Chapter 50
It was hard for Daisy not to consider how much her life had changed in the last year. Not so long ago, she couldn’t even think about her father without the taste of bile stinging the back of her throat. After all, he had abandoned her – or so she thought. But that wasn’t the case and now she was naming a pet, a real, living thing after that same man. Almost in honour of him. Not that the dog was hers, she reminded herself. Whoever gave him a home would probably want to rename him. But for now, he was Johnny. Johnny Dog. And though Daisy knew little to nothing about her canine’s namesake, she had a sneaking suspicion her father would have liked animals.
While Daisy was pondering her choice of name, the dark-haired man was crouching down.
‘Well, hello, Johnny,’ he said.
‘He really likes you.’ Daisy was unable to hide the surprise in her voice.
‘I’m a dog person,’ the man said, before standing up and stretching out his hand to Daisy. ‘Shaun.’
‘Shaun,’ Daisy repeated. It was like being able to breathe, finally having a name she could call her marshland rescuer.
‘And do you have a name?’ Shaun said. ‘Or are you happy just to be known as Mud Girl?’
Daisy let out a short laugh that sounded far more strained than she felt.
‘Sorry, yes. I’m Daisy,’ she said as they shook hands.
‘Well, it’s nice to meet you, Daisy and Johnny,’ Shaun said, already back to stroking the dog. ‘So, what are you two doing here? Or should I assume here is home for you? You can’t get into as much trouble on this type of grass.’
‘You’re right, marshlands aren’t my normal habitat,’ she said. ‘But you already figured that out. I used to be from London, but we’re just visiting for a bit. Well, a night. We’re off on a mammoth trip. Burnham was actually the first stop.’
‘And you wanted to make it as memorable as possible?’ Shaun joked. He had a sweet smile, Daisy thought. And an ability to quickly make people feel at ease in his presence.
‘Something like that.’
She had started walking again, back in the direction she had come from, and Shaun had fallen naturally into pace with her.
‘So, you’re on a trip. Funny that. I’m a bit of a traveller myself. I’ve actually just been on a campervan trip around the south coast. Only got back a week ago to pick up a few bits and pieces before I go off again. I’m planning on doing a complete loop this time, I hope. Up to Scotland, down through the Peak District and Wales. Eight months’ travelling. I’ve got the bug now. There’s no way I could go back to real life.’
Daisy knew how that felt. The freedom of living on Wildflower Lock was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. She could only imagine how that would change even more if she gave up the fixed mooring. To be able to travel anywhere at any time… Maybe it was something she and Theo could talk about doing, although that probably depended on his job. It was unlikely they’d give him that long off, given that he’d only just started.
‘A campervan,’ Daisy said, pushing thoughts of Theo and the flaws in their relationship to the back of her mind and focusing on the person in front of her. ‘That’s amazing. Though I can’t imagine eight months in such a small space and that’s from someone who lives on a narrowboat.’
Shaun’s eyes widened. ‘Really? That’s incredible. Is it tied up here, in the canal? There’s a proper term for it, isn’t there? You don’t say tied up.’
‘Moored,’ Daisy said with a chuckle. It was nice speaking to someone who knew less about boats than she did. Since moving to Wildflower Lock, she always felt like the least knowledgeable boat owner there.
‘I know it’s really cheeky of me,’ Shaun said, his eyes sparkling with a grin, ‘but I’ve never actually been on a narrowboat before. I don’t suppose I could come and see, could I? Maybe you could give me a tour.’
Giving tours of the September Rose was one of Daisy’s favourite things to do, especially when she got to point out all the different things that she had fixed or made herself. That pride had only increased since she could refer to the things her boyfriend had done, too. It sounded far better than saying ‘boat neighbour’. And it would be nice for Yvonne to have someone else to talk to as well.
‘That sounds great,’ Daisy said, before glancing down at her hand. ‘And while we’re walking, you can tell me why on earth you were running in chinos?’