Page 63 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
His eyes were tender as he slid his hand into hers.
‘Just as I think that now is the right time for you to finally let go of some of the things from your past and work towards the kind of future that you want. Make your jewellery, Daisy, no one is going to laugh at you. In fact, far from it, how could they when it’s so beautiful? Who knows what’s going to happen at Buchanans, but things are changing, and maybe now’s the time for them to change for you too.’
She smiled and was just about to answer when her breath caught in her throat. She stared at him.
‘What did you say?’
‘That maybe it’s time for things to change for you too…’
‘No, before that… You said that no one would laugh at my jewellery designs because they were beautiful… How could you possibly know that?’
She shot up from the table and marched out of the kitchen, the sound of Kit’s chair scraping hideously across the floor following her.
‘Daisy, wait! Daisy! Look, let me explain. It’s not what it sounds like…’
She whirled around.
‘No? You’ve let me just pour my heart out to you. I’ve told you things I’ve never told anyone else, because you made me feel—’ She threw her hands up in disgust. ‘It doesn’t matter how you made me feel… and, Christ, you even had your own sob story to share with me. But that’s not what this is all about, is it? You knew I was making jewellery all along and you never said anything. This whole… charade… it’s been about Buchanans the whole time—’
‘No, Daisy please, I would never—’
‘And I can’t believe I fell for it. How stupid am I?’
She could feel tears beginning to well up and she was damned if she would let Kit see how upset she was. She had to get out, back to her own house and her place of safety.
‘No wonder Bea had to come up with a stupid competition to help her decide who should run the business. She wouldn’t want to choose between any of you, and neither would I…’ She trailed off. ‘Actually, I’d give it to Bertie, because he’s the only one who’s had any shred of decency throughout this whole thing. Lawrence thought he could just outright cheat by using Monique to find out what sort of jewellery I would wear, and you, you thought you could wheedle your way into my affections and, what? Did you think I’d just roll over and tell you everything you wanted to know!’
She was furious with herself. ‘I’ve probably told you far more than I should have anyway.’
Kit was standing six foot away from her in the hallway and, even as she glared at him, she was still aware of how impressive a building it was. He looked utterly dejected, his hands hanging limply by his sides.
‘Daisy, why would I even do that?’ He sighed. ‘I should have told you I knew about your jewellery-making but, just as you had reasons for keeping it quiet, I have reasons for not telling you I knew. And I’m still not going to tell you what they are, but you have to trust me.’
She smiled bitterly. ‘Forgive me, Kit, but I’m not big on trusting people for the sake of it – it doesn’t take a genius to work out why. People have to earn my trust, and lying to me is not the right way to go about it.’
‘I didn’t lie, Daisy. I withheld information, exactly as you have done. You had your reasons, just as I have mine. But I promise you it has nothing to do with trying to trick you into giving me the information I need to win the competition. In fact, I’m just as keen as you are that youdon’ttell me…’
She stared at him, trying to process what he’d just said. It all sounded perfectly plausible, but then it would, wouldn’t it?
‘Then tell me. If it has nothing to do with the competition, tell me why.’
Kit looked as if he was trying to swallow a length of barbed wire. ‘I can’t,’ he said eventually.
‘Can’t, or won’t?’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, what difference does that make? Can’t or won’t – it’s both, because one follows the other. If I can’t tell you but then choose to anyway, what kind of person does that make me? Surely not someone you could ever trust and yet it seems as if that’s exactly what you want me to do – breakmytrust.’
She frowned. There was something in what he said, but… ‘So then it does have something to do with the competition…’
There was silence.
‘Thank you,’ said Daisy, bitterly. ‘Now I have my answer.’
Kit glared at her. He was getting angry now. ‘What do you want me to say? Okay, it has to do with the competition… happy now? Except it’s not in the way you think and seeing as I don’t recall ever giving you a reason to doubt me, it’s rather hurtful that you so obviously do.’
He looked up to the rafters. ‘Daisy, we’re standing in a building that has taken me a quarter of my life to build. Everything in it was either made by me, or I had a hand in making it where I lacked the skill. There is nothing fake or pretend about it. It is everything I believe in and everything I have dreamed of during all that time. You couldn’t find anything that’s a truer validation of who I am, so why do you find it so hard to believe me?’
She looked around her, at the very visible of proof of what Kit had just said, but trust went a whole lot deeper than just a few words. For all Daisy knew, that was exactly why Kit had chosen his home as the place where he could get to know her better.
