Chapter 18
A nnabelle took a sip of tea and studied Daisy the way she always had when they were little, when Daisy had tried to fib about who’d broken something or who had scoffed all the Party Rings.
There was something about Annabelle’s gaze that always made Daisy feel seen, whether she liked it or not.
They were sitting in the kitchen at the back of the bookshop having a cup of tea.
Annabelle raised her eyebrows. ‘How are things with you?’
‘Great, yep, the girls are really good.’
Annabelle lifted her mug, blew gently over the top and narrowed her eyes.
‘Right. So, you’ve deflected twice since I walked in.
Are you actually going to tell me what’s been going on, or shall I start guessing wildly why you have a ginormous and may I add very fancy hamper basket that is nearly as big as this kitchen sitting in the corner and why you have the downward dimple thing going on? ’
Daisy laughed, then gave a little shrug and flicked her eyes to the far corner of the kitchen where the huge hamper was wedged in by the back door. ‘I told you. Things are good.’
Annabelle followed her gaze. ‘So, I presume this is a delivery from the person we are thinking isn’t that serious about you and will vanish after three or was it six months?’
Daisy gave a sheepish grin. ‘Ah. Yes. All of that arrived for us.’
Annabelle stood, placed her mug on the table and crossed the tiny room.
She crouched in front of the hamper as if she was inspecting a museum exhibit and lifted the lid and gave a low whistle.
‘You are joking. This was full, was it? And we thought the ten bunches of flowers were a good move. This is not a little token gift, Daise. This is about twelve days of Christmas rolled into one basket and I, for one, love it.’
‘Tell me about it. I spent ages trying to find room for half the stuff. There’s tea in there that smells like it was made for royalty and there was a jar of honey with gold flakes floating in it. I thought someone had made a mistake at first when it was delivered.’
Annabelle pulled out a tin that was still in the basket and read the label. ‘Smoked cheese biscuits with heritage flour. What’s all this? Wait, wow, bottles of champagne and not the pretend stuff. Blimey, this is some delivery!’
‘He sent it after the night I stayed.’
Annabelle stopped rummaging and turned. ‘You’re not serious. Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Deadly.’
‘This came after the sleepover night?’
‘Yes.’
Annabelle gestured to the hamper and shook her head in quick little motions. ‘This was his follow-up?’
‘It was.’
‘The night must have been exceptional. He’s got it bad for you, my lovely little sis. He’s gone, Daise. Head over heels, in love, one hundred per cent. I mean, sending hampers like this? That’s not your average bloke move. That’s someone fully in it. I like him a lot more than I thought I did.’
Daisy shifted and looked down at her socks. ‘I didn’t know what to say when Matthew turned up.’
‘What did the card say?’
Daisy picked up the small embossed envelope from the fruit bowl, still tucked in its corner and handed it over without saying anything.
Annabelle opened it slowly and read, her eyebrows rising. ‘That’s short and sweet.’
‘I didn’t know whether to cry or climb into the hamper myself with the twins. They were all over it.’
‘It’s not just a lot. It’s thoughtful, beautifully done, generous and kind. He loves you. I might cry.’
Daisy sat back down and wrapped her hands around her mug. ‘It scared me a bit, Bells. I’m up and down like a flipping yo-yo, to be honest. After Georgia triggered me…’
Annabelle made a noise that sat somewhere between a scoff and a snort.
‘Daise, do not even give Georgia a thought. Look at me. That man did not send an artisan hamper with handwritten notes and monogrammed honey for the sake of it. He’s so into you.
You don’t rent a flat, short-stay or not, send smoked cheese biscuits and half of the country’s champagne supply to someone you’re half-hearted about. ’
‘You think he seriously likes me?’
Annabelle swore. ‘You’re still trying to figure out whether he’s serious? Are you for real?’
‘I don’t know. It’s all just so lovely that I keep thinking it’s going to blow up.’
Annabelle sat back down and picked up her tea. ‘Or it won’t. It’ll just keep being lovely. That’s allowed, you know. Not everything has to fall apart. Just because of, well, the bungee jump episode and everything that came after that. You just had a bit of a bad run of it with all that.’
Daisy didn’t answer. She reached over to the counter instead and picked up the notebook and placed it on the table between them and nodded. ‘Also, from him. It was tucked inside the bottom of the hamper.
Annabelle ran her hand across the cover. ‘This is so you, right down to the stitched spine.’
‘I know.’
Annabelle picked up her mug again. ‘I think I need a lie-down. That is next level.’
‘I know. I nearly burst and the girls were beside themselves. It was like Christmas in here. I just hope nothing changes.’
‘You don’t have to constantly wait for the floor to give way, you know. It’s alright to feel like this and not be bracing for disaster.’ Annabelle sounded very exasperated.
‘I keep trying to tell myself that, but my stomach still knots up whenever he texts.’
‘What do you mean with butterflies or like with dread?’
‘Both. Depending on the day and what’s going on in my head.’
Annabelle tutted and nodded at the same time.
‘I suppose it is understandable with what you’ve had on your plate for the last few years and lately.
You’ve held your nerve through months of upheaval, set up a bookshop on a wing and a prayer, dealt with doing this place up, and kept the girls feeling safe and steady.
You’ve been so busy with that that you’ve lost the ability to think like a normal person! Ahh!’
‘Ha.’
‘If anyone deserves a man who sends hampers the size of kitchens and personalised stationery, it’s you, Daise.’
Daisy ran a hand over the notebook cover. ‘I’m not used to things feeling good.’
Annabelle raised her mug. ‘Then start getting used to it, because I don’t think he’s going anywhere.’
‘And even if he is, I’ve still got this, right? The bookshop, the girls, you ugly lot. I just keep thinking, what if I’m leaning too hard on something that’s not built to last? What if he wakes up one day and realises I come with a second-hand kitchen and a pair of small tornadoes?’
Annabelle gave the kind of look only an older sister could give. ‘Daise, he knows exactly what you come with and he keeps showing up anyway.’
Daisy shrugged. ‘But it’s all a bit new. I keep waiting for a text that ends it all. One that says thanks, but no thanks. You’ve been great, but…’
‘Stop. Not everything has to end with a dramatic twist.’
‘It’s just that everything good in my life before has come with a cost. Even this bookshop, when you think about it.
Bottom line, it’s wonderful, it’s mine, sort of, Mum’s really, but I got it because someone died, Bells.
Uncle Dennis is gone and I’m the one sitting here every morning.
The same as the twins, their dad is gone.
And Miles, he’s amazing, but what if I start needing him too much and then he’s gone, too? ’
‘You’re not mad for thinking those things in a way, but you’re wrong, too.’
‘Trust me, I feel all over the show.’
Annabelle stood and moved around the island, pulling Daisy into a hug, her linen dress crumpling slightly as she pressed her cheek to the top of Daisy’s head.
‘You’ll be fine. Right, come on. We are Henleys.
Let’s have another cup of tea and some goodies from that basket.
If you’re going to keep spiralling into worst-case scenarios, we might as well do it with chocolate biscuits as fuel. ’
Daisy smiled. ‘You’re too good to me.’
Annabelle tutted. It’s a full-time job being your big sister.’
As Daisy made another pot of tea, she thought about Annabelle’s words and realised that she didn’t need to keep thinking that everything was going to go wrong. That perhaps it was time to start believing in her own story. Time to really, really let go.