Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 6

The morning influx of customers didn’t stop, although not all of them wanted coffee or cake. By midday, it felt like every other person asked if Daisy had ice cream on board or if she knew where they could get some. Unfortunately, she had to let them down on both fronts.

More than once, she’d looked at whether it would be feasible to sell ice creams, even if it was just the frozen-lolly type, but she and Theo had both concluded that it wasn’t. It didn’t matter how she looked at the space – there was no room for an ice cream freezer unless she wanted to sacrifice some of her living room or a bedroom. The space in the September Rose was one of the things Daisy adored the most, as was the ability to have friends stay over. She wasn’t ready to give either of those up yet. So the customers would have to go without until she could think of a creative solution.

At four-fifteen, when the majority of visitors were packing away for the day, Daisy finally closed the shutters. Without even bothering to tidy up the machine, or restock, she dropped onto the sofa and allowed herself a proper deep breath for the first time all day. Tidying up would have to wait.

With all the windows open and the breeze sweeping through, the September Rose was pleasantly cool, yet even as she kicked off her shoes, Daisy couldn’t get comfortable. Even after she got back up, cleaned up the coffee machine and washed the milk jugs, she couldn’t rest. Her gaze continually drifted outside, onto the water. It had been such a calm day that the only ripples on the surface came from the paddle boarders and the waterfowl. It couldn’t possibly be like that on the estuary, could it? Or the open sea? But then what had her mother said? When she had made the trip, the sea had been so calm, it was like glass. Surely taking the boat on the water when it was like that would be no different than driving it on a canal and she was perfectly capable of that.

With her pulse increasing ever so slightly, Daisy stood up, slipped her shoes on, and marched over the bridge.

‘Are you serious?’ She didn’t even bother with a greeting but started talking to Yvonne the moment she saw her sitting out on her hull. ‘Would you do this trip with me?’

‘The trip? You mean to see Theo?’

‘There won’t be lots of room,’ Daisy said, her thoughts spilling from her mouth before she had time to think through them. ‘You could take my berth, and I can take the smaller one. That’s fine, but there’s still not going to be lots of room.’

‘Well, I don’t need that much room—’ Yvonne started but Daisy hadn’t finished yet.

‘And I’m not sure I’ll be able to have all your incense and candles burning, not with all the cooking I have to do if I’m going to keep the coffee shop going while we’re on the move. And I would need to open the coffee shop, at least for a few days, otherwise I won’t be able to afford fuel.’ The more Daisy spoke, the more issues rose to the front of her mind. ‘And I’m not sure about getting back, either. I don’t know how long I plan on staying there. But, I can stay on the Escape with Theo, or you could?’ She was thinking through the process as she spoke. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t mind at all. And then we can come back together after a couple of weeks? If that suits you, of course? You can come back sooner if you want.’

The reality was that Daisy needed to be back for winter. Mooring fees were due in September. If she wasn’t back by the end of the month, with the money to pay them, she would lose her spot. Her father’s spot. Still, that gave her several weeks to drive up to Slimbridge, spend some proper time with Theo, then drive back again before the weather turned and the crossing became impossible. Assuming, of course, that Yvonne really was up for one last adventure.

Having got everything off her chest, Daisy finally allowed herself to take a breath.

‘Obviously, I haven’t got all the details sorted,’ she said, only then realising exactly how insane she must have sounded. So insane that she was about to offer Yvonne an apology and blame her outburst on overwork and lack of hydration. But instead, when she looked at Yvonne, she found a smile breaking on her face.

‘Oh, I don’t need to bother with all the details. They only bog me down,’ Yvonne said. ‘I’m in.’