Chapter 69
69
Daisy could hear the birds singing outside. Sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, and yet she rolled over, wishing she could ignore it.
‘That’s odd. They’re normally open by now,’ a voice said outside. ‘Perhaps they’re just running late. I’m sure we’ll be able to grab a coffee on the way back.’
It wasn’t the first voice she’d heard that morning wondering why the coffee shop was closed and questioning when she would open, but the truth was, Daisy didn’t know when she was going to open it again. She wasn’t even sure she could.
She closed her eyes, wanting to shut it all out, when a hammering on the hatch caused her to jerk upward.
‘We’re closed!’ she yelled, before dropping back down onto her bed and staring up at the ceiling. It had been a long time since she’d slept in the September Rose , and after the Narrow Escape , the wide beam canal boat felt cavernous. Especially with an entire double bed to herself and no collie sleeping at her feet. She had always thought having Johnny in bed with them meant there wasn’t enough room to sleep, but she had barely managed a couple of hours that night without rolling over and finding herself startled by the emptiness.
Reaching over to the bedside table, she picked up a glass of water and took a sip, though it did little to alleviate the headache that was throbbing behind her temples. There was something about the headache you got from crying, she remembered. It was more than just dehydration from the tears. It was like your entire body was drained. That was how it felt to her, at least.
She rolled back over, hoping to drift back to sleep, when her phone rang. Claire’s name flashed up on the screen. No doubt Bex had filled her in on the events of the previous day and she was trying to check in on her. But Daisy didn’t want to be checked in on. Daisy wanted to curl up until winter and then hibernate through that. She didn’t want to deal with anyone. Even her best friends.
After a moment or two, the phone stopped ringing and Daisy dropped back to the bed, although her head had barely hit the pillow when a message pinged through. Again, it was Claire.
I’m at the canal. See you in five.
Daisy jolted upright, picked up her phone and hastily hit call on the number.
Claire answered on one ring.
‘I knew that would get you speaking to me,’ she said. Daisy could almost see the smirk on her friend’s face and a pang of annoyance struck her from having fallen for such an obvious ploy. ‘Now, what’s going on?’
‘You’re not here? You’re not at the lock?’
‘Not yet. I’m twenty minutes away. But I am coming, which means you have time to get yourself out of bed, in the shower and dressed before I get there.’
‘How do you know I’m not already up and dressed?’
‘I was with you through the Paul breakup, remember?’ Claire replied.
A bitter laugh formed in Daisy’s lungs, though before she could release it, another question struck.
‘How do you know we broke up?’
While the girls were always there for one another, Daisy would have expected Bex to have given her the time to tell people about the breakup herself. Especially considering it had only just happened. That was why their friendships worked so well – they knew when to give one another space if it was needed. Calling Claire straight away didn’t feel like something Bex would have done in this situation.
‘Claire?’ Daisy pressed.
A slight pause filled the line before Claire spoke again. ‘Theo rang last night,’ she said.
‘He did? Why? To tell you that we’d broken up? God, what the hell.’
‘He rang because he was confused, Daisy. He wanted to know if I had any idea what had caused this, but I have to say, I’m as confused as him. The last time I saw you, you were so in love. I mean, it’s only four days since you said yes to marrying him.’
Why did people keep saying that to her? Daisy wanted to ask. Did they think she couldn’t recall the moment herself? She knew when and what she had said yes to, but she also knew that worlds could change in the blink of an eye and that was what had happened to her.
‘Look, we’ll talk about it when I get to yours,’ Claire said. ‘Do you need me to pick anything up for you?’
Daisy shook her head before remembering they were on a voice call. ‘No, I’m fine, and honestly, you don’t need to come. I’m okay.’
‘Yeah, right,’ Claire scoffed. ‘You can’t lie to me, remember? I’ll see you in twenty. And get dressed!’