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9

The evening wound down a little before midnight. The children that had come with their parents were all asleep, either on the sofa or on one of the beds, and Claire and Bex began washing up as a way to make it clear that it was time for people to get moving. By quarter past twelve, it was just the four of them that remained.

‘So, what about tomorrow?’ Daisy said to the girls, as she thought through what her plans for the weekend were going to be. Another early morning was the last thing on her mind as she sat on her sofa with a cup of chamomile tea. She was exhausted, what with the walk and the exceptionally late night, but every time she glanced down at her finger and saw the engagement ring sparkling away, she felt a burst of adrenaline that caused her pulse to race and suddenly she felt wide awake again. Somehow, Daisy didn’t think the drink was going to be enough to send her to sleep, but she would use whatever help she could get. ‘I take it you’re not coming up tomorrow evening too?’ Daisy said.

Claire and Bex exchanged a look before glancing at Theo and smiling.

‘Well, actually, we thought we might stay the full weekend, if that’s okay?’ Bex said.

‘The entire weekend?’ Daisy said. ‘Then what are we going to do?’

‘Well, I think you should probably tell her this part, don’t you, Theo?’

Daisy really didn’t know what was going on, but she was sure it wasn’t just because she was tired. When she looked at Theo, she noticed a peculiar nervousness twinkling in his eye. Much the same as the one she had seen before he had sent her off on her walk. But he couldn’t be proposing again. He had already done that. Which meant she had no idea what was making him act that way. Unless she was just imagining it.

‘Theo?’ Daisy pressed. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Bex and Claire have offered to run the coffee shop for the weekend. I knew you wouldn’t want to miss out on any business. Not while the weather’s this good.’

‘And Johnny,’ Claire interrupted. ‘We’re looking after Johnny while you’re away too.’

‘So, where are we going?’ Daisy asked, wishing they would just give her a straight answer to what seemed to her a very straightforward question. And yet, Theo’s nervousness kicked up by yet another notch. She could see it in the way his hands fidgeted on his lap and the way he repeatedly bit down on his bottom lip. It hadn’t been her imagination. Theo opened his mouth to speak, but all of a sudden, Daisy didn’t need him to. She knew exactly where they were going. The one place that would make him act like this.

‘Well, I thought we could go up to Yorkshire,’ he said, confirming she was right. They were going to Yorkshire.

Daisy’s heart did a double somersault and landed substantially lower than where it had started.

‘Yorkshire,’ she repeated, still not sure she believed it was true. ‘You mean I’m going to meet your mum and dad?’

10

While Bex and Claire stayed on theSeptember Rosetogether so that they could open up the coffee shop early, Daisy and Theo headed back to theNarrow Escapewith Johnny, although just as Daisy had expected, falling asleep was the last thing on her mind. It was well past 1a.m. and they were still wide awake, talking about the night and the neighbours and how lovely it had all been. And as she rested her head on Theo’s chest, listening to him talk, Daisy couldn’t help but keep glancing at the ring that sparkled on her hand.

‘Are you sure you like it? If not, I’m happy for us to choose something together, if that’s what you’d rather,’ Theo said.

Daisy sprang upwards. ‘No, I love it. It’s perfect. Is it antique?’

‘It was my grandmother’s,’ he said.

A new sense of emotion tightened in Daisy.

‘Your grandmother’s? Does that mean you’ve already told your mum and dad?’

‘Not yet. I thought we could do it together.’

Since announcing the trip to Yorkshire, where Daisy would finally meet Theo’s parents, Theo hadn’t brought up his mumand dad again, and neither had Daisy. It didn’t feel like the type of conversation they should have in front of the girls, but they had been alone for quite some time and still neither of them had mentioned the impending introductions.

Despite all the time they had been together, Daisy hadn’t so much as spoken to Theo’s mum or dad on a video call. It was strange, given how well Theo knew Pippa, but they were a different type of family, he had assured her.

‘It’s not a big deal. We’re just not that close,’ Theo had told her before. ‘Three visits a year is the most I can handle and even then, we only ever do a couple of days. Any more than that and we end up wanting to tear each other apart.’

‘Was it always that way?’ Daisy had asked. It was a relief to know she wasn’t the only one going into the relationship with a slightly dysfunctional family.

‘No, we were pretty close growing up, I suppose. Did lots of family trips and that type of thing. I think moving away just made me see things differently. You know, I realised our values weren’t aligned any more. It’s not a problem. It’s just there a people I’d rather spend my time with. Like you.’ After that, they had kissed, and Daisy had felt secure that Theo was telling her the truth. After all, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to introduce them.

They were meant to come down the previous Christmas, and Daisy and Theo had got everything ready, but then three days before they were due to arrive, his parents decided they weren’t sure how they would cope on the water, and so hadn’t come. Understandably, Theo had been hugely disappointed. That wasn’t the only time they were meant to have met, either. Theo had invited Daisy up to Yorkshire for his mum’s sixtieth birthday, but it had coincided with Johnny ingesting an entire tub of hot-chocolate mix and needing an emergency trip to the vets. Thankfully, hot chocolate powder isn’t poisonous for dogslike dark chocolate and Johnny was fine, but given the hefty bill, there was no way Daisy could justify closing up the shop just to meet her boyfriend’s parents. Besides, there was no way Johnny would have been able to make the journey up, the way his stomach responded to all that powder.

But those events were in the past. Johnny was staying with the girls, and she and Theo were definitely heading up the very next day. Nerves fluttered in Daisy as the importance of the event sank in.