Page 130 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
“It would have been normal! We were friends, remember?” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I always got the feeling he was still there, between us.”
He was right! Matt had taken up enough room in her head – and her heart – to keep James at a distance all these years. And while she’d been hurting after the break-up, James had been wondering all this time if he’d ever live up to him. She’d been so stupid, wasting so much time and energy on the memory of someone who wasn’t half the person James was!
“Now what?” she said, quietly.
“That depends, Daisy.”
She sighed. “All I know is that I don’t want things to go on like before. You know, us living together but not really – ” She stopped and pulled away from him. “Sorry, I’ve no right to pressure you, especially right now.”
“You’re not pressuring me, Daisy.” He slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and took out a small, green-velvet box, identical to the one her vintage earrings had come in for her birthday. “I wanted to give you this.”
More earrings, she thought. A noise behind her startled her, and Daisy spun to see Rosie pass by the door of the tent.
When she turned back she saw that James had dropped to one knee, the now-open box held up. Nestled inside was an emerald ring, set in tiny diamonds.
“It’s vintage,” he said.
For a moment, she couldn’t speak. “Are you ...?”
He nodded. “Marry me, Daisy. I love you, and I don’t think you really knew that. I want to try to make things right.”
Her eyes travelled back to the ring. “It’s beautiful!”
James got to his feet. “Do you not want to marry me?”
She blinked hard, determined to hold it together. “I’m just worried that it’s not what you really want. I don’t want you to think that this is a quick fix.”
“You’re right, it won’t be.” He hesitated. “I bought this the same day I heard the news about the app. But I wanted to wait until the deal was done before asking. And now ... look, maybe the timing is crap because I’ve just lost my job but – ”
“Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.” Daisy swiped away the tears that had started to roll down her cheeks.
“Yes? Are you sure? I mean, I’d understand if you wanted to –”
“I’m sure, James.”
He slipped the ring out of its box and slid it on to her finger.
It was a perfect fit, she thought, smiling as she carefully dabbed at her wet cheeks.
“Full disclosure?” James said. “Alma saw it too.”
“Alma?”
“I wanted another woman’s opinion.” He looked a bit sheepish. “She thought you’d love it.”
A fragment of a conversation drifted back. “That day I got in from work, when you and Alma were hugging, was that …?”
“Yeah.”
Daisy stared at him. “You hadn’t told her about the app.”
“Of course not. I’d just showed her the ring, and she was really happy for us. I think she would have liked if I’d proposed while she was still renting from us.”
“Right.” The pieces were rapidly dropping into place. “So when I saw her put something in her pocket –”
“It was this.” James shrugged. “She couldn’t give it back to me in front of you, so she put it in my coat pocket on her way out.”
“Oh God.” She’d thought the worst!
