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

Chapter 43

43

For most people, waking up camping was probably the height of peace. Filling your lungs with crisp, clean air while listening to the bird calls and the lapping water on the lake were likely idyllic. But for Daisy, it was what she woke up to everyday. Of course, there were some subtle differences, like the damp, solid earth she was sitting on, the hills in front of her, shrouded in a thin veil of mist, and the children having an early-morning football game right outside their tent. Yes, that was a noise she wasn’t used to waking up to.

‘I bought some pastries,’ Theo said, when he returned from having a quick shower, ‘but maybe we’d be better off driving to Kendall and getting brunch there? We can save the pastries for the drive back tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll keep just fine.’

‘Breakfast in a café sounds great,’ Daisy said as she stretched out the cricks in her neck.

She and Theo had talked for hours when they returned to the tent. He had told her why he was so keen to have children – he and his sister had been incredibly close growing up, even if they weren’t now. As a child, it meant he’d always had a friend to do things with and his sister knew, even now, that if she needed him, he would be there. Daisy explained why she wasn’t sure – she enjoyed her freedom, her business, and she wasn’t entirely certain she was patient enough to be a mother. But she also reasoned that she felt too young to make that decision at the moment.

But then there was the other issue. One she’d never mentioned to Theo, though it hung around at the back of her mind, lingering in the shadows every time she thought about having children.

‘Mum struggled after I was born,’ Daisy said, recalling what her mother had told her about the year after Daisy’s birth. ‘She struggled so much that she left me. She moved to a different country without me, because she couldn’t cope. And even though I don’t remember it – I mean, I didn’t even know it had happened until a couple of years ago – I still worry. I’m scared that will happen to me too.’

It was odd how hard she found admitting the truth to herself as much as to Theo. And it wasn’t like the worry went away, just because she had said the words aloud.

‘It might,’ Theo said honestly. ‘But it might not. And even if it does, it wouldn’t be the same. There’s more support out there for mothers who are struggling now. Not to mention that it’s something we would both be watching out for. We would make sure we’re prepared so that it never got to the way it was with your mum. But that’s only if you decide you want to have children, of course. I’m not trying to pressure you at all. I’m just trying to make you see that your mum’s past doesn’t have to affect your decision.’

It was a grown-up discussion. A weighing of pros, cons, and emotions for the both of them. It was the type of conversation they should probably have had before Theo had proposed, but the fact they had come back from the brink, to have that type of conversation at all, proved, in Daisy’s mind, why they could absolutely make the marriage work.

It took less than half an hour to pack everything up into the car, and for a moment, Daisy wondered if Theo was going to mention saying goodbye to Heather. She would have been okay if he wanted to, she decided, but was a little grateful that he didn’t even mention his ex’s name.

‘Have you thought about what you want?’ Theo said instead, as they drove towards Kendall.

‘For breakfast, you mean?’ Daisy asked.

‘No, I mean for an engagement ring. Have you thought about what type of ring you want? There are a couple of new jewellers and some antique and artisan ones, if you fancy something different.’

Daisy hadn’t really considered what type of ring she would pick for herself, although given that it would be the one accessory she wore for her entire life, it was probably important not to rush into it.

‘I don’t know. I guess I’ll know when I see it,’ she said.

Two hours later, after a breakfast of eggs Benedict with an extra hash brown, Daisy discovered it wasn’t quite that simple.

‘Is it me, or do loads of these just look the same?’ she said. They were inside a prestigious jeweller’s that boasted over a thousand engagement rings, though the problem – in Daisy’s mind, at least – was that there wasn’t much difference from one to the next.

At least 30 per cent of them were solitaires. Sure, there was some variation in terms of size and shape of the stone, or thickness of the band, and there was yellow gold, white gold, or platinum to choose from. Although the platinum and the white gold looked identical, so it didn’t feel like there was much variation there either.

‘These are classic styles,’ the jeweller said, with a slight hint of snootiness, clearly not approving of Daisy’s remark. ‘Though if you’re after something a little more flamboyant, we have several halo rings in stock.’

Daisy wasn’t sure if flamboyant was what she was after at all, but she smiled at the jeweller, who took it as a sign to fetch yet another tray of rings.

Halo, Daisy discovered, meant even more diamonds. A ring of small stones, set around a central larger one. Of course, some of the diamonds were square-shaped, some were oval, and there were still the same variations in band and stone size, but it was hardly a great selection, the way she had imagined a jeweller with one thousand engagement rings would have.

‘That one’s pretty,’ Daisy said, picking one that seemed to be middling in everything. Medium-sized band. Medium-sized diamond. Medium size ring of diamonds around the middle.

‘Ahh, yes, that one is lovely and very popular. Why don’t you try it on? Of course, this one is just a guide. We will get it sized to fit you at no extra cost.’

Daisy looked at Theo, who nodded at her. A moment later, the jeweller was slipping the ring on her finger.

‘It’s very sparkly,’ Daisy said, describing the ring with the first words that came to mind. And it was fitting. Every diamond on the ring glinted with its own spectrum, and the overall effect was mesmerising. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said, needing a more fitting adjective than ‘sparkly’. It really was something. Feeling like perhaps this was the engagement ring she could spend the rest of her life wearing, she looked up at the jeweller.

‘How much is it?’ she asked.