‘Was it attached to anything?’
‘Not that I saw. A bunch of it was lying there like it had been forgotten.’
‘Right. Let’s see what we can do.’
It took the better part of twenty minutes to get the rail fixed under the shelf. Pete grumbled, made a comment about how nothing was ever level in the old buildings of Pretty Beach, and Daisy made two cups of tea and hoped that the drill wouldn’t wake the girls. By the end of it, the shelf was up, the rail was solid, and the whole wall looked different and more pulled together. In actual fact, the tiny little kitchen in one fell swoop looked instantly better.
Daisy stood back and looked at it properly. ‘What a difference! I can put the mugs up, hang the colander, get the frying pans out of the drawer and swoosh around as if I’m in a cookery show.’
Pete nodded and picked up his mug. Daisy got a packet of custard creams from the table, pulled open the top, Pete took three and started dunking them in his tea. ‘Yeah, who would have thought an old piece of pipe would look that good? You should put a few in the shop, too.’
‘It’s coming together.’
‘It is. You’ve done well, Daise. Just like I said you would.’
Daisy smiled as they chatted and felt quite pleased with herself. The shelf was up, the rail was in place and she had morestorage space. She picked up the bag of new hooks from the worktop and started to slot them onto the pipe.
Pete hadn’t made a move to leave. He’d wedged himself into a kitchen chair with the last of the custard creams in his hand and had taken his sunglasses off properly, which usually meant he wasn’t in any hurry. After slotting all the hooks on the old pipe, Daisy stood with her back against the sink, tea mug in hand, watching him scoff the biscuits as if they were going out of fashion.
‘Right,’ Pete said, licking a crumb off his thumb. ‘Now that your saucepans have a proper home and your shelf isn’t falling off the wall, I’m going to ask the question of the day.’
Daisy narrowed her eyes. ‘Sounds ominous. What question?’
‘How’s it going with Mr City Boy?’
Daisy sipped her tea and gave him a look. ‘Don’t call him that. He’s renting a temporary flat down here now. You know that.’
Pete stretched out his legs under the table. ‘I’m only pulling your leg. He’s just very smooth and polished. He even smells expensive.’
Daisy chuckled and joked. ‘He always smells nice. It’s the skincare.’
Pete shrugged. ‘Skincare? Now you’re the one pullingmyleg. I’ve got skin like an old boot that doesn’t need pampering.’
Daisy giggled. ‘No argument here.’
Pete raised his eyebrows. ‘Go on then. Answer the question. How’s it going with him? Your mum said it’s getting quite serious. I mean, he’s rented a pad down here…’
Daisy stared into her tea. She didn’t like discussing her personal stuff, but Pete had known her since she was a tot and had helped the Henley women more times than she could even remember. If anyone got to ask, it was him. ‘It’s going really well.The renting thing isn’t just about me. He’d been thinking about moving out of the city for a while. This just gave him the push.’
Pete nodded. ‘It sounds like there’s a “but” coming.’
Daisy twisted her mug in her hands. ‘Bells, said that, too. I’m a bit wary, Pete. That’s all.’
‘Wary of what?’
‘Of getting too used to it and letting it all get stitched into the everyday of me and the girls. Everything feels good in my life and well, he’s steady and I don’t trust steady. You of all people know why.’
‘You’re allowed something steady, Daise. Look at this place. It’s why I mentioned it to you in the first place. It has given you a place to settle.’
‘I know, but I keep waiting for something to go wrong. Like if I start believing it’s real, I’ll jinx it. Do you know what I mean?’
Pete leant forward on his elbows. ‘That’s not how life works.’
‘Isn’t it? How do you trust people?’
‘Good question. Why do you feel like that?’
‘He vanished when we were first going out. Remember I told you that?’
