Page 2

‘Right, I guess I’ll see you later,’ Theo said as they stood on the towpath, although considering what a hurry he was supposed to be in, he wasn’t actually moving. Instead, he was staring at Daisy as if he were expecting her to move. And shewas going to, but only across the canal to theNarrow Escape. It didn’t really seem like that far to go.

‘Can I have a kiss?’ Daisy said, given how that was the way they always parted.

‘Of course. Of course.’ It felt like it was the first time all afternoon that Theo was paying Daisy any attention, although his lips had barely touched hers, when he suddenly jerked away.

‘Oh, what a surprise,’ he said, a wide grin on his face. ‘Look who’s here.’

2

Daisy was one of those people who had had the same best friends since school. Yes, she had met other people, made other friends too, but none had ever compared to Bex and Claire. No matter what the occasion, whether it was an hour of need, or a celebration, Daisy could always guarantee they would be the first ones there with wine or tissues or sometimes both. Normally Claire’s daughter, Amelia, would be in tow too. Though she was still too young to work, she leapt at every opportunity to come to Wildflower Lock. Once there, she would spend the time drawing or throwing rocks for Johnny – his favourite game – while absorbing everything she could about the business, ready for when she was finally old enough to help. Though while Amelia couldn’t work the coffee machine, Claire and Bex would sometimes take time out from London life, just to help Daisy out. They had even dog-sat Johnny when she and Theo had gone for a weekend trip to Edinburgh. She spoke to one, if not both of them on the phone almost every single day and knew what their plans were from summer holidays to Christmas lunch, even though it was over half a year away. Which was why seeing them there caught her so much by surprise.

‘I didn’t know you were coming down,’ Daisy said, breaking away from Theo to hug her friends. ‘What are you doing? I thought you were coming down tomorrow.’

‘We were. We are,’ Bex answered. ‘But the weather’s really good?—’

‘And she was complaining about being in the city—’ Claire cut over her friend.

‘And so we decided to come down here. See if you wanted to take Johnny for a walk to the pub.’

‘And not a moment too soon,’ Theo muttered.

Daisy turned to face him, not quite sure she had caught what he said properly.

‘What was that?’ she said.

‘I just meant that it’s about time Johnny had a proper walk, that was all,’ Theo replied. His gaze skirted past Daisy, and he looked at the girls instead. ‘We’ve had quite a lot of time in the van today,’ he said. ‘Quite a lot of driving. He’ll need a long walk. A very long walk.’

Daisy was about to ask where they’d gone and why Johnny had had to be in the van so much. Even when Theo did consultancy work – which would sometimes see him spending nights away – he always made sure that walking Johnny was a priority. No wonder he was looking stressed if he hadn’t managed that.

‘In that case, we should probably get going now,’ Claire said, at which point Theo nodded enthusiastically.

‘Yes, yes. Absolutely. You guys should go get Johnny and I should get to the shops.’

‘To the shops? I thought you were dealing with swans for work?’ Daisy said in confusion.

‘Yes, yes, I am. Only I’ve got to go to the hardware store. Before I get to the swans, we need some rope.’

Daisy raised her eyebrows. It made more sense why Theo didn’t want to take Johnny with him on this escapade, but he probably should have gone to the store to fetch the rope beforehand. After all, she wasn’t even sure it was still open.

‘Well, you guys go for a nice walk, have a nice drink. Take your time, but don’t drink too much?’ Theo said.

‘Sure,’ Daisy replied, not sure why everything felt so abrupt and odd about the conversation. Yet before she could even check if Theo was okay, or kiss him goodbye, he was already sprinting towards the car park.

3

‘Did Theo seem strange to you?’ Daisy said to the girls as they crossed over the gate towards theNarrow Escape.

‘I don’t think so,’ Claire replied. ‘He sounded perfectly normal to me.’

‘Did he really?’ Daisy wasn’t convinced. ‘I don’t know. Maybe he’s stressed. You know, it’s not like he gets a day off ever. If he’s not working on the canals, he’s working in the coffee shop. I try to tell him he doesn’t need to, but he always insists. Maybe he should book a weekend away so he won’t feel guilty for not working.’

‘I’m sure it’s just because it’s Friday,’ Bex said, joining in the conversation. ‘He’s fine. So, do you want to have a shower or something? I’ll have a quick search for nice restaurants in the area and book a table. I don’t mind not drinking, so I’ll drive.’

‘Drive to a restaurant?’ Daisy shook her head. ‘I need to look after Johnny, remember? He’s been cooped up too much today. And I thought you wanted to go for a walk too. We were gonna head to the pub. We spoke about this two minutes ago.’

Bex shook her head and rolled her eyes.

‘Gosh, sorry, crazy day. Can’t get my thoughts straight. It’s probably this heat.’