Page 62 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
Daisy had almost given up hope of ever finding anyone like that, resigning herself to reading about them instead between the pages of romance novels.
‘I’m not very good with stuff like this, Kit…’
‘Then let’s just take it one day at a time.’ He turned around to glance at the oven. ‘And for now we can simply eat and chat. If nothing else I can amaze you with my culinary expertise.’ His eyes twinkled and Daisy realised it was as simple as that.
‘Tell me again what’s in this?’ she asked, as she forked in another mouthful of food ten minutes later. ‘Because I can’t believe it’s as easy as you say it is.’ She looked down at her plate of rapidly disappearing food, a little pool of sauce oozing out from under a golden crust. A few weeks ago it would have been her worst nightmare.
Kit paused, just about to take another bite himself. ‘It really is. Just some root vegetables; carrots and parsnips, together with some baby onions and mushrooms, cooked in a white sauce and then topped with a cheesy breadcrumb crust.’
‘But it doesn’t taste like any of those things,’ said Daisy. ‘There must be something else in it.’
‘A little mustard and tarragon to flavour the sauce, but that’s all, I promise you.’
‘And it all came out of your garden?’
Kit nodded. ‘Apart from the mushrooms, yes.’
Daisy shook her head. ‘And I go home most nights and heat up a tin of either mushroom or tomato soup. I’m ashamed of myself.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s honest enough food, just not as tasty. In my opinion anyway.’
‘I guess it’s something else that just came about because of how things were… before. There wasn’t always a lot of food and I ate what was cheap, or what I could get hold of. And somewhere along the line it became part of the way I am, part of who I am. And I’ve never had cause to question it before now.’
An agitated expression crossed Kit’s face. ‘But you shouldn’t give yourself a hard time, Daisy. Everything you are is testament to how strong a person you’ve had to be. Change if you want to, but not because you feel you should. I’m sorry if you feel pressured.’
She was quick to smile. ‘No, that’s just it. I do want things to change, and suddenly I can begin to see a way through, perhaps to the future that I’ve always wanted. The last couple of weeks have been… unusual to say the least, but they have helped me to see that I can be different. Maybe it’s not quite as hard as I thought it was going to be.’ She pressed her lips together, her fork idling on her plate as she contemplated just how much she should tell Kit. But then he knew about pretty much everything else…
‘You see, I’ve been making things,’ she continued. ‘Jewellery actually, and I don’t know, but I’m wondering whether it might be something I could be good at.’
Kit had just been about to take another bite of food and his fork stopped halfway to his mouth. He slowly lowered it again. ‘What kind of jewellery?’ he said slowly. ‘Somehow I get the feeling it’s not just clay beads.’
‘Not quite,’ replied Daisy. ‘Made from clay, but silver clay actually. Flowers and leaves and everything I see in the world around me. But they’re not proper jewellery, not like Buchanans sells, and I don’t even know if they’re any good.’
Kit had a puzzled expression on his face. ‘But why didn’t you tell anyone? We could have helped you, or… something, I don’t know.’
‘But how could I tell you, Kit? Think about it. If I told anyone now it would ruin the competition, and be tantamount to cheating. I’ve probably already told you too much. When I first started making things, I didn’t tell anyone because I thought you’d all laugh at me. I mean, Buchanans sells gems which cost thousands of pounds, and which are… not my cup of tea admittedly, but still very fine jewellery. By comparison my designs are, well, there is no comparison. It would be like trying to compare a symphony with a child blowing a recorder out of tune. I would have felt so stupid showing them to Bea… Except that in any case, now it’s all different, because if I showed any one of you my designs, you would instantly know how to win the competition and that would be the worst kind of betrayal.’
She swallowed, clearing her throat a little. ‘None of you know this, but Bea knew my grandmother, and she took me in when I was seventeen, and gave me a job knowing I had nothing. It’s what has kept me going all these years. How can I betray her loyalty? I won’t do it, Kit.’
Kit nodded as he took in what she was saying, but he still looked confused. ‘I can understand that, but this is your future, Daisy.’ He thought for a second. ‘One thing I am curious about though.’
She raised her eyebrows.
‘At work, you wear jewellery from the shop, and I know that you do it just to advertise what we sell. It’s not the real you and I can tell you don’t like it.’ He grimaced. ‘And for very obvious reasons I’ve been paying attention to what you do wear just recently, but you don’t, do you? Even tonight when you are definitely off duty, you’re not wearing any jewellery, and I wondered why that was…’
Daisy couldn’t help but give a wry smile. It was the one thing throughout this whole situation that she had found incredibly ironic. In fact, part of her wondered if it was why Bea had chosen to do what she had – simply because Daisy herself wouldn’t be giving any clues. She chewed another mouthful of food thoughtfully, savouring the taste.
‘I don’t wear any jewellery because I don’t own any,’ she replied. ‘So it’s really pretty simple.’ She dropped her head.
‘Although that’s not the whole story of course…’ said Kit
She looked back up, surprised at his intuition. She sighed. ‘No… I don’t own any jewellery because I learned not to own things from a very early age. Everything I ever had was taken away from me, to sell usually, or as punishment. Birthday presents from relatives, Christmas too, and I never knew where the things went. But there was one thing I’d kept hidden, a tiny silver locket that my grandmother had given to me. I used to wear it sometimes when I knew I was alone in the house but, one day, I must have got distracted and forgotten to take it off, until it too was ripped from my throat. It was the last piece of jewellery I ever owned.’
Kit swallowed. ‘Oh, Daisy…’
She lifted her chin a little. ‘As I got older I vowed never to own anything just for the sake of it, but only if it really meant something to me. Now I don’t own many things because it’s not possible for everything to be special. The more you have, the more the sheer weight of possessions dilutes the importance of those you already have.’ She frowned. ‘I don’t know if that makes any sense at all.’
Kit was thinking. ‘Although if you lived in a house that had taken you years to build, that indeed you had built yourself, and if you had made everything that went in that house, and what you couldn’t make you chose carefully, only on the basis that it either fulfilled a function or brought you joy, then I think youwouldunderstand.’ He reached out his hand across the table. ‘I think you would understand very well indeed.’
