Page 59

It was true. The first thing Daisy had done when she had woken up was dial Theo’s number. She hadn’t even checked what time it was. All she knew was that she needed to speak to him. But just like the girls had said, he had ignored it. Given that there was still a fair amount of alcohol in her bloodstream at that time, she had decided that perhaps it was just because it was early and had tried again fifteen minutes later. Then she had wondered if perhaps he had his phone on silent and she just needed to keep trying. Yep. The girls were absolutely right. Ringing him up hadn’t worked. And there was no way she was going to knock on his door again. Just thinking about the way he spoke to her was like having daggers piercing her heart. So what other options were there?

She thought about it for a moment before a smile twisted on her lips.

‘I know what I’m going to do,’ she said. ‘But I’m going to need you guys to look after the coffee shop. Is that okay? This might take a bit of time.’

79

It was a two-pronged attack, of which Daisy had thought the first part would take the most time, but once she sat down to do it, everything came naturally. It wasn’t her usual style of painting, but then nothing about this situation was normal. Who on earth painted pictures to get their fiancé back? But she needed to use what she was good at, and this was where her skills lay. So with dozens of pieces of postcard-sized paper stacked and ready to be used, she got to work.

The idea came from her trip around London – the visual diary she had made of her journey, using her paintings. The idea was similar, only this time, it was a visual diary of her and Theo’s journey together.

The sketches were simple outlines, with just enough detail that you could tell what was going on. The first one was of Theo standing in the shadow in theNarrow Escape, followed by one of the pair of them standing on the towpath with hands raised in what was clearly an argument. But that was where the rows ended. Next came their first trip to the boatyard, followed by their first kiss. Then came Daisy’s trip in Slimbridge, with Johnny in between them. There were so many memories shewanted to put down on paper that she could have easily spent weeks doing them all, but time was paramount and so she had to be selective. Amongst the memories she chose was the time Daisy decided she wanted to fly a kite for the first time, and so Theo took her to a kite festival. There was the day when they went to Hever Castle in Kent and the entire field was covered in bluebells and one in Heybridge, where they would frequently drive the boat too. And then, at some point, she reached the more recent paintings. The ones that were going to make her heart ache.

‘Okay, we are all cleared up for the day,’ Bex said. ‘I’m going to have to get off. Are you okay? Claire says she can stay with you tonight.’

Daisy looked up from the painting she was working on, only to find her neck muscles had seized. She had no idea how long she had been in the same position, moving from one picture to the next and back again each time a layer had dried, but it was long enough for her body to feel the effects. Still, she was about to carry on anyway when a sudden thought struck.

‘Crap, I’m meant to walk Johnny. I can’t see Theo, though. Not yet, not now,’ she said, looking at Claire pleadingly. ‘I don’t suppose you could get him, could you? And maybe walk him? I just really want to get this done.’

‘You don’t want to see Johnny?’ Claire said, sounding nearly as concerned about this comment as she had about the actual breakup.

‘Of course I want to see him. But I’ll be able to see him a lot more if I patch things up with Theo, and I really need to get this done. Please?’

‘Sure.’ Claire nodded, though the look of concern remained on her face. ‘Yes, I’ll go and get him now.’

‘Thank you.’ Daisy offered her a fleeting smile before turning to Bex. ‘And I don’t suppose you can do me a favour before you go too, can you?’

Bex looked at her, but unlike Claire, her immediate response wasn’t to smile and agree. Instead, her eyes narrowed on Daisy.

‘Why do I get the feeling that I’m not going to like this?’

‘You are,’ Daisy said. ‘I promise. I just need you to find a place for me. Well, two places, actually.’

80

The light had faded by the time Daisy finished her paintings. The last ones had definitely been the toughest, both technically and emotionally. Getting theSeptember Roseto sparkle with all the fairy lights was a hard thing to pull off in watercolours, and she wasn’t entirely sure she had achieved it. She would have certainly been able to do a better job with more time, or if she had managed to go five minutes without crying. But it was hard. Drawing Theo on one knee, there in front of Daisy as she covered her mouth with her hand in surprise, was enough to make her tear up each time she tried to finish it. Out of all the paintings, that one had definitely been the hardest so far, although the future ones – the ones she wanted him to see the most – were even tougher.

She drew the pair of them under an archway, her in a white dress and him in a suit, Johnny beside them with a bow tie in place of his collar. After that, she drew herself pushing a pram. It wasn’t meant to please him; she realised that now. She wanted everything life had to offer with Theo, and that included children. Or maybe just a child. It was only the realisation that she might not have them with him that had made herunderstand how much she truly wanted it. The future pictures didn’t stop there, though. The last one she painted they had grey hair and walking sticks, and although Daisy knew that it was impossible, she still had Johnny in the pictures, only this time he was being fussed over by young children.

When they were all done, she sat back in her seat, only to realise something was wrong. Claire wasn’t back yet.

No sooner had she thought that thanClaire walked in after a ridiculously long walk – over two hours, in fact.

‘Where did you go?’ Daisy asked. ‘I was expecting you ages ago.’

‘Yeah.’ A flash of guilt crossed Claire’s face. ‘When I got to theEscape, Theo said that he’d been cooped up most of the day and needed a decent walk, so I took him up to the pub that we went to when… when…’

Daisy didn’t need her to finish the sentence.

‘It’s okay. Honestly. Come and have a look. Tell me what you think of these.’

After washing her hands and taking off her shoes, Claire moved over to the table, where she leaned over Daisy’s shoulder to look at the paintings.

‘Daisy, these are incredible. They really are. He will see them. He’ll understand. I’m sure of it.’

It was exactly what Daisy needed to hear. She just hoped Claire wasn’t saying it simply to please her.

‘Well, I’m not finished yet,’ she said. ‘I still need to write a letter.’