The Summerhouse by the Sea by Jenny Oliver

Author:Jenny Oliver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

They cooked and they cooked some more, the kitchen reaching the same inferno temperatures as the sizzling pavement outside, Gabriela shouting orders, taking a seat when she got too tired, standing only to inspect the paella, a small teaspoon slurped through cigarette-lined lips.

Garlic hissed, chicken fried, crabs fizzed and stock popped in bubbles on the stove, while under the grill tortilla gently browned and green peppers spat in the pan.

Max had propped the camera up on a giant tin of olives and was playing pinball with Emilio, who’d arrived with his sister and her gang of friends, the two boys desperately trying to impress the gangly butterscotch-tanned girls chewing their lemonade straws and feigning disinterest, watching music videos on their phones.

Ava had spent what felt like hours peeling potatoes and vegetables and was taking a break for a glass of water, leaning against the kitchen door, watching the kids circling each other, while Gabriela lined up her next task.

She straightened up when she saw Tom saunter in, just as Gabriela hollered, ‘Ava, come here! There’s washing up to do. Ava!’

Tom paused when he heard the shouting and came to stand next to her, peering through the door, intrigued to see what was going on.

Ava whispered, ‘You have to save me,’ through ventriloquist teeth.

‘I have to what?’ He was confused.

‘Get me out of here,’ she muttered, before shouting, ‘Coming!’ to Gabriela.

Tom cottoned on as Gabriela bashed the kitchen surface with her wooden spoon. ‘Quickly, quickly, quickly!’ she shouted at Ava.

‘But Ava, I thought we had a lesson?’ Tom said, looking at his watch, feigning puzzlement as he frowned at her to question why she’d double-booked.

‘Oh my God, of course we do!’ Ava sighed with mock forgetfulness.

Gabriela’s face screwed up. ‘What lesson?’

‘Paddleboarding.’ Tom grinned.

Ava’s face fell.

Little Max looked over from the pinball machine. ‘Oh man, jealous.’

Ava was tempted to tell him to go instead of her – the last thing she wanted to do was make a complete idiot of herself on a giant surfboard in front of Thomas King – but then she glanced at the mountain of filthy washing up.

‘Coming?’ Tom asked, beckoning her with a nod of his head as he started to stroll out of the café.

Ava winced but then caught Gabriela watching and turned it into a weird grimacing smile. Gabriela’s eyes narrowed as she realised this was lies, but seeing it wasn’t wholly to Ava’s advantage her face softened and she trotted back to her stool with a gleeful ‘You have fun!’

Outside the weather was glorious. No sign of the howling gale that Max had predicted.

‘You get your stuff, I’ll meet you over there.’ Tom pointed to the shallows near the pontoon.

Ava shaded her eyes from the sun and peered over to the racks of paddleboards. ‘We don’t have to actually do this. I just needed to get out of there – so thanks for the excuse.’

‘Oh, we’re doing it.’ Tom laughed.

‘But I don’t really want to do it.’

‘You’ll love it.’

‘I don’t think I will. I’m not really a watersports person.

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