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

Chapter 23

23

Daisy took the driver’s seat. She wasn’t sure why it mattered, really. Yes, it was her car, but Theo had driven all the way up here and used it almost as often as she did now. But it was where she needed to sit. Perhaps so that she could switch on the engine and make a run for it if she didn’t like what he had to say.

Given how keen Theo had been to speak, silence enveloped them as they sat there. Still Daisy waited, yet every time he opened his mouth as if he were going to speak, he closed it again. Soon, she couldn’t take it any longer.

‘So, you did propose to Heather with the ring then,’ Daisy said, seeing no point in beating around the bush. ‘You proposed, she said no, then you moved on to me. That’s right, isn’t it?’

‘No.’ Theo shook his head. ‘And you know it’s not. You know I chose you. Even when Heather came back to me asking for another try, I told her it was you. I told her you were the only person I wanted to be with. Even though you were stringing me along at the time, you might remember?’

Daisy refused to respond. There was no way she was going to be made out as the villain in this. She had owned up to her mistakes at the beginning of the relationship and thought they were past them. And Theo had assured her he was, although now he seemed to be using any reason to detract attention from him.

A pause stretched out between them and Daisy was about to tell him she didn’t want to hear any more, when Theo suddenly started speaking.

‘We’d been together for about two years. I had taken the job on the lock and she had got this big promotion in London. One that involved loads of travelling, meaning I would go weeks at a time without seeing her. I got paranoid. Worried she was going to discover this whole new life, probably with one of her swanky male colleagues she used to talk about. Men who sounded like they had a lot more to offer to her than some guy working on the canals. So I did what I thought was right – I proposed to her. It felt like a way to keep her close. You have to remember, I was young and paranoid, and she was the only girl I had ever loved.’

‘So you gave Heather the ring, and then what?’ Daisy had a hard time believing this was where the story ended and she wasn’t even going to think about how to respond until she knew everything.

‘She just said no and told me I was being ridiculous. That we were far too young to get married and that if a relationship was strong enough, it wouldn’t matter. She was right. Everything she said was right.’

‘And how did you take that news?’ Daisy asked, trying to imagine the situation. She knew how much effort Theo had put into proposing to her and, as much as he was making out that this first proposal wasn’t a big deal, she knew him well enough to know he would have still pulled out all the stops.

‘How was I?’ he said, raising an eyebrow. ‘I was pissed off. At first, that is, but not for long. Everything Heather had said was completely true, and I got that. It took maybe a week or so, but honestly, not any longer than that. I don’t think she even mentioned the proposal to anyone. I know I didn’t. The only reason that Mum and Dad knew about it was because of my grandmother’s ring. I’d had to ask them if I could have it, even though my grandmother had always wanted me to use it to propose.’

Daisy glanced down at her hand and the gemstones. Would she ever be able to look at it and not see Theo down on one knee, offering a lifetime’s commitment to someone else? She didn’t know.

‘I don’t think Heather even put the ring on her finger,’ Theo said, as if he was reading Daisy’s mind. ‘And I promise you, I truly had forgotten the proposal to Heather. That was how little it meant to me. But the ring… My grandmother and I were close, and I wanted to share that part of my life with you. But I get it, I completely do. If you don’t like it, I will get another one, or you can choose another one, or we can go together and get one. I don’t care, I just want to put this right somehow. I love you. You do know that I love you, don’t you?’

The way his eyes pleaded with Daisy felt like it was tugging directly on every one of her heartstrings.

‘Of course I know that,’ she said. She knew exactly how much Theo adored her. Just like she knew they would get past this. But that didn’t stop how much it hurt. ‘I think I’m just going to need a little time to decide, if that’s okay?’

Theo’s faced turned ashen. ‘About the ring or the proposal?’ he said.

The moment she heard the question come from her lips, she knew what the answer was.

‘Just about the ring,’ she said.

For a second, Theo continued to stare at Daisy, his lips slightly parted, as if he didn’t quite believe what she was saying.

‘So we’re good? You still want to marry me? Even after I made the most stupid mistake in the world?’

A slight chuckle left her lips. ‘Yes, yes, I do.’

With a loud and nervous laugh that quickly turned into a sigh, Theo dropped his head onto Daisy’s shoulder.

‘You know I love you more than anything else in the world,’ he said as he moved to kiss her, but before he could, Daisy backed away.

‘Just one more thing,’ she said, placing her hand on his chest.

‘Anything, just ask.’

‘I really don’t want to spend tonight at your parents’. Can you ring that hotel, see if we can check in a night early?’

A look of relief washed over Theo’s face.

‘God yes. I will do it right now.’