Summer Evenings at the Seafront Hotel: Exclusive Short Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

no point, he wasn’t interested.’
    ‘That’s terrible.’ Cally shook her head.
    ‘Then she said that he’d find out soon enough anyway, because he worked here at the hotel.’
    Cally looked at him blankly.
    ‘I couldn’t think who she was talking about at first.’
    Cally felt sick to her stomach. Somewhere inside, she already knew the answer.
    ‘It’s Anton, isn’t it?’ she said.
    Joe nodded. ‘I never trusted that guy.’
    The name echoed around in her head.
Anton
. She’d thought that date might be the start of something. All along there had been this. How had she got him so wrong?

Chapter Six
Monday 16 th July
    The night after Valerie’s baby was born, Cally had barely slept. The events kept running and rerunning in her head. Even after she’d got the text from Liliana, saying that Valerie and her daughter Amelie were doing well at hospital, she hadn’t been able to unwind. On Sunday she went with her dad for tea at the Seafront Tea Rooms, and told him what had happened.
    She couldn’t believe she’d missed the signs. Valerie had gone through pregnancy virtually on her own.
    On Monday, Cally got to work early, and put her handbag down under her desk. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to concentrate unless she did something else first. Instead of opening her computer, she went downstairs into the kitchen.
    Anton was there, with a cup of coffee in his hand, making notes for the menu.
    ‘Cally,’ he said, looking up surprised.
    ‘Is it true?’ She said, her voice hard.
    He opened his mouth and she thought for a moment he might deny it.
    ‘We aren’t together,’ he said. ‘We never were.’
    ‘And that’s supposed to make it
better
?’
    ‘It was her decision to keep it.’
    ‘You’re incredible.’ Cally spat the words out.
    He shrugged. ‘If you want, I’ll go and see her.’
    ‘
If I want
? What does it matter what I want, Anton? We hardly know each other, and to be honest I’m quite glad about that. You have a daughter now, and she’s the important one. She deserves to be treated a whole lot better than you’ve treated Valerie. And me, while we’re at it.’
    Anton looked down.
    ‘This isn’t going to go away. You know that, don’t you?’
    He looked back at her, his eyes narrowed as if pained him to talk. ‘I’m going to do the right thing.’
    At lunchtime, Joe dropped a note on the reception desk. ‘I’ve got something for you later,’ he said. He winked and walked towards the bar.
    She opened the note and recognised Liliana’s handwriting right away.
Lunch? Now?
    So she and Liliana walked through the park in the sunshine, then settled on a bench with their sandwiches.
    ‘Is Valerie recovering OK?’ Cally asked.
    ‘She’s doing really well. Her parents have come over from France and have moved in with her to help out.’
    ‘And she’s bonding with Amelie?’
    ‘She’s completely fallen in love.’ A smile spread across Liliana’s face.
    ‘That’s great. It must have been so hard for her – I can’t imagine.’ Cally shook her head.
    ‘She’s very grateful for what you did.’
    ‘It was nothing.’
    They fell silent for a moment.
    ‘Lili, I’m so sorry.’
    ‘What for?’
    ‘I should have listened to you. I was an idiot. I couldn’t see through Anton.’
    ‘That man,’ She snarled. ‘I wanted to tell you …’
    ‘I know why you couldn’t.’ She took her friend’s hand. ‘But thanks for trying.’
    Back at her desk that afternoon, Cally noticed she had two missed calls from her dad, but when she tried to call him there was no answer.
    Concerned, she decided to go straight back home after work to check on him, rather than going to the hospital to see Valerie like she’d planned to. At the flat, she turned her key in the lock, but the door didn’t open – it seemed as if it was locked from the inside.
    She knocked loudly, then bent down and opened the letterbox. She called through it.
    ‘Dad – dad! Are you in there?’
    She closed the