Page 82 of Best Summer Ever

‘And it wasn’t until you came back this summer and were so adamant that Laurence was no longer the man for you, that I started to question other things and delve deeper into what I’d done. It was then that I began to realise how deeply those choices I’d thrust onto you had impacted your life. And not in a good way. I’m truly sorry it’s taken me so long to grasp what I’ve done, Daisy. Can you forgive me?’

‘But if you felt that way, why didn’t you invite me to work in the garden with you the moment you realised?’ I asked. ‘Why didn’t you suggest I help you, when you’ve been struggling with no staff?’

‘Because he wanted you to come back to it for yourself, didn’t you, Robin?’ said Mum, catching on to what had beenin Dad’s mind before I did. ‘You were scared to push her again, even if you were more certain that this time it would be in the right direction.’

‘That’s it.’ Dad nodded. ‘That’s exactly it. I didn’t want to influence you again, Daisy.’

‘I see,’ I sighed.

I was astonished. What an unexpected turn of events this was. There I’d been, thinking that I was going to have to talk and talk to try to make Dad understand, when in fact, he’d already worked it out for himself and was just waiting for me to catch up.

‘So, do you?’ he asked me again. ‘Do you forgive me?’

I thought back over the decade I’d wasted, flitting from one disastrous job to another as well as the time I’d spent with dupli- citous Laurence and would never get back. It wasn’t all bad though. That time and those experiences had confirmed beyond all doubt what it was that Ididn’twant and now I could wholeheartedly and unreservedly embrace what Idid.

Of course, there was a part of me that wished I could have reached this point sooner, but that wasn’t how life worked, was it? Things happened precisely when they were ordained to, which meant that I had returned to Wynbrook exactly when I had been meant to and I was now taking up Algy’s offer when it had been destined to be made.

‘Yes, Dad,’ I said, and he pulled me in for an unusual but hugely appreciated hug. ‘I forgive you.’

I could hear Mum shedding yet more tears, but I knew they were still happy ones.

‘Thank you, Daisy,’ Dad said with feeling, when he finally let me go. ‘Thank you, so much.’

‘Don’t thank me yet,’ I laughed. ‘You haven’t seen the quality of the work I’ve put in today, have you?’

‘I have no doubt it will be exemplary.’ He smiled, looking much more like the dad I remembered from my early childhood. ‘It’s in your blood, after all, and your natural talent always shone through.’

‘That’s true,’ I agreed, feeling confident enough to acknowledge that I had very green fingers, ‘but straight after supper, let’s go and look at what I’ve done anyway, shall we?’

Dad was keen to go along with that and I picked up and placed my secateurs in the trug, feeling that one of my biggest ever life decisions had finally, and most importantly, been happily made.

Chapter 19

‘So, what do you think would grow better in here then, Daisy?’ Dad asked me late that evening as our meandering tour of the garden finally came towards its end.

He had been delighted with what I had achieved in the walled garden and was now showing me some other beds, which had been created beyond it but not with the same success. It wasn’t only lack of attention the plants were struggling with. They’d been planted in the wrong place and Dad must have realised that, but I was flattered he wanted my opinion.

‘Given the aspect,’ I said, turning around to work out when the beds most likely caught the sun, ‘I don’t think this is a bright enough spot for flowers to properly flourish. It might be more successful if it’s given over to foliage. It’s a pretty shady spot and there’s plenty that would thrive here that I could then make use of in the bunches and bouquets.’

Dad rubbed his chin and nodded.

‘I think that might be the ideal solution,’ he said and I felt thrilled.

It was wonderful to be working with him, rather than againsthim. We’d always got along well when I helped out during the school holidays; it had only been when I said I wanted the partnership to continue full-time after I had sat my exams that our relationship had changed, and not for the better.

‘Alchemilla molliswould be well suited here and maybe even some eucalyptus.’ Dad gave me a look. ‘As a cut and come again,’ I said, grinning, knowing it would need brisk cropping to keep it in check. ‘I won’t let it run rampant.’

Dad chuckled at that.

‘You still know your stuff, don’t you?’

‘I think so.’ I smiled, feeling pleased about everything I had been able to remember.

I had messaged Josh to say something had come up, something wonderful, and that I wasn’t going to be heading back to Wynmouth that evening or the next day either. We’d pencilled in plans to spend the night and day together as I was a free agent on the work front, but obviously that had changed now. Josh had immediately messaged back, excitedly asking what the something wonderful was, but I had been adamant that I would tell him in person and I had just the occasion in mind to do it too.

It was after Josh and I had finished messaging and I was scrolling through Instagram while waiting for Dad to change into his work gear ahead of our tour, that I realised my love of gardening and my passion for beautiful blooms had never left me or even waned.

I might not have had a hands-on relationship with horticulture since leaving Wynbrook, but my knowledge remained and my Insta feed was full of nature, flowers, florists, allotments and before-and-after garden makeover projects. Those images,reels and accounts had been my go-to and a much-loved soul soother during the years I hadn’t been getting my hands in the soil.

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