Page 83 of Best Summer Ever

It was telling that my passion for plants had never left me and in turn, my acknowledgement of that made me wonder what it had been that Dad had wanted to pursue when he finished school and if he still had an interest in it.

‘Here you go then, Daisy,’ he said, once he’d locked the potting shed and as he handed me a bunch of keys. ‘You’d better have your own set. Once you’re opening the garden up to the public, we’ll need to keep all the sheds locked when we’re not in them.’

I clasped the bunch tightly and felt like he’d given me the keys to his castle. I was excited, but I felt the weight of responsibility too. The garden had never been accessible to the public in the way that Algy’s venture now opened it up and I was mindful of that.

‘I’m honoured.’ I grinned as my excitement outstripped any apprehension.

‘That you are,’ Dad said, smiling back. ‘Not even Algy has a complete set.’

‘Has he not?’ I laughed.

‘No chance,’ said Dad. ‘I’m not having him causing chaos where I’ve established order. He has a habit of not putting things back where they should be.’

‘Does he still garden then?’

‘Not often,’ Dad told me. ‘And not at all since his accident.’

I hoped I would be able to rectify that with some gentle encouragement. As long as I returned the tools Algy used to their allotted hooks and shelves, all would be well.

‘In that case, I might see if I can tempt him to help me in the flower garden once I’ve got the proper measure of it,’ I ventured, feeling immensely overjoyed that the ghosts of the arguments of the past had now been thoroughly exorcised and I could wholeheartedly embrace the beautiful walled space again. ‘Given that it was his idea in the first place, he should have the chance to play a part in it, shouldn’t he?’

‘He should,’ Dad agreed, ‘but rather you than me. You’ll have to supervise him very closely.’

‘Oh, I intend to,’ I said earnestly. ‘You don’t happen to know why he was so keen to set the venture up, do you?’

Dad shrugged.

‘I think he just took a liking to the idea,’ he said. ‘He most likely saw some diversification scheme on TV and decided to try and apply it here. You know what he’s like when he takes a fancy to something. Come hell or high water, it has to happen.’

I had a feeling there was more to it than that and would be giving it further consideration as I got to grips with the job and the finer details of what it was going to entail in order to get it fully up and running.

‘While we’re on the subject, what was it that took your fancy all those years ago, Dad? What did you want to leave Wynbrook to do when all of your friends were spreading their wings?’

He took a moment before answering.

‘I don’t want you thinking I’ve always been unhappy here, Daisy,’ he said firmly. ‘Things changed once I met your mum and I settled into the job. I’m as melded to this place now as Algernon Alford himself.’

‘I know that, Dad,’ I said soothingly, ‘but it wasn’t your firstpost-school choice, was it? If you could turn the clock back, still meet Mum, but make your own career decisions free of what your dad made you do, what’s the path you would have taken?’

Dad had winced when I had mentioned his father and his actions, and I knew he was comparing how he had reacted to what I had wanted for myself when I was in my teens with what his dad had thrust upon him.

‘What would you have done, Dad?’ I asked again, before he started brooding and became distracted from the wonderfully bonding walk we were currently enjoying.

‘Well,’ he said slowly, as he thrust his hands in his overall pockets, ‘I don’t know how my path would have panned out of course, but I would have liked to have started walking it by studying history.’

‘History?’

I never would have guessed that.

‘Yes, it was my favourite subject at school and I always had a hankering to study more. I would have loved to go to university and then on to who knows where…’

As his words trailed off, I began to formulate a plan. If I could find a way to do it, I might not be the only person embracing what my heart had long desired this summer.

I was so excited, I barely slept a wink that night and Mum and Dad were up extra early too.

‘Are you likely to see Nick today, Dad?’ I asked, when I joined the pair of them for the fortifying breakfast Mum was cooking at the stove.

‘I doubt it,’ said Dad. ‘The fruit farm is getting busy, andhe has to be in the vicinity of it all day at this time of year. Why? Do you need him to give us a hand in the summerhouse?’

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