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‘So do you like my dad?’ Daisy said, without taking her eyes off the block of ice.
That wasn’t really a conversation Pe
‘All the women like him,’ Daisy went on. ‘I can’t see the attraction myself.’
‘Well, you’re not supposed to.’
‘Ha. No, I suppose not. But women fall over themselves to be with him. I guess he must be nice to look at.’
‘So he has a lot of girlfriends?’ Pe
‘Yes. I mean, not girlfriends, just women that he sort of sees on a casual basis, the ones I’m not supposed to know about. They never last long though, a few dates here or there before he moves on to the next. I don’t think he has any interest in anything serious. There’ve only been two semi-serious girlfriends over the years. Rosie was lovely, but the other one was awful. He generally tries to avoid relationships because of me, which I feel really bad about. He thinks he can’t do both – be a dad and a boyfriend – but he can. He’d make someone a wonderful husband one day and I’m sure he’d like more kids, he’s so good with Bea and Oliver.’ Daisy continued to work on her block, making gentle taps here and there.
Pe
‘Honestly, I’d love it. He’s been stuck with me ever since he was sixteen, he deserves to be happy.’
‘Your dad adores you. I don’t think he would consider raising you as being stuck with you.’
‘Oh, I know he loves me, I see that every day, but I’ve obviously put a dent in the life he would have led. I want him to find someone he loves, who loves him. I always try to be understanding about him dating women as he should have a life outside of being a dad, but the last one was a complete bitch. Don’t tell him I said that, he hates hearing me swear. So I want him to choose someone lovely, though I totally get that who I would choose for him and who he would choose for him would probably be two different people. Although I think he likes you, which is a first for us both to like the same woman.’
Pe
Daisy nodded. ‘But he went through a bad break-up with his last girlfriend and it got all messy because of me so he’s not looking for anything serious at the moment. I told him not to mess around with you unless he thinks he can cope with something serious and he really doesn’t do serious.’
Pe
‘I didn’t say the wrong thing, did I? I just didn’t want to see you getting hurt,’ Daisy said, obviously noticing Pe
Was she that needy and pathetic that even a sixteen-year-old girl had noticed it?
‘No, it’s totally fine. I’m happy on my own. I like Henry, but I don’t like him.’
‘Well, that’s cool then, you two can be friends. He needs friends in White Cliff Bay and I expect it gets lonely for you up here sometimes. You’ll be good for each other.’
And that was true. She hadn’t rented out the a
‘You should come ice skating with us tonight.’
Pe
‘My dad will help you, he’s really good, he used to have lessons when he was younger. That’s how he and my mum met apparently, at the ice rink. She was so impressed with his skills that… well, nine months later I arrived.’
Pe
‘No. Thank god. Apparently she’s heavily involved in drink and drugs. Lucky escape for me.’ She gave the ice a hard whack.
‘Henry told you that?’
‘No, my aunt Caitlyn did, my mum’s sister. I still see her and my grandparents from time to time, though they never see my mum at all. Whenever they come round they always pick holes in the way that my dad raises me, but at least he stuck by me, didn’t run off to Australia as soon as I was born.’
There was bitterness there and Pe
Daisy stepped back to inspect her work. ‘I think I’m ready to use the die grinder now.’
Pe
‘Don’t push too hard, just let the grinder do the work for you,’ Pe
‘What if I make a mistake?’
Pe
She stepped back to watch Daisy move the die grinder with all the concentration of a Grand Master at a chess match. Satisfied that she was doing it safely she moved back to the angel on the pretence of doing her own work, though surreptitiously keeping an eye on Daisy at the same time, but Daisy’s focus didn’t waver once.
She watched her work and felt her heart ache. Daisy’s mum had missed out on this beautiful child growing up into a wonderful, talented, smart young lady. How could she have turned her back on that? Henry had done an incredible job on his own and Daisy was someone he could be very proud of. But it was very clear why he didn’t want a serious relationship. He didn’t want anyone to hurt Daisy like her mum had.
As disappointing as it was, Pe
Henry popped his head around the co
‘Hello there,’ she said, resuming her carving. ‘Can I make you some lunch?’
‘Oh no. I’m fine. I was just making sure Daisy wasn’t getting on Pe
Jill gestured for him to sit down at the table and, recognising that she wasn’t the sort of person that you ever argued with, he did as he was told.
‘Pe
‘Yes, she’s very sweet.’
‘You like her.’
It wasn’t a question and Jill seemed to command honesty. ‘Yes.’
‘She’s not someone you can have a fling with. She is fragile and I never want to see her get hurt again.’
‘She told me briefly about Chris and the baby. I bet she was devastated.’
‘She was, but Chris was an asshole. You’ll never hear me swear but there is no other word that I can use to describe him. Well, there are plenty of worse words. I think she would have been fine had he stayed with her just for a month or two after the miscarriage. She would have been upset for the baby, of course, but for him to leave her just two days after the miscarriage was the worst thing he could have ever done. She found out later there had been someone else too, which was a double betrayal. But the worst part of it was how he acted afterwards. The people of the town realised what he had done and so many of them were angry with him and to save face he bad-mouthed her to anyone and everyone who would listen, told everyone she was deranged and crazy, said some really horrible things about her. Although most people didn’t believe it and he ended up just making it worse for himself, there were some that did, especially his friends. Her parents protected her from most of it but it was still a tough blow for her when she was dealing with everything else. There has been no one for her since and I know it’s because she doesn’t want to get hurt like that again.’