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Daisy bit her lower lip. She could sense the argument brewing, though she wasn’t sure what its focus would be or how to stop it – or if she even wanted to.

‘I was walking the dog with him. He had a dog to walk as well.’

‘And that ended with you in his flat?’

‘Yes, because he had towels to dry the dogs. And food too. He’s a dog owner, unlike Bex, and I didn’t want to track mud through her flat and I didn’t want our dog to go hungry either.’

‘You could have just borrowed one of his dog towels and a bowl of food.’

‘Did you hear what I said?’ Daisy replied. ‘I didn’t want to bring a dripping wet dog into my friend’s apartment when she’s not meant to have pets in here. Why are we even talking about this?’

‘Well, you’re the one who brought him up.’ A muscle twitched along Theo’s jawline. ‘“Gorgeous,” that’s what you said, wasn’t it? No, sorry, I remember now. It was “hot.” “Definitely hot.” And how did he describe you?’

‘I’m sorry, Theo, but is this you being jealous? Am I supposed to feel guilty about this when you spent the night after our engagement chatting to your ex-girlfriend – or was it ex-fiancée?I can’t quite remember, because she didn’t take the ring you gave me, did she?’

Daisy knew her words were harsh, but she wasn’t going to let Theo accuse her of something she hadn’t done. She wasn’t accepting his passive-aggressive behaviour.

‘Your mum said you had a fight,’ Theo said abruptly, shifting the conversation in a way Daisy suspected was an attempt to prevent her from getting mad at him.

‘Yes, we did.’ She folded her arms across her chest.

‘Do you want to tell me what it was about?’

‘Well, not that you probably want to hear it, but she doesn’t think we should get married. She thinks I lack experience in relationships and that it’ll all end miserably.’

At this, Theo looked suitably stunned. His jaw dropped. ‘Wow. What did you tell her? You told her that’s nonsense, right?’

‘What do you think I told her? No, I said I thought she was completely right and that I’d call off the engagement right away.’

His eyes widened. ‘Seriously? You didn’t?’

‘No, of course I didn’t! For crying out loud, Theo, if you don’t trust that I’d stand up for us and our relationship, and if you don’t trust that I can’t go into an attractive man’s house without – what? Undressing him? – then maybe my mum is right. Maybe we seriously need to rethink this relationship.’

‘Do you mean the engagement?’ Theo asked, looking at her with a pained expression on his face.

Daisy shook her head.

‘No, Theo, I mean the relationship.’

66

‘I think it’s over.’

Those were the first words Daisy said to Bex when she walked into the apartment several hours later. Theo had already gone and had taken Johnny with him, leaving her alone with her thoughts, which were, quite frankly, a mess.

For a while, she had considered going down to Ezra’s just so that she could cuddle Bruno and feel a little less alone, but using a man who had already said he was attracted to you for their dog wasn’t exactly the right thing to do, and she knew that. And so she sat there, alone, in silence until Bex returned.

‘What do you mean, it’s over?’ Bex said, dropping to her knees beside her. Daisy hadn’t even thought about what time of day it was, or that Bex had probably come home during her lunch break to check on her.

‘Me and Theo, I think we’re over.’

‘Don’t be silly. You can’t be.’

‘I think we are.’

Bex tilted her head to the side as she looked up at Daisy. It was like she didn’t believe anything she was saying. ‘But he proposed. He proposed four days ago, Daisy.’

‘I know. And I wish to God he hadn’t. I wish we could go back to the way things were before.’ At some point during the morning, Daisy knew she had cried, but she wasn’t sure when or how long the tears had lasted. Now, though, her throat felt red raw. As if it was all she had done.