Page 77 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
She broke off to look at each of them in turn. ‘But how to choose between you? Especially when I knew that the business wasn’t right for any of you. You’ve all served it well over the years, in different ways, but all showing your loyalty, both to me and to your late father’s wish that Buchanans should continue long into the future. And perhaps it has simply been that my own change in circumstance has allowed me to see that it was time, not only to set myself free, but to set you all free too.’
She beamed directly at Daisy before continuing. ‘I always knew who I wanted to run this place, just as I knew that if I simply announced it, you three would fight me every inch of the way, so I had to show a little cunning… I had to find a way to let you reach that conclusion for yourselves. And by and large that’s exactly what has happened…’ She changed the direction of her gaze.
‘Bertie… I knew that you could never stand to be confined to this place day in day out, your wonderful people skills never quite being given the space they needed to grow. I also knew of course that Luka had asked you to go into business with him, and that all it would take for you to make that decision was a drop of courage and a little bird to point out to you what was important in life.’
Bertie nodded and smiled, shaking his head in amusement.
‘And Lawrence… You haven’t quite got there yet, but you will, soon. You see, out of you three I always knew that you would fight the hardest, not because you really wanted to run Buchanans, but because you wanted to win, and that is quite a different thing altogether.’
She sighed. ‘You’ve always been that way, and I’m afraid that’s my fault, placing so much responsibility onto your shoulders from such an early age, always making you the one in charge… But, now, I hope you will see that your talents too lie elsewhere. You’ve had some remarkable ideas for Buchanans over the years, but they’ve never quite hit the spot – but only because you’ve picked the wrong spot. Go to London, Lawrence. Test out your ideas where there are big budgets and the sky’s the limit, that’s where you’ll find your feet.’
Daisy smiled at him, taking in the stunned expression on his face, but one that showed he was, finally, beginning to understand. He nodded in reply, a small nod, but it was there.
‘And finally, Kit… out of you all, the one who knew what he believed in right from an early age and quietly and determinedly set out to live it. You’ve always known where your strengths lie, and it never has been here… Curious then that you chose to work on the shop floor, day in day out, even when you had other far more pressing things to do. Or rather, not that curious at all, when one of the things you believed in was a young woman. Someone within whom you could see, just as I did, a spark of something very special indeed. It’s no wonder you fell in love with her.’
She laughed. ‘Of course I knew, Kit, I’ve known for ages. Trust me, a mother knows these things. What I wasn’t quite so sure about was where exactly your feelings were going to take us, but I’m extraordinarily pleased with where they have.’
She paused and looked at them in turn. ‘And so, here we are at the end. Or perhaps the beginning… I hope so, because I’m absolutely certain that this is the right thing to do, for all of you. Daisy has more than proved herself the successor of Buchanans. She could have colluded with any of you, at any point, but she didn’t. She remained loyal to me and to the spirit of the competition, without even knowing why, and I don’t have to tell you how rare it is to find someone with that degree of integrity these days. The fact that she is an extremely talented jeweller has come as the most wonderful surprise and makes what I’m about to do even more special.
‘You see, Daisy, I am off to start a new life with everything I could possibly want. But it’s also time for us all to take responsibility for our lives, to stand on our own two feet, without Buchanans. And so, I don’t just want you to run this place for me…’ She looked around her one more time, her hands clasped together. ‘I want you to have more than that. I want you to have the very thing that you have never believed you should want but in fact have always needed, and so I’m giving it to you, Daisy. Buchanans is yours…’
26
Christmas Day
Daisy groaned. ‘I have eaten so much,’ she said. ‘Now I know what all the fuss is about. Even the Brussel sprouts…’
They were snuggled on Kit’s sofa, far away from the outside world, warm and cosy inside his log cabin among the trees. She laid her head against his shoulder and stretched out her toes towards the fire.
‘I have to confess I wasn’t sure if you would eat it,’ replied Kit. ‘But I could hardly serve you cheese sandwiches and carrot sticks for Christmas dinner, now could I?’
She smiled sleepily, full, contented and happy as he rested his lips against the top of her hair.
‘It seems like a lifetime ago that I invited you to spend Christmas Day with me… and yet here you are…’
She twisted slightly so that she could turn and look up at him. ‘Yes, here I am. I’m still not sure this isn’t all a dream. Or a fairy tale. I feel like a rescued damsel in distress. Actually, that’s the second time you’ve rescued me. I could quite get used to it.’
Kit grinned. ‘Well, much as I’d like to continue rescuing you for a very long time to come, I’m afraid that won’t be at all necessary. You’d rescued yourself long before I got there.’
‘But all I did was start to make some jewellery, Kit, the rest has been down to you. I have a future now I never even dreamed of.’ Her eyes sparkled as a huge smile split her face. ‘I have a shop! Imagine that…’
‘You do. And have you any thoughts yet about what to do with it? You heard what Mum said, no strings attached. You can make it anything you want it to be.’
The time since yesterday afternoon had flown by in a mad whirl and Daisy really hadn’t had the chance to take it all in. She did know one thing, however. She pulled a face.
‘Not Buchanans… I mean, I might have to keep the name, but not the shop, not like it is now… But I’ll sell my jewellery, obviously, and maybe others too, from individual craftspeople like me. I could sell Flora’s prints as well… especially now that I can go ahead and make the jewellery to go on them… Oh, and things for The Castle…’ She broke off. ‘There is so much to think about, so many things I could do.’
‘And you can take your time over all of them,’ said Kit. ‘Work out what it is you really want.’
‘I do know one thing,’ she replied. ‘And that’s whatever I do, I will stay true to the things I believe in… the thingswebelieve in. And I very much want you to be a part of it all. Will you? Stand by my side?’
‘Well, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Does that mean you’ll be my boss though?’ Kit grinned.
‘No, it means we’ll take it in turns to make the tea.’
‘Then you’ve got yourself a deal, Daisy Buchanan.’
She sat up straight. ‘What did you call me?’
