‘I need to be in Pretty Beach again. I miss you. I miss the shop. I miss walking down the hill and seeing the bay. I miss all of it. It’ssoweird; it’s like it crept up on me or something.’
‘It has a habit of doing that.’
‘So, what are you doing right now?’
‘Pretending to work. Half a reel, one draft caption and a mug of cold tea.’
‘I miss your cold tea. Even that.’
‘Ha. right, well, I did have an idea when you mentioned bringing your mum down before. Holly has a string of holiday cottages and there might be one of those available because of the time of year. I’ve had a look at Pete’s bookings, but there aren’t any with a long stretch free. Plus, Holly’s places are next level and I think your mum would love one of them. Shall I ask Chloe to see what she can do?’
‘Yes.’
‘What, so you’ll just work from down here and do the same as you were doing before your mum went into hospital? I mean, you’ll go up on the train when you need to, yeah?’
Miles sighed. ‘I don’t even need to do that very often. Nowadays, everyone works from home and does video meetings anyway.’
‘Hmm, right, yes, true.’
‘So, really, it doesn’t make any difference where I am in the world. For instance, I was just on a video call with someone in San Francisco, a tech start-up we’re investing in over there. It’s all so easy and literally on my phone.’
‘I suppose it is. Location no longer really makes a difference.’
‘No. Anyway, look, speaking of video calls, I have to shoot off and then I’m going to see Mum. If you can find a cottage, that would be great. I am going to make this happen.’
‘You’re sure you want to do this?’
‘I am and then we need to have a proper conversation about where we go next.’
‘We do?’
‘Yep.’
‘About what?’
‘Look, Daise. I know you’re concerned about the twins, but I feel like a bit of a spare part.’
Daisy frowned. She was the one who’d felt like a spare part and had wondered what was going to happen. ‘Okay. meaning?’
‘Meaning we need to talk about it properly. Sorry, I need to go.’
‘Okay, speak to you later.’
‘I love you, Daise.’
‘Me too.’
When the call ended, Daisy sat with the phone in her hand and looked around at the shop. The sun was slanting across the mat near the door and the light caught a vase of garden flowers on the counter. Miles had shown his cards and despite the flapping mouths of the school mums, it appeared that he was in for the long haul and was going to address it.
Daisy still didn’t know exactly what was going to happen next, but she knew this much: she was in the place she adored, doing the thing she’d dreamed of and the man she loved had just told her he loved her back and wanted to be with her. That wassomething and everything else in between. What else did Daisy Henley need in her life? Not a lot.
32
The next day, Daisy was pottering in the kitchen not long after doing the school run and seriously contemplating what she was going to do if and when GayesBooks moved into Pretty Beach. The kettle gave a loud click as it switched off and steam floated up against the windowpane above the sink as she poured hot water into the teapot. Outside, the rooftops of Pretty Beach glistened in morning sunshine. A very fine layer of thin mist curled between chimneys and there was the faintest trace of woodsmoke in the air. Inside the bookshop kitchen, Daisy stood in her slippers and one of Annabelle’s cast-off cardigans, holding a teaspoon in one hand and trying to remember how many extra jobs she had to do for Suntanned Pete that day. The kitchen smelled of toast and apples and the cereal bowls needed clearing away, as did a hairbrush, the butter dish and Evie’s scarf, which was hanging on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. Somehow, they’d made it out of the house on time that morning and Daisy was now back and ready for a day of work.
As she started to potter and tidy the kitchen, she pondered the fact that Miles had sounded serious on the phone that he wanted to talk and wondered what he wanted to say. She wasn’t really sure what she thought about any of it and whetherbringing his mum to Pretty Beach was a good idea. It wasn’t that she didn’t want his mum there, per se. She didn’t really know her well and she wasn’t about to turn anyone away who needed a bit of convalescing and sea air, but it came with quite a bit of weight to it. A sort of expectation and solidification of the Daisy and Miles story.
After spraying and wiping down the kitchen, she moved to the bookshop and stared out the window for a bit and looked out at the laneway wondering what it might look like with a GayesBooks sign. A man in a high-vis jacket was walking a dachshund in a cable-knit jumper and next door’s hanging basket had given in to the chill and gone crispy. Her phone buzzed with a reminder about a click-and-collect order from the chemist and she tucked herself into the squishy armchair behind the desk and started answering emails with her tea balanced on the arm and a tea towel folded under the mug to stop it staining the fabric. After drafting a reply to Lotta about a reading club event, she started writing up a caption for a carousel of her favourite autumn reads. Something light and warm to make people smile when they saw it pop up on their phones.
