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‘And what did they say?’

‘Honestly?’ he spoke through a hiss. ‘You’re probably better off not knowing.’

The words churned in Daisy’s stomach. So no apology then. It was clear that whatever they had said had been enough to upset Theo, although Daisy suspected that any harsh comments were probably directed at her. Was she being too sensitive? That sounded like a line Ice Queen Penelope would have used. Wanting people to be decent wasn’t overly sensitive in Daisy’s book. It was just called being nice.

Trying to shake Penelope to the same place in her mind that she had just banished Heather, Daisy looked up at Theo and smiled.

‘Well, I’m sorry if what they said was upsetting, but they are not the priority of this weekend. You and I are. And I think camping sounds perfect.’

One of the things Daisy loved about her and Theo’s relationship was how he always seemed to know the right thing to say when she was struggling, and when Theo’s face lit up, she knew she had managed it for him, too. His eyes twinkled as his smile broadened.

‘You’re right, it is,’ he said. ‘You and I will always be the priority. Now, let’s go camping.’

27

The first stop was to a nearby supermarket to stock up on provisions, though Daisy didn’t go into the shop with Theo. Instead, she used the opportunity to text Bex and Claire and keep them up to date on progress, mainly that they were abandoning the parents’ house and going camping and that she was going to believe Theo when he said it was all a simple mistake not telling her about the proposal to Heather. As for the ring, she wasn’t exactly sure where she stood on that one. She knew it had sentimental meaning for Theo, but it was still hard not to look at it and see him proposing to Heather too. Though maybe, she hoped, those feelings would change with time.

After taking almost as long in the shop as he had collecting the camping gear, Theo appeared at the car, laden with bags.

‘I thought we were only camping for one night?’ Daisy questioned as she watched him pile all the things into the backseat.

‘We are, but we’re camping in luxury. I borrowed Dad’s old portable barbeque, but I needed to get some coals for it. Just because we’re sleeping outside doesn’t mean we can’t dine well.’

According to Theo, the camping ground was about a thirty-minute drive away, which seemed a fair distance, considering how he had mentioned that this was someone he had grown up with.

‘We met at boarding school,’ Theo explained. This part of his past Daisy did know about. Just like she knew he had only gone there for a couple of years.

‘He’s pretty much the only person who I still keep in touch with. We shared a dorm my first term there and my last. It’s funny, you know, he always said that as soon as he could, he would get out of the Lake District. Make something of himself. He always insisted that the last thing he wanted to do was run his parents’ place.’

‘So what happened?’ Daisy asked.

‘I don’t know. He went and worked in London for a couple of years, and even did a stint working in Asia, but I guess this place draws a lot of people back in the end.’

When he finished speaking, Daisy turned her head and gazed out of the window. The long summer nights meant the sun was far from setting, but a dusky, muted light was reflecting off the hills and trees, creating a shimmering, almost ethereal look. Yes, she could see that growing up in a place like this would call back to you. The thought caused a knot to tighten in her stomach.

‘What about you?’ she asked.

‘What about me?’ Theo replied.

‘Does it draw you back? Have you always thought you’d end up back here in the end?’

Rather than replying immediately, Theo continued to gaze out of the window, his brow furrowing just a fraction.

‘I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. When I left, I hadn’t planned on it being forever, but apart from the scenery, I guess I don’t have much to come back for. Most of my close friends have moved on, my sister’s settled up in Scotland with no intentionof ever moving back, and as for my parents… Well, I guess you understand why I tend not to visit that often now. Although to be fair, today they were pretty vile. From what I gathered, Dad spent all day yesterday playing golf and Mum was pissed off at him. Still, that doesn’t excuse her behaviour at all.’

No, it didn’t, Daisy thought. It wasn’t as if Daisy hadn’t had issues with her own mother over the years. Behaviour like the previous night, when Pippa had drunkenly insulted someone’s pastries, were getting increasingly common and then there was the entire thing about hiding her past and the truth about Daisy’s father until it was too late for them to make amends. But then her mother did amazing things for Daisy, too. Like finishing the trip to Slimbridge with her, and finally giving her all of Johnny’s old paintings. If her mother had been like Penelope, she suspected she would have left as soon as she was able to live on her own and possibly never come back, but she also knew that that was far easier said than done. It didn’t matter how mad they drove you, family was family. She knew that.

As she daydreamed, Theo reached across and took her hand.

‘All I know is that my home now is wherever you are,’ he said, taking his eyes momentarily off the road so that he could flash her a smile. ‘And I don’t care if that is on a narrowboat in the Essex countryside, or a tent in the middle of the Lake District. It’s you and me, Daisy May.’

Daisy was about to respond, a smile forming on her lips, when a large signpost came into view on the side of the road and Theo flicked on the indicators. Slowing down, he readied to take the turn.

‘This is us,’ he said.

28

When Theo had said ‘camping,’ Daisy had envisioned rough pathways and a trek into the middle of nowhere, perhaps to a near-empty field with a dodgy-looking toilet and shower block, or a place to put a disposable barbeque, but what she was seeing was a long way from the rustic image she had imagined. As they drove down the newly tarmacked road, they were led by various signposts, pointing out everything from the children’s playground to the boat hire and the park shop. There were also several signs pointing to glamping tepees and shepherds’ huts.