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‘Heather?’

30

Daisy was gawping. She knew she was, though in her defence, there were several reasons. First, she had spent the entire time since leaving Theo’s parents’ house trying not to think of this particular woman, and now found herself face-to-face with her. It was as if her worst fears had manifested. The perfect daughter-in-law, the woman Theo should have married, was there, standing in the car park only feet away from her. But that wasn’t the only reason Daisy was staring, because along with Heather’s perfectly curled loose ringlets, impeccable make-up and faultless taste in clothes, she was sporting something Daisy had never seen her wearing before: a very large baby bump.

‘Heather,’ Daisy said again. Apparently, the ex’s name was the only word she could manage.

‘Yup, it’s me.’

When Daisy finally drew her eyes away from Heather’s belly, her line of sight only moved slightly to her left hand, where two gold rings were sparkling in the evening light, one of which had a huge diamond in the centre.

As the silence stretched between them, Heather let out a light chuckle, breaking the tension that was even more pronounced than during tea with Theo’s parents.

‘It’s fair to say that quite a lot has changed since you and I last saw each other,’ Heather said. ‘I guess that if you’re here, it means that you and Theo are still going strong?’

Daisy wasn’t sure why her eyes immediately flicked down to her own left hand as Heather said this. Why her attention locked on Theo’s grandmother’s ring. Perhaps it was just a reaction to seeing Heather’s own ring, or maybe because she wasn’t sure how Heather would react at seeing it on Daisy’s finger. Still, there was no way she could hide it, and the minute she looked down, Daisy knew Heather’s line of sight followed.

‘Wow, so things are still going well,’ Heather said, her eyes widening at the gem. ‘Congratulations.’

‘And you too, of course, for the baby. And the marriage. And, yes, congratulations.’ Daisy could hear herself stuttering away and was pretty sure she sounded incomprehensible. But what else was she meant to say? Congratulations was the right thing, wasn’t it? Yes, she was sure it was, which was why she carried on. ‘It’s brilliant news. Wonderful. Absolutely fantastic.’ She wasn’t sure how she was going to stop or if she even could when, without warning, Heather stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her in a hug. Well, as tight as the bump would allow. When she stepped back, her face was beaming.

‘I really am so happy for you guys,’ Heather said. ‘I know it was a little weird there for a while, when Theo and I were still clinging on, trying to make things work, but thank goodness they didn’t.’

‘Yes, yes,’ Daisy said, not sure why the words were sticking to the back of her throat all of a sudden. Another silence started to swell and Daisy had a sudden sinking feeling that perhaps Heather was going to invite them to join her for a drink.

‘So we are staying in the yurts—’ Heather began, almost certainly confirming Daisy’s fears. So before she could say any more, Daisy cut across her.

‘Well, I should get our things from the car. We are only staying one night and Theo’s already cooking. I don’t want him to worry that I’ve fallen into the lake or something.’

Daisy chuckled, but unlike Heather’s light laughter, which sounded almost ethereal in its breathy effortlessness, Daisy sounded more like a chicken who had got its neck caught in a fence.

Still, Heather’s soft smile was nothing but polite. ‘Of course. Absolutely. Perhaps I’ll see you around.’

‘Yes, yes, of course.’

‘And don’t forget to send Theo my love.’

‘Right. Your love. Of course,’ Daisy said, then before Heather could say anything else, Daisy turned around and was practically sprinting the last few feet back to the car.

31

Daisy didn’t have to tell Theo she had bumped into Heather, she decided as she walked back to the camping plot with her arms laden with bags. She could just pretend she had got lost and say that was why it had taken her so long to get back to the car. It would be true, after all. Or partly true. It wasn’t like she had spent anywhere near as long talking to Heather as she had wandering aimlessly around, looking at all the scenery. And it wouldn’t be as if he could judge her for staying silent on the matter. Starting a conversation about Heather when Daisy had been doing everything she could to forget about her was the last thing she wanted to do. And it wasn’t like she expected Heather to come wandering over to their side of the campsite, where people pitched up their little tents on small patches of grass. Not when she was staying in the luxury yurts.

Daisy thought through the practicalities of keeping the encounter a secret. They could turn in early for the night, then wake up early and head back to the hotel. Even if they couldn’t check in until later, it would be perfectly possible to avoid her.

But… Daisy knew the counterargument was going to win before she even tried to convince herself. No matter how muchshe wished otherwise, she couldn’t keep this from Theo. For starters, there was the fact that Heather might seek Theo out, and if she did, it would certainly come out that she and Daisy had shared an earlier conversation and Daisy would be left trying to explain why she hadn’t said anything without making herself sound like a jealous, paranoid girlfriend. Then there was the fact that the last thing she wanted to do was start keeping things from her fiancé only twenty-four hours into their engagement. That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. There was also a third reason that Daisy couldn’t keep seeing Heather from Theo. One she wasn’t aware of until she arrived back at their plot, where the tent was already up and large, orange flames were billowing on the fire.

‘Hey,’ she said, as she opened the tent and prepared to put the bags inside. Only before she could move that far, Theo was on his feet. With his hands around his waist, he smiled broadly, but only momentarily, before his expression dropped and his eyes narrowed on her.

‘What happened?’ he said. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

Daisy released an internal sigh that was somewhere between relief and disappointment. She should have known Theo would spot something was wrong with her straight away.

‘A ghost,’ she said with a groan. ‘That’s one way of putting it.’

32

Daisy took in a deep breath. Theo was staring at her, his eyes filled with concern, but her throat had done that same clogged-up thing it did earlier when Heather tried to speak to her.