‘Oh, good. What’s the next level?’
Daisy didn’t miss a beat. ‘He gets his toolbelt out for you without you asking.’
Miles snorted. ‘I’ll take that as a badge of honour.’
Daisy felt herself settle slightly. ‘I know I should be stronger, not to let stuff like that bother me, but well, it’s not been easy since I had the twins.’
‘You’re strong enough. You just don’t need to waste energy on people like Georgie Porgie or Georgina or whatever her name is.’
‘She’s been around forever. She’s like one of those weeds that keeps popping up even when you think you’ve pulled the roots out. She had a right old ding-dong with Xian from the bakery once. Honestly, no one likes her around here.’
‘Well, I reckon she’s jealous.’ Miles noted.
‘Jealous? Pah! Of what? Of me? No way.’
‘You’ve got something she doesn’t. You’ve built something and you’re doing well. End of story. That irritates the heck out of some people. You know, some individuals just cannot stand to see other people doing well.’
Daisy made a face. ‘An old bookshop, a cleaning job and overdue invoices? Really? Jealous of me? I don’t think so.’
‘A lovely life, a proper family. You’ve built a world around you that works. That’s what she’s jealous of or threatened by, more like. It’s not rocket science to work it out when people do stuff like that.’
Daisy folded her arms and looked out of the kitchen window. The glow of the streetlight was shining faintly onto the back garden of the block, bouncing off the glass of a greenhouse behind. The whole building smelt of warm food, lemon, fresh basil and something just baked. ‘Yeah, I need to stop second-guessing everything.’
‘Then do.’
‘It’s not that easy.’
‘It is, if you trust me.’
Daisy glanced at Miles and screwed her face up. ‘Do you really get what you’ve taken on or are getting into?’
‘I haven’t had to help with recorder practice yet, but I’m braced for it.’
Daisy laughed. ‘No one in their right mind can prepare for that.’
‘I get it. You’ve had to do everything on your own for so long, and it’s worked. You’ve made it work. So now the idea of letting someone in feels like a risk.’
‘Exactly. If I do, it’s all out of my hands.’
‘Not really. You’re still in charge. I’m just along for the ride.’
‘You really don’t care what people say, do you?’
‘Nope, Ireallydon’t. I couldn’t give a stuff about anyone else. There is one reason I’m here. You’re well aware of what that is.’
‘You’re very confident in all this.’
‘Because I know what I want and I’ve already got it. It’s simple. Honestly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about, Daise.’
Daisy didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything, she just let him pull her in for a hug and felt herself sink into his shirt. His arms around her felt better than ever.Safe and just lovely and as if it had always been meant to be. ‘What if you wake up one day and realise you want something different? Something easier? I have a lot of complications in my life.’
‘I’ll let you know, but if I were after easy, I’d be somewhere else, dating someone who didn’t own a bookshop and live with twins I cannot tell apart.’
‘Nice.’
‘You’re not easy. You’re better than easy. You’re worth it.’
‘Is that a shampoo advert?’
