Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 26

‘Move!’ Yvonne shouted, pushing Daisy out of the way and grabbing the tiller. The September Rose turned away from the bank, but it was still rocking from side to side. ‘Silent buggers, aren’t they?’ she said with a deep breath out. ‘I don’t mind them so much here, where you’ve got a bit of room, but sometimes they’re a nightmare. One time, Harry and I went up to the Norfolk Broads…’

Daisy wasn’t listening. Her heart was lodged all the way up in her throat and her knuckles were white. The sailboat had passed them now, but its wake kept coming. Wave after wave hit the hull of the September Rose, each one causing Daisy’s pulse to rise higher and higher. She gripped the side of the boat, only to glance down into the churning water. Her stomach lurched.

‘Are you all right there?’ Yvonne asked. ‘You’re not going to be sick, are you? You didn’t tell me you got seasick.’

‘I’ll be fine,’ Daisy said. ‘I think I just need to sit down for a second.’

As Daisy took the steps inside the boat, her legs felt like jelly – although it wasn’t just her legs, she realised, as she poured a glass of water; her hands were shaking too. After a sip of the drink, Daisy moved further into the boat, perched herself on the edge of the sofa and blew out several long breaths.

This was a mistake. How had she not seen the sailboat coming towards her? That’s what she wanted to know. And why had she pulled the tiller the wrong way? It was such a rookie steering mistake to make. She’d thought she was past silly errors like that. If she wasn’t, then she probably wasn’t safe to have on the water.

As she took another sip of water, Daisy glanced across the boat to where her phone was charging. The urge to ring Theo was overwhelming. She needed him to reassure her. To tell her she was perfectly safe and that everyone made mistakes out on boats now and then. That’s what he’d tell her, even though she was sure it wasn’t true. She couldn’t imagine him ever messing up like that. Besides, how could she tell him what had happened without ruining the surprise?

Daisy drew in another deep breath and held it in her lungs for a second before blowing it out with a sigh. The boat was moving steadily now, she realised. It rocked with only the slightest sway that was no greater than if she’d been in a lock. However terrifying the moment with the sailboat had felt, the September Rose could definitely handle it, and judging by the way Yvonne was whistling to herself, it hadn’t stressed her out at all. The only weak link on the trip was Daisy.

She stared at her phone again before shaking her head. The last thing she wanted was to come across as an overly needy girlfriend, now that Theo had told her he loved her. So, trying to force down the anxiety that still bubbled away, Daisy downed the rest of the water, put the glass in the sink and walked back onto the stern with Yvonne.

‘So,’ Daisy said, trying to sound as confident as she had felt earlier. ‘How long until the next mooring?’

It turned out that the next mooring was far closer than Daisy had expected.

‘Do you fancy going for a walk?’ she asked when the boat was all tied up. Since the incident with the sailboat, she’d had an undeniable urge to put her feet on dry land. ‘I thought I might like to take some photos.’

‘That sounds lovely,’ Yvonne said. ‘Although I thought I might have a mid-morning siesta. You don’t mind, do you? I think it must be all this sea air making me sleepy.’

Daisy avoided glancing at her phone or frowning. At most, Yvonne had been up for four and a half hours. It seemed unlikely that she was that tired already, unless she had lied about being able to sleep the night before. Then again, it could just be that she was trying to give the pair of them space, as they still had a long way to go.

‘Of course. Why don’t you have a nap while I go for a walk, then afterwards, I can fix us both sandwiches for lunch?’

‘That sounds just perfect,’ Yvonne replied. ‘You can take my binoculars too. You never know what you might spot out here.’