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‘Wow, it’s changed. They’ve done this up a lot since I was last here,’ Theo said, almost as if he were speaking to himself. ‘When we used to come, there were two toilet blocks and a couple of tire swings. I knew Liam had spent a fair bit doing it up, but I had no idea he’d put so much work into it. This looks good. Really good.’

The speed they were driving at reminded Daisy of theSeptember Rose. On the canal, a top speed of four miles an hour was considered entirely reasonable, and it didn’t feel like they were going any faster than that. Countless signs were posted around, declaring the slow speed limit, while also displaying warnings such as ‘Ducks Crossing’ and ‘Beware Children’. Notthat Daisy needed to see a sign for that one – it was pretty obvious. On every side of the road, children were running around and playing. Some were dressed in wetsuits and life jackets as if they had just come back from a trip out on the water, while others were riding their bikes or skipping.

‘It’s busy,’ Daisy said, stating the obvious.

‘Right?’ Theo replied. ‘Liam said it was pretty packed, but he assured me there was a free camping spot. I wrote the number on my phone. It’s forty-something, I think.’

Daisy continued to stare out of the window, trying to take it all in.

‘There’s a sign up here for the car park,’ she said. ‘I think we probably have to park up there and walk the rest of the way to the campsite.’

‘Sounds good,’ Theo said. ‘Although I hope it’s not too far. I’m starting to regret buying all that shopping.’

There were both positives and negatives to the plot Liam had designated for them. The main positive was that it looked directly out over the lake, with an unobstructed view of the water. When they finally arrived at their designated patch of land, Daisy stopped in her tracks, her breath stolen by the view.

‘This is stunning,’ she said.

The sun was on its downward descent and had coloured the clouds deep shades of fuchsia and magenta, which were reflected in the perfectly still water. Her fingers itched as she stared out at the vista. It was idyllic. Incredible. Exactly the type of place that she would love to paint.

‘Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll go back and get the rest of the stuff,’ Theo said. His voice drew Daisy away fromher daydream, and at the same time reminded her of the one negative part of their plot: it was about as far from the car park as they could get, and they simply hadn’t managed to carry all of their gear in one go.

‘No,’ Daisy said, shaking her head in response. ‘That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know how to set up this tent of yours, and you want to do the cooking. It makes far more sense for you to stay here and set everything up, and I’ll go back to the car and fetch anything we’ve left.’

‘Are you sure?’ Theo said.

‘Of course I am.’

‘I don’t mind walking with you.’

Daisy reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on his lips.

‘I might be an engaged woman, but I can still manage to walk to a car and carry a few groceries by myself.’

‘Okay, but if you need help, you only have to call me.’

With a playful sigh, she gave him one more quick peck before turning around and walking back to the car.

29

This wasn’t the first time Daisy had gone camping, but it was a very different experience to the camping holidays she had been on with her mother as a child. Then they had gone to the type of resorts where they already had the tents set up and she spent five hours a day at the kids’ club, while Pippa slept in and drank wine at lunchtime. It wasn’t always camping in tents, either. Sometimes, they stayed in mobile homes, or chalets, but the kids’ club and wine were always a common feature. Daisy didn’t think badly of her mother for that, though. Even from a young age, she’d understood that, as a single parent who worked full-time and a bit, her mother needed any chance of respite she could get. And as an only child, Daisy had enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends who she’d play with all day. But it would have been nice to have had a few more memories of her childhood that involved adventures with her mum. Like she suspected these children were getting, as they walked back to their tents with paddleboards on their shoulders and parents laughing beside them.

A slight sense of melancholy shrouded Daisy’s thoughts, but she shrugged it away. She couldn’t regret any part of herchildhood. Her mother had done what she’d thought was best and Daisy wouldn’t have grown into the person she was now without it. A person she was incredibly proud to be. Besides, they had probably made up for any missed adventures when her mum came and completed the last part of the journey from Wildflower Lock to Slimbridge. That trip felt like a year’s worth of holidays crammed into less than two weeks.

Despite the generous signposting around the park, Daisy’s lack of concentration, and desire to take in everything around her, meant that after five minutes of walking, there was no sign of the car park. Instead, she had found herself in a very different area of the campsite.

Great fire pits were set up in front of cloth tepees, many of which were opened to display the various cushions and blankets laid out inside. There were large wooden swing seats, again adorned with plush blankets, and various little gazebos dotted around the space. It appeared like several families had come together in a large group, and as the children played, the adults had set up a speaker that was blasting music into the air.

‘Wow,’ Daisy said, as she noticed that one of the parents had turned a gazebo into a makeshift bar and was busy shaking cocktails as they laughed with their friends. She had thought a couple of times about whether or not she should try to get a licence for selling alcohol on theSeptember Rose. There was definitely a market for it, at least in the summer as people wanted to cool off and quench their thirst with a crisp cider or a chilled white wine, but it was a whole heap of hoops to jump through and she wasn’t sure if she wanted the added pressure. But as she watched the families enjoying this time together, she considered the idea yet again.

After a couple of minutes, Daisy realised she had been staring for far longer than was probably appropriate and she needed to head to the car and get back to the campsite before Theo startedwondering where she had got to. And so this time, when she moved off, she made a far more concerted effort to follow the signposts.

Given how out of her way she had walked, Daisy passed two sets of shower blocks, along with a kayak hire and the launderette, before she finally reached the car park, and was about to click the button to unlock the boot of the car when a voice called out to her.

‘Daisy?’

Stopping in her tracks, she turned around, frowning, wondering why she recognised the voice. The minute she laid eyes on the person, she knew exactly why.

Daisy’s stomach dropped as her jaw fell slack at the pristine image in front of her. Of all the people she didn’t want to see right now.