. She saw him turn after a while and look back, and she fell still, hoping he couldn’t make her out at this distance. She was completely shaken up by what had just passed, trying to rewind
the events and make sense of them.
    A car horn beeped behind her and she saw Hump leaning out of a bright yellow, long wheel-based Defender with a canvas ragtop. ‘The Hamptons