Abigail didn’t like to ask what the falling-out was about. She guessed it must be serious.
Joss shrugged. ‘I thanked Lili for her offer, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea.’
‘What happened?’ she blurted before she could stop herself.
‘When we were teenagers, I got Nate into trouble, big time. It was at a party up at the house where he was living with his grandfather. I expect you know that his parents, Ray and Sarah, were too busy with their careers, and they didn’t want a latchkey kid, so they sent him here to live with his grandfather. Well, I kinda gate-crashed his party when I was visiting my uncle that one time, years ago. It was a stupid thing to do, but there you have it.’
Abigail looked at him. ‘Was that it? He couldn’t forgive you for gate-crashing a teenager’s party? Sounds a bit lame, if you ask me. He must hold a grudge quite easily.’
‘Well, I was going through a bit of a rough patch at the time, and I may have tried to steal some stuff.’
‘What stuff?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You don’t know what you were trying to steal?’
‘That’s right. I found an old wooden summerhouse at the bottom of the garden and tried to break the lock, figuring no one would hear me from the house and there had to be something valuable inside for it to be locked.’
‘So, what happened? Did you find out what was inside?’
Joss shook his head and threw her a disarming smile. ‘No. His grandfather came home early and threw a hissy fit, even though I barely scratched the lock, and grounded Nate for a month after threatening to send him packing back to his parents in London.’
‘He’s still mad at you about that?’
‘Apparently so. It’s my own fault for attempting an apology, which didn’t go down well.’
‘So, Lili phoned Ray for you.’
‘Yes. There are no vacancies in the hotels in the town. I think there is a special concert being held in Snape Maltings, and the rooms have been booked for some time.’
‘Poor Ray – he’s got someone coming over for dinner, so I had to skedaddle for a couple of hours while he cooked her dinner.’
‘I know of a vacancy.’ Abigail was thinking of the room set aside for her at her mum’s guesthouse.
‘Really?’
‘It’s up the coast a bit. The guesthouse at Shingle Cove.’
‘Hey, I’ve heard of that. It’s got great reviews.’
‘It’s my mum’s guesthouse. She does really well out of it. When they realised I was down here, they kept a room back for me, expecting I’d be staying with them.’
‘Ah, but you’ve got the cottage.’
‘Exactly. But the room is still available. Top floor. Views of the cove.’
He smiled. ‘Well, if you put it like that …’
Abigail frowned. She’d just remembered that her little sister now had that room. ‘Actually, I don’t think it’s that room that is available. But do you want me to ring the guesthouse? I could do it right now.’
Joss gazed back at the houseboat. ‘I wouldn’t want to offend him. He’s such a nice bloke. He went out of his way to put me up even though he doesn’t know me from Adam – just did his friend a favour.’ He looked at her. ‘Yeah, I’ll take it, then I can tell Ray his houseboat is free for the evening.’
Abigail frowned. ‘Except it isn’t. I’m here.’
‘Oh, dinner isn’t until eight. I thought I’d shove off because he said he had company. Turns out that’s you.’
‘I’m not having dinner with him, though.’ Abigail didn’t want him to think it was a social call. ‘I’ll phone my stepdad, make sure the room is still available.’