Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 52

It was only when Daisy stepped onto the stern that she realised she probably should have messaged Yvonne first, to make sure she didn’t mind having someone on the boat.

‘Be careful, it’s a bit slippy,’ Daisy said, encouraging Shaun to take his time getting onto the boat, although the water wasn’t the biggest problem Shaun had to face. Johnny was standing right in his way, jumping up and down as he wagged his tail, making it near impossible for Shaun to come aboard.

‘Johnny,’ Daisy said, tugging the lead when he didn’t move at his name. It took Daisy a split second to realise that he probably didn’t know what his name was, given that she’d only given it to him half an hour beforehand. Changing tactics, she crouched down and made a soft sound with her lips.

‘Johnny, come here. That’s it, Johnny. Come here, give Shaun room to come on board.’

A second later, the dog was sitting with his paws up on Daisy’s knees, lapping up the attention. Only when Shaun was safely on the stern did Daisy stand up and tie Johnny’s leash to the back of the boat.

‘I’ll get us some cold drinks to have out here before I show you inside, if you’re okay with that?’ Daisy asked. ‘I meant to open up all the windows before I went out to give the place an air. It gets pretty stuffy.’

Daisy glanced at her watch. Somehow, it was gone five and yet it felt as hot and sticky as if it was midday in the tropics. With a passing thought, she considered how long it had been since it had last rained, only to push the thought from her mind. Thinking about the rain might put a curse on the perfect weather they’d had so far, and there was no way she wanted that. There was still a long journey to go, even if it was on canals.

‘Can I come inside? Just to have a quick look?’ Shaun said. ‘Like I said, I’m a sucker for travelling. Maybe this will be my next option after the campervan. Trust me, it can’t possibly get as stuffy as the campervan does.’

‘Sure,’ Daisy said. ‘But mind the mess, there was an incident with a jar of sun-dried tomatoes earlier.’

As it happened, the oily mess was entirely gone, and she felt another deep pang of gratitude toward Yvonne. Unfortunately, the clean floor was short-lived.

How Daisy had trodden mud inside when it had been so dry at the park was a mystery, but it was a constant plague of boating life, and several footsteps marked the ground where she had stepped. And her footprints weren’t the only ones.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry, I’m making a mess,’ Shaun said, looking down at the ground. The tread of his shoes was clearly distinguishable from Daisy’s, with a large, coiled snake pattern appearing in the mud. ‘Do you have a mop? I can clear it up.’

‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort it in a bit. Honestly, the amount of leaves and dirt that get trodden into the boat is ridiculous. Even on days when I don’t go outside. No one tells you that you’ll spend half your time cleaning when you own one of these things.’

‘I guess it’s even worse after you’ve spent your morning crawling around in a mud pit,’ Shaun grinned.

‘I was not crawling around,’ Daisy said, but she couldn’t help but grin back. After realising they had been smiling at each other with their eyes locked, in a manner that could be considered somewhat intimate, Daisy’s throat suddenly felt unusually dry. Swallowing hard, she called out into the boat.

‘Yvonne? Are you here?’

A minute later, Yvonne appeared out of the cabin, her face crumpled.

‘Sorry, love, I just fell asleep.’ She glanced at her hand before letting out a groan. ‘And I meant to go to the shops to get some food. I’m sorry, dear, I’ll do that now.’

‘Don’t be silly. We’ve got things we can have tonight. Besides, we’ve got a special guest. Guess what?’ Shaun was standing just a fraction behind Daisy, but in Yvonne’s groggy state, she hadn’t yet noticed.

‘What?’ Yvonne said, still looking like she was half asleep.

‘I found him,’ Daisy said. ‘I found the man from the marshes.’