Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 75

Daisy couldn’t think. She couldn’t hear. All she could feel was her heart drumming hard against her chest and the sound of her breath wheezing in and out of her lungs.

‘You want to end this?’

She watched as Theo took a deep breath in and looked down at his feet before he lifted his gaze again to meet hers.

‘That’s not what I said. What I said is, if you’ve lost interest, then I don’t want to be strung along. Because that’s what it feels like right now. It feels like I’m being strung along.’

‘What?’

Her mouth hung open as she tried to swallow back the tears she could feel building behind her eyes.

‘No, Theo. I’m not… I promise. I told you. I love you.’

‘Yeah, about that…’

She felt queasy. Like the nausea she had felt upon discovering the break-in, only a hundred thousand times worse. Was he going to tell her he’d made a mistake? That it had slipped out without thinking, and now, having reflected on it, he didn’t love her at all? Perhaps he didn’t even like her. Perhaps he’d met someone new in Slimbridge. Someone who actually knew what they were doing with boats and could cook him fancy meals and was actually there in the evening. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d fallen for someone when he was with someone else. The thought was enough to set her stomach churning.

‘It feels like ever since I told you how I feel, you’ve been pushing me away,’ he said.

‘It does?’

He hadn’t said he didn’t love her. That was something. But it was hardly a good response.

‘You don’t seem to have time to talk to me. Every conversation is less than five minutes long. It’s like you can’t wait to get off the phone fast enough. That’s hardly the action of someone in love.’

‘I… I…’ Daisy struggled to work out what she wanted to say. It was true. She had tried to get off the phone quickly when she spoke to him. But that was only so she didn’t ruin the surprise. A surprise that was taking so much out of her, she wasn’t entirely sure why she was going through with it. Only she had come so far, she had to.

‘The September Rose got broken into,’ she blurted out, unable to stop the tears from tumbling down her cheeks.

‘What?’ Theo looked at her, aghast. ‘When? What did they take?’

Daisy took a deep breath in. She wanted to tell him the truth. But if she told him the break-in had only happened that day, it wouldn’t explain why she’d been acting so oddly beforehand. And so she altered the truth as minimally as she could.

‘A little while ago.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me? I would have come back.’

‘I know. I know. That’s why I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to worry. It’s fine. I’m fine. And I know you have so much to do. So I’m sorry, I just didn’t want to be a distraction. I thought it was best if you didn’t know.’

‘Daisy.’ Theo dropped his head as he let out a long sigh. ‘I’m so sorry. And I acted like such an arse. What did they take? Did they get other people on the lock too? Where were you when it happened?’

It was a lot of questions to deal with at one time, particularly as Daisy knew she had to lie for a fair few of them, but she did the best she could.

‘I was walking Johnny,’ she said, grateful she could have some truthful lines in there. ‘It was during the day. No one else. Just me. And they only took the paintings.’

‘Your paintings? Why?’

Daisy drew a long breath in. ‘I think they thought they were worth more than they actually were. They might have known about the auction. You know how much some people paid for the paintings.’

She couldn’t bring herself to say Christian’s name. The last thing she needed was to bring him into this complication.

‘Daisy, I’m sorry.’

‘They took my dad’s paintings too,’ she said. ‘Yvonne found a couple in her things and gave it to me. I hadn’t even taken any photographs of it.’

Theo’s face was a mass of creases as he looked on helplessly.

‘I’m coming down tonight,’ he said, standing up. ‘I’ll take the day off tomorrow. They owe me that, the amount I’ve been working.’

Daisy shook her head, her pulse pounding in her chest.

‘No, you can’t.’

‘I can. And I will. I’ll help in the shop.’

‘Please, Theo. That’s not what I want. Not yet. I need to work my way through it. Okay? I love you, I promise. I love you so much, and I’m so sorry if you think I’ve been distant. It’s just that I’m not used to having someone there who wants to know everything that’s going on in my life. It’s been a long time since I was in a relationship and the last thing I want to be is a burden.’

‘Daisy, please, you don’t need to explain, and you can never be a burden. I was in the wrong. Being paranoid.’

‘No, no. You weren’t. But trust me, I love you, okay? I promise I love you and I will see you soon. Is that okay?’

‘Of course it is. I’m so sorry I added to your stress.’

‘It’s fine. Really. Speak tomorrow?’

‘Absolutely. I love you.’

‘I love you too.’

As Daisy hung up the phone, she crumpled into a mess. The truth was, without Theo there, she felt alone. This whole trip felt like a pointless disaster. As she was wallowing at her sorry state, Johnny pushed his head into her chest, snuggling up to her as if he wanted to give her the closest thing he could to a hug. Minutes ticked past, and he stayed there. No whining, no moving, just letting Daisy rest against him. When she finally sat up and wiped away her tears, she rubbed the dog’s head and looked down at him.

She sniffed. ‘Maybe I can find you a home at Wildflower Lock.’