Chapter 29
‘Well,’ Bethany said, scrunching up the fish and chip paper, ‘that has to be the best meal I’ve had in ages.’
Daisy nodded in agreement. ‘It’s a really good chippy, isn’t it? And they always taste better in paper than on a plate. Weird that. It’s a bit too handy for me, though. I could get addicted.’
She stood up and took the paper from Bethany’s grasp. ‘Do you want to wash your hands? They’re very good fish and chips but you can’t avoid the grease.’
‘Please.’
Daisy led her into the kitchen and dropped the papers in a bin while Bethany washed her hands. As Daisy followed suit, Bethany gazed out of the window.
‘You’re in a great location here, Daisy. Look at that! The craft café’s just across the square from here, and you’ve got the chippy, and the sweet shop, and the pubs on your doorstep. And Maister’s supermarket not a ten-minute walk away.’
‘And Bluebell’s salon downstairs,’ Daisy remarked, grinning. ‘No chance of hiding from the landlord if I can’t pay the rent.’
Bethany turned to her, alarmed. ‘Are you struggling?’
‘It was a joke,’ Daisy said, drying her hands on the towel. ‘I’m really happy here, and the café’s doing well. Much better than I expected. And I’m even getting orders for cakes for special occasions now. I don’t think the people at Bridge Bakery will be impressed with me as I’m stealing some of their business.’
‘Good for you,’ Bethany said, impressed. ‘Considering you’ve not been here long that’s such good going.’
‘Thanks.’ Daisy smiled shyly. ‘I never thought I’d get the chance to run my own business. To be honest,’ she admitted as they headed back into the living room, ‘I never thought I’d be able to leave my brother’s house. Yet here I am.’
‘You sound so contented.’ Bethany settled herself on the sofa and smiled at her.
‘I am. I spent years thinking I had to be with a man to be happy, but I’ve finally realised that’s not true. I can be happy on my own with friends and a job I love. And,’ she added, gazing round the little flat in delight, ‘my very own place. I know it’s cheap and cheerful but it’s home, and I couldn’t be happier.’
‘You’ve figured out where you belong,’ Bethany said. ‘Once you realise that everything else makes sense.’
‘And how about you, Bethany?’ Daisy poured them both a glass of wine. ‘Have you figured out where you belong yet?’
Bethany took the glass she was offered. ‘Perhaps,’ she said, a teasing note to her tone. ‘Let’s just say I did a lot of thinking recently and some things fell into place at last.’
‘That’s great. Whatever you’ve decided it’s obviously made you happy. You’ve got a different look about you somehow.’
‘That’s just what Clive said,’ Bethany remembered. She shook her head slightly, not wanting to think about their last conversation right now. That worry could wait for another time. ‘So, you’ve decided to stay single, or are you still looking?’
‘Oh, I’m definitely happy being single for now,’ Daisy said. She sipped her wine and shrugged. ‘I mean, I’d like to meet someone eventually but I’m starting to accept that the future I had mapped out for myself might not happen. I’m thirty-five. I might never have the family I always assumed I’d have.’
Bethany understood that pain all too well, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever accepted it really, even though she’d thought for a long time that she had.
‘You never know,’ she told Daisy. ‘I believe Kat was in her mid-thirties when she had Hattie and look at her now. A baby, a stepson, and another child on the way! And happily married to Jonah who, I have to say, is quite a hunk.’
Daisy’s eyes twinkled with amusement. ‘He is a bit of all right, isn’t he? Kat’s lovely. She’s been so good to me. If it wasn’t for her I’d never have been able to get the café up and running. She deserves this.’
‘I wonder what she really thought to that hen do,’ Bethany said, giggling. ‘It wasn’t exactly a typical one was it?’
‘Nope. I felt awful when Miss Lavender told me what she’d booked the table for and then asked me to provide those afternoon teas. But then again, Kat had insisted she didn’t want a hen night, and of course she knew she was pregnant so she wouldn’t have been able to drink alcohol. I guess it was better than nothing.’
‘And kind of Miss Lavender to organise it,’ Bethany admitted. ‘I thought I was going to be interrogated you know. I was horrified when I got there and realised so many people were going to be there, but everyone was lovely. I mean, there was a dodgy moment or two but generally everyone accepted that I didn’t want to answer questions and left me alone.’ She pulled a face. ‘Except for Isobel Lavender. What is her problem, by the way? No one seems to like her very much.’
Daisy sighed. ‘I have no idea. She’s got everything going for her from what I can see. Her own business, a husband who’s got a good job, a lovely home. She’s very pretty, too. I don’t know. Some people are never satisfied.’
Bethany remembered suddenly what Isobel had told them and her smile faded. ‘Do you think she’s being bullied by Noah?’
Daisy spluttered into her wine glass. ‘Noah? No way! Why would you ask that?’
‘When she found out he was in the café she got a bit worried. Said he wouldn’t like her eating cake, and that he kept an eye on her weight and diet.’
Daisy put her glass on the table and turned incredulous eyes on Bethany. ‘Noah? He’s not like that!’
‘How well do you know him?’ Bethany asked curiously.
Daisy shrugged. ‘Well, not that well,’ she confessed. ‘He comes into the café once or twice a week, just to escape the school for half an hour I think. He’s very partial to my caramel and white chocolate cake, I’ll tell you that much. Does that sound like a man who worries about calories and weight?’
‘No,’ Bethany said slowly, ‘but maybe it’s not his diet and weight he’s bothered about. Only hers. Some men are like that, aren’t they? Control freaks. He’s a headmaster, isn’t he? Maybe he’s used to being in charge, giving orders.’
‘I really can’t see it.’ Daisy looked extremely doubtful. ‘He’s a sweetie. We’ve chatted a few times. He’s very polite, very gentle. He just doesn’t seem the type to bully anyone. And have you met Isobel? Does she strike you as someone who’d be bullied?’
‘No,’ Bethany admitted. ‘But that doesn’t prove anything. What goes on between a man and woman in their own home can be very different to the way they behave in public, can’t it? I’d hate to think she was being abused in any way. And really, when you think about it, it could explain why she’s so edgy and unhappy all the time.’
‘I suppose.’ Daisy looked suddenly depressed. ‘I don’t want to think it possible of him, but as you said, who knows what goes on behind closed doors? I guess we can’t rule it out. I’d be gutted if it’s true, though, as I like him, and he seems so decent. And I’d hate to think she was suffering. Maybe we ought to keep an eye on her. I hope she’s got someone she can confide in, but I can’t think of anyone she’s particularly close to offhand.’
‘Hopefully we’ve got it all wrong.’ Bethany sighed and swilled the wine round in her glass. ‘Can you ever really trust any man one hundred per cent though?’
Daisy’s eyes widened. ‘Uh-oh. That sounds ominous. Don’t tell me you’re having doubts about the magnificent Clive already.’
‘Of course not!’ Bethany was quick to deny it but there it was again, that nagging feeling that she couldn’t quite dismiss. ‘It’s just…’
‘Just what?’ Daisy leaned forward, her tone encouraging. ‘It’s okay, Bethany, you can tell me anything. I promise it will go no further.’
‘I’m being stupid,’ Bethany said, shaking her head. She took a sip of wine. ‘It’s just, he’s round at Jennifer’s tonight. You know, Jennifer Callaghan?’
‘And?’
‘I know it sounds silly, but I think there might be something between them. Maybe not now, but in the past perhaps. Or maybe he wanted there to be. Oh, I don’t know.’ She took another large gulp of wine. ‘Like I said, I’m being stupid.’
‘Why do you think that?’ Daisy asked sympathetically. ‘Has he given you any reason to doubt him?’
‘No. Not really. It’s just that I saw him at the opening of the art academy. Honestly, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. And he’s quite close to her son, which sort of includes him in their family. And tonight… I mean, why did she invite him round? She didn’t give him a reason. And,’ she added triumphantly, as if this was conclusive prove, ‘she told him not to tell Ben and Summer he was coming round.’
‘Ah.’ Daisy settled back in the sofa looking less worried. ‘I don’t know about anything else, and I can’t give you any details, but I can tell you there’s a reason for the invitation and it’s nothing sinister, I promise you that.’
‘Really?’ Bethany eyed her uncertainly. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Positive.’ Daisy smiled. ‘But are you sure he was looking at her in that way at the art academy? Is it possible he was simply relieved to see her doing so well for herself in her new job, given her past? I’ve heard all about it from Kat and the poor woman’s had a hard time of it. He must be pleased she’s getting out into the world again. Maybe it was just that.’
Bethany considered it. ‘Maybe,’ she said slowly. ‘But I can’t shake this feeling that there’s something he’s not telling me about her. Oh, you’re right. I’m probably reading way too much into things.’
‘Jealousy,’ said Daisy carefully, ‘is a terrible thing. I was awful to Eliot. I accused him of some terrible things and caused him a lot of pain. If I’d stopped to think about it I’d have realised that he would never cheat on me if he thought we were together. He just wasn’t like that. He was a decent, honourable man, and if we’d truly had an understanding he wouldn’t have looked twice at Eden. But it was, as I’ve explained, in my head. Our relationship, I mean, not theirs.’
She gave Bethany a sympathetic look. ‘I know it’s hard to be objective about these things, but you know Clive. Do you think he’s the sort of man who’d cheat on you? Really?’
Bethany hesitated then shook her head, ashamed. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘Like your Eliot, he’s a decent, honourable man.’
‘Eliot wasn’t mine,’ Daisy reminded her. ‘That was the trouble. But Clive is yours, and I think that’s how he likes it, so I don’t believe you have anything to worry about. You know the kind of man he is, so hang on to that. Believe in him. I hope, one day, I’ll be lucky enough to meet someone like Clive and Eliot again, and this time I hope he cares about me as much as I care about him.’
She was right, Bethany realised. Clive was all she’d ever hoped for and more. She was, indeed, a lucky woman.