Chapter 10
10
While Bex and Claire stayed on the September Rose together so that they could open up the coffee shop early, Daisy and Theo headed back to the Narrow Escape with Johnny, although just as Daisy had expected, falling asleep was the last thing on her mind. It was well past 1a.m. and they were still wide awake, talking about the night and the neighbours and how lovely it had all been. And as she rested her head on Theo’s chest, listening to him talk, Daisy couldn’t help but keep glancing at the ring that sparkled on her hand.
‘Are you sure you like it? If not, I’m happy for us to choose something together, if that’s what you’d rather,’ Theo said.
Daisy sprang upwards. ‘No, I love it. It’s perfect. Is it antique?’
‘It was my grandmother’s,’ he said.
A new sense of emotion tightened in Daisy.
‘Your grandmother’s? Does that mean you’ve already told your mum and dad?’
‘Not yet. I thought we could do it together.’
Since announcing the trip to Yorkshire, where Daisy would finally meet Theo’s parents, Theo hadn’t brought up his mum and dad again, and neither had Daisy. It didn’t feel like the type of conversation they should have in front of the girls, but they had been alone for quite some time and still neither of them had mentioned the impending introductions.
Despite all the time they had been together, Daisy hadn’t so much as spoken to Theo’s mum or dad on a video call. It was strange, given how well Theo knew Pippa, but they were a different type of family, he had assured her.
‘It’s not a big deal. We’re just not that close,’ Theo had told her before. ‘Three visits a year is the most I can handle and even then, we only ever do a couple of days. Any more than that and we end up wanting to tear each other apart.’
‘Was it always that way?’ Daisy had asked. It was a relief to know she wasn’t the only one going into the relationship with a slightly dysfunctional family.
‘No, we were pretty close growing up, I suppose. Did lots of family trips and that type of thing. I think moving away just made me see things differently. You know, I realised our values weren’t aligned any more. It’s not a problem. It’s just there a people I’d rather spend my time with. Like you.’ After that, they had kissed, and Daisy had felt secure that Theo was telling her the truth. After all, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried to introduce them.
They were meant to come down the previous Christmas, and Daisy and Theo had got everything ready, but then three days before they were due to arrive, his parents decided they weren’t sure how they would cope on the water, and so hadn’t come. Understandably, Theo had been hugely disappointed. That wasn’t the only time they were meant to have met, either. Theo had invited Daisy up to Yorkshire for his mum’s sixtieth birthday, but it had coincided with Johnny ingesting an entire tub of hot-chocolate mix and needing an emergency trip to the vets. Thankfully, hot chocolate powder isn’t poisonous for dogs like dark chocolate and Johnny was fine, but given the hefty bill, there was no way Daisy could justify closing up the shop just to meet her boyfriend’s parents. Besides, there was no way Johnny would have been able to make the journey up, the way his stomach responded to all that powder.
But those events were in the past. Johnny was staying with the girls, and she and Theo were definitely heading up the very next day. Nerves fluttered in Daisy as the importance of the event sank in.
‘God, I hope they like me.’
‘What a ridiculous thing to say,’ Theo said, leaning over and kissing her on the lips. ‘Anyone who doesn’t like you is insane. Besides, it doesn’t matter what they think, does it? It matters what I think. And I, Daisy May, am completely and utterly smitten with you.’