Page 47 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
It all sounded utterly and beautifully simple.
‘Thank you,’ she said, before looking down at her clothes. Her wellies would be fine, and the hem of her skirt was already wet so there was nothing she could do about that.
‘Are you warm enough?’ asked Kit. ‘I have spare gloves and another fleece if you want to put that on under your coat.’
She nodded gratefully and five minutes later they were set to go. The fleece was huge on her, but warm and, as Kit hitched his pack onto his back, he smiled. ‘My emergency rescuing-a-damsel-in-distress gear,’ he said.
Daisy arched her eyebrows. ‘Really?’ she said. ‘Pick up many women out in the wilds, do you?’
‘Ah, you’d be surprised… Although actually it’s more like a change of clothes in case I fall on my arse and get soaked.’
She laughed. Collecting her handbag and checking she had her keys, she made sure the car was locked and then gestured at the moonlit road. ‘And you’re sure you know the way?’ she asked. ‘I don’t really ever come out this way when I walk.’
‘You’ll see,’ said Kit, mysteriously. ‘Come on.’
They walked back along the lane for a hundred metres or so before Kit led them through a gap in the hedge, helping her pick her way over the drifts that had blown there.
‘It’s not so deep out in the field,’ he said. ‘There’s no barriers for the snow to collect against, you see, it simply spreads itself out.’
Daisy nodded. ‘And did you really just come out for a walk?’
Kit stopped suddenly, looking around him and then finally up at the sky. ‘Of course… what could be more perfect?’ He touched her arm lightly. ‘Listen,’ he said.
So Daisy did, allowing the sounds of the world around them to reach her. She could hear the snow being blown across the field and a pair of foxes barking in the distance and, closer to home, something rustled under cover of the hedgerow. But surrounding it all was a deep stillness, not a sound in itself, more a sense that permeated every part of her, so resonant she could almost hear it. And it was so familiar to her. She welcomed it in like an old friend, drawing it deep inside of her with each breath, calming and peaceful. London suddenly seemed a million miles away.
‘Better?’ asked Kit gently.
‘Yes… yes, I am.’ She looked at him incredulously, realising that her headache had gone. How did he know? And, as she stood, head angled to the sky, she realised that Kit was very much at home out here in the field, with just the moon as his guide. How had she never seen that before? Today wasn’t a one-off, he was a part of the landscape out here, just as she was at home by the canal. It shocked her that she had never even noticed, or perhaps never taken the time to. And yet he had obviously recognised something in her.
‘I don’t think I realised how tense I was,’ she said. ‘I was longing to be home, but this is…’ She broke off and inhaled a deep cleansing breath. ‘Perfect,’ she finished.
Kit smiled. ‘I find it helps,’ he said. ‘Being somewhere where everyone else isn’t – where there is room for me, and I can be as big as I want instead of feeling incredibly small.’
She stared at him. ‘Yes,’ she breathed. ‘That’s exactly it! That’s how I feel most of the time. Some people, they just delight in making you feel small.’
Kit slid her a sideways glance. ‘Are we talking about my brother here by any chance?’
‘Yes,’ whispered Daisy. ‘But don’t say his name, not out here.’
‘Where did he take you?’
Daisy pulled a face. ‘Harrods…’
Kit burst out laughing. ‘Oh, dear God, that’s priceless.’
‘Yes, most of it was actually, although that didn’t seem to stop him from buying half the shop.’ She paused to reflect on the day which already seemed to be receding further and further into her memory. ‘It wasn’t all bad. I met Monique, who I think you probably know. And that was fun at least. Plus, she has Lawrence well and truly sussed. I don’t think he’s going to find his quest to rule Buchanans quite as easy as he thought he would.’ She broke off then, realising that if she were not careful she could reveal what she had learned about the competition. And that wasn’t her information to share.
‘He’ll get by, he always does,’ replied Kit, studying her face. ‘Do you know the fact that he always got what he wanted used to drive me mad when I was younger. It seemed so unfair and I strove to get the better of him, to have whatever he wanted just so that he didn’t win. But then, I realised that all I was doing was hurting myself because I didn’t actually want any of the things he did. As soon as I worked that out it freed me from the stupid pattern of behaviour that I’d got myself locked into. Now I don’t care what he does. It has no bearing on the way I live my life.’
‘But what about the shop then?’ asked Daisy. ‘I didn’t think you cared about it but yet you entered the competition.’
He gave her another searching look. ‘I can see how you’d think that. And on the outside I think perhaps that’s the message I’ve been giving.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘But actually I care about it a great deal, just not in the way Lawrence does.’
He acknowledged her smile, knowing that he was right. ‘Buchanans doesn’t interest me the way it is now but, if Lawrence wins, what I think will be immaterial as far as the shop goes. I need to put my energy into making sure he doesn’t gain control, but I learned a long time ago that becoming fixated with what my brother does is a sure-fire way to lose out yourself. It’s too distracting, and nothing saps your focus quicker.’
Daisy nodded. It was true. She had spent most of the day fighting against Lawrence’s points of view, almost out of necessity in case she became tainted by his opinions and the sheer dominance of his personality. There was no room for it in the way she lived her life, and nor, by the sounds of it, in Kit’s.
‘But you do know Lawrence isn’t going to give you a job,’ she said, looking across at Kit, whose face was turned to the sky.
