Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 54

Shaun’s look was everything Daisy could have hoped for. His jaw dropped slightly, his eyes widened, and a quiet gasp left his lips.

‘Seriously, you painted this?’

‘I painted all the artwork in here,’ Daisy said, nodding to a couple of other pictures hanging on the walls. None of them were in the same style as the one Shaun had noticed. There was one of her characters, the type she wanted to turn into a children’s book. It was a heron, based on one she’d seen standing perfectly for almost an hour as it waited patiently for fish on the canal back home. Another was a watercolour of Wildflower Lock itself, and the last was of the September Rose. There were a couple more she had framed in her bedroom too, but given that Yvonne’s belongings were in there, Daisy didn’t think it was appropriate to show Shaun those.

‘So, you’re an artist?’ he said, his voice still filled with awe. ‘That’s incredible. Do you have any paintings anywhere I would know? The Tate Modern? Whitechapel? The ICA?’

Daisy laughed. ‘No, it’s just a hobby, that’s all,’ she said, only for Yvonne to scoff at the comment.

‘It’s hardly a hobby,’ Yvonne replied, looking at Shaun. ‘She recently sold one of her paintings for over two thousand pounds.’

Shaun looked as though his eyes were going to bug from their sockets. ‘Two thousand pounds?’

‘Technically, it was two thousand five hundred,’ Daisy said, suddenly feeling embarrassed by the way Shaun was looking at her. ‘But it wasn’t a normal situation. It was for charity. Well, sort of charity – it was fundraising for the boat. And the person who paid that amount of money, he was… he was…’ Daisy struggled to work out how to finish that sentence. She didn’t want to say her ex-boyfriend as that made it sound like her art didn’t have any worth by itself, and she didn’t think that was true. Besides, it wasn’t like she could actually count Christian as a boyfriend the amount of time they’d been together. ‘He was very wealthy. Used to spending that amount of money on paintings. Most of them went for quite a lot less.’

‘Still, that’s incredible. I wish I were that talented. Is that what you’re doing on the way to see your boyfriend? Getting more paintings for the next sale?’

Daisy thought about the comment. She hadn’t considered selling her current works, but perhaps, when she’d completed the diary of her trip, she could think about it.

‘Maybe,’ Daisy said. ‘I’ve done a few paintings. Like a visual diary, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to sell them yet. Or whether I should. Whether they’re just personal.’

‘Can I see those too?’ Shaun asked eagerly. ‘I mean, I love this, your entire journey. I think it’s incredible. How long did you say you’re going to be travelling for?’

‘Well, it depends on the amount of hours we can keep moving each day,’ Daisy said while gesturing to Yvonne. In terms of days and travelling hours, she was the one who knew the details better – assuming there weren’t any more hiccups, but now they were back on the canals, that seemed much less likely.

‘Fingers crossed, we’ll be there in nine days,’ Yvonne said. ‘I suppose it depends how much Daisy wants to open the coffee shop.’

‘The coffee shop?’ Shaun said.

Another smile crept across Daisy’s face as she gestured towards the hatch and the large machine at the corner of the boat.

‘It’s a coffee shop,’ she said. ‘The boat is. A takeaway one, at least. And I serve a few cakes and things. I have a pretty good set-up at Wildflower Lock, where we’re normally moored, but I’ve had a couple of good days on the trip too. I guess it will depend on whether I need the money. I’d rather get to Theo as quickly as possible and maybe open up for a couple of days while I’m there. I have to travel back before the weather changes, you see. I can’t take her out onto the sea if the weather’s that bad.’

‘Or the river,’ Yvonne interjected.

Daisy turned to look at her.

‘Sorry?’

‘You can’t take them on the river when it’s that bad either. It runs too fast. And after today’s adventures, you can imagine how bad that would be.’

Daisy felt her throat drying. If that was the case, she may not get as long to spend with Theo as she’d first hoped, though she didn’t want to think about that at the moment. She still wasn’t sure how she was going to keep up this charade of lying to him for the next nine days. Forcing a smile back onto her face, she looked at Shaun.

‘Well, that’s enough about me. I want to hear about you. About your travels. Why don’t we head onto the stern and grab a cold drink?’

‘Sounds perfect,’ Shaun replied with a grin. ‘But don’t forget to bring the rest of your paintings. I want to see them all.’