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

Chapter 49

49

The rest of the time at the hotel went by like an absolute dream. After the walk, during which Daisy must have taken a hundred photos of birds and plants, she indulged in such a long soak in the roll-top bath that they were late for their dinner reservation. Thankfully, the staff were wonderful, as was the four-course menu.

‘I feel like I’ve got a lot to learn in the kitchen still,’ Daisy said as she took the last mouthful of the most divine lemon tart she had ever tried.

‘Well, if you need someone to taste-test, you know I’m always here for you.’

‘What a gentleman,’ Daisy laughed.

The bed, as Daisy could’ve predicted merely from looking at it, was the most comfortable she had ever slept on, and when sunlight filtered through the curtains, stirring her from sleep, she had no desire to leave. No desire to uncurl herself from Theo’s arms and get up. Thankfully, having foreseen Daisy’s reluctance to get out of the bed, Theo had arranged for them to have room-service breakfast. A tray full of freshly baked pastries, fruit and yogurts, along with strong coffee and fresh juices, was exactly the thing her body desired. It was the antithesis of the night before, both the tent and the argument, and even when they drove back towards Wildflower Lock, with Daisy’s fingers interlocked over Theo’s on the gearstick, it felt as if the world was almost perfect. Almost.

They were still two hours away from home when Theo’s phone buzzed on the dashboard yet again. Daisy had lost count of how many times his phone had rung, but it had to be reaching double figures. And it was the same people trying to get through every time.

‘You really need to speak to them,’ Daisy said. ‘I get you don’t want me to listen in on speakerphone while we’re driving, but why don’t you pull over at the next service station? You can ring them back.’

‘Anything my parents want to say, they can say in front of you too,’ he said. ‘But it doesn’t matter what they’ve got to say, I don’t want to hear it. They made their opinion on the matter clear, and they can deal with the consequences.’

His eyes remained fixed on the road for a split second longer before he turned back to Daisy and flashed her a smile.

‘It’s all right, honestly. The way I see it, we’ve got one of two outcomes: either my parents realise how nasty they have been, they apologise to you genuinely, and we work towards building bridges, or they don’t. And if they don’t, well, that’s it. I don’t want that kind of negativity brought into our lives and our family,’ he said, a look of fear flashing on his face. ‘I mean us. We are a family. Even if it’s just the two of us. Well, three. Johnny too, of course.’

As much as Daisy agreed about Johnny being an integral part of the family, she wasn’t going to be swayed by Theo’s diversion tactics. ‘I know what you meant, but frankly, you’re essentially making me the reason you lose contact with your parents. They’re not going to be too keen on that. And how do you know they’re not ringing to apologise now?’

Theo slowed down slightly before he turned to look Daisy swiftly in the eye. ‘I love that you are still trying to think the best of them, but how many times have my parents come down to Wildflower Lock since you’ve known me?’

‘Well, never.’

‘Or to Slimbridge when I lived there? It wasn’t much closer, but it was closer. They still didn’t come. Relationships are a two-way street; you showed that to me more than ever.’

‘Me?’

‘Of course you. You came to London to make things work for us. You sacrificed being together so I could carry on with my job and waited for me until a chance came for me to move back. You put the effort in to make this relationship work.’

‘That’s just what a good girlfriend does,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s what a good person does when they love someone.’

‘Exactly.’

The mood in the car shifted ever so slightly, and the last thing Daisy wanted was for Theo’s parents to pull down the atmosphere when they had been having such an incredible time, and so she turned the conversation to the most obvious topic she could think of.

‘I guess as we still have a couple of hours’ driving ahead of us, we should do some planning.’

‘Planning?’ he said.

‘The wedding. I mean, you do actually want to get married, right? You’re not one of these people who wants us to be fiancés for the rest of our lives, are you?’

Daisy knew people like that, of course – people who remained engaged indefinitely, with no intention of taking the next step, but she had never imagined herself or Theo as one of those. Still, it was a relief when he spoke next.

‘No, I definitely want to get married.’

‘Great,’ Daisy chuckled. ‘So that’s the first thing we’re agreed on.’

‘And I’m not one of these people who wants to have a ridiculously long engagement either,’ Theo said.

‘Me too,’ Daisy replied, ‘so we agree on that too.’ She was about to continue with her next question when she paused, discovering she still needed further clarification on the previous point. ‘Just to check, how long do you think is “ridiculously long”?’

Theo shrugged a little, throwing her a quick glance as he continued to drive.

‘I don’t know. I think waiting for two years seems a long time. I guess I was thinking maybe next summer would work for the wedding.’

Daisy wrinkled her nose.

‘Summer is the busiest time of the year for me. And we’re probably going to want to take some time off afterwards to travel. I don’t know if I can risk closing down the business then. Certainly not for very long.’

‘Good point.’ Theo nodded in agreement. ‘So next spring or autumn?’

‘I’d be inclined to go for autumn,’ Daisy replied. ‘It’s normally quite good weather then. And I like autumn flowers.’

‘Perfect,’ he said. ‘Then I guess the first thing we need to start thinking about venues.’

‘And there’s no time like the present,’ Daisy grinned as she took out her phone and began to type away.