Forever Love at Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock #4)

Chapter 9

9

The evening wound down a little before midnight. The children that had come with their parents were all asleep, either on the sofa or on one of the beds, and Claire and Bex began washing up as a way to make it clear that it was time for people to get moving. By quarter past twelve, it was just the four of them that remained.

‘So, what about tomorrow?’ Daisy said to the girls, as she thought through what her plans for the weekend were going to be. Another early morning was the last thing on her mind as she sat on her sofa with a cup of chamomile tea. She was exhausted, what with the walk and the exceptionally late night, but every time she glanced down at her finger and saw the engagement ring sparkling away, she felt a burst of adrenaline that caused her pulse to race and suddenly she felt wide awake again. Somehow, Daisy didn’t think the drink was going to be enough to send her to sleep, but she would use whatever help she could get. ‘I take it you’re not coming up tomorrow evening too?’ Daisy said.

Claire and Bex exchanged a look before glancing at Theo and smiling.

‘Well, actually, we thought we might stay the full weekend, if that’s okay?’ Bex said.

‘The entire weekend?’ Daisy said. ‘Then what are we going to do?’

‘Well, I think you should probably tell her this part, don’t you, Theo?’

Daisy really didn’t know what was going on, but she was sure it wasn’t just because she was tired. When she looked at Theo, she noticed a peculiar nervousness twinkling in his eye. Much the same as the one she had seen before he had sent her off on her walk. But he couldn’t be proposing again. He had already done that. Which meant she had no idea what was making him act that way. Unless she was just imagining it.

‘Theo?’ Daisy pressed. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Bex and Claire have offered to run the coffee shop for the weekend. I knew you wouldn’t want to miss out on any business. Not while the weather’s this good.’

‘And Johnny,’ Claire interrupted. ‘We’re looking after Johnny while you’re away too.’

‘So, where are we going?’ Daisy asked, wishing they would just give her a straight answer to what seemed to her a very straightforward question. And yet, Theo’s nervousness kicked up by yet another notch. She could see it in the way his hands fidgeted on his lap and the way he repeatedly bit down on his bottom lip. It hadn’t been her imagination. Theo opened his mouth to speak, but all of a sudden, Daisy didn’t need him to. She knew exactly where they were going. The one place that would make him act like this.

‘Well, I thought we could go up to Yorkshire,’ he said, confirming she was right. They were going to Yorkshire.

Daisy’s heart did a double somersault and landed substantially lower than where it had started.

‘Yorkshire,’ she repeated, still not sure she believed it was true. ‘You mean I’m going to meet your mum and dad?’