Page 60 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
“Hi, Rosie, how’s it going?”
“Busy out, you know yourself.”
Daisy had a good idea what Rosie’s day looked like: her sister had told her often enough. But for a moment, she wondered what it felt like. Rosie was in control of her own little dominion – and Daisy had no doubt that it all ran like clockwork. By comparison, Daisy rarely felt in control of any aspect of her life, even when a job seemed to be going well. There were so many moving parts, she couldn’t take anything for granted.
“What about you? You sound a bit off,” Rosie said.
Daisy took a deep breath. “Ah yeah, it’s been a long couple of days.”
“How’s it going at Matt’s?”
“Um, good, hectic.”
Dutifully, Daisy filled her in on the upcoming concert and filming at Granary House.
“Look at you, rubbing shoulders with the rich and shameless,” Rosie said, when Daisy had finished. “Or at least Matt is. You never know what might happen there!”
“She’s not his type.” Daisy tried to shake off her annoyance.
“Because they’re practically the same age, and she’s beautiful, talented, and rolling in money?” Rosie’s voice was dry. “I can see how that would be such a turn-off for Matt!”
While Daisy counted to ten, she reminded herself that Rosie didn’t evenknowMatt.
“Thanks for coming to my birthday party.”
“It was great. Pity James had to leave, though. How are the two of you?”
There was no way she was going to tell her perfect sister with her perfect marriage that things between her and James were crap.
“Grand. He wasn’t feeling great last night, so he’s gone to the doctor.”
“I was talking to Alma at the party, and she told me she’d had strep recently. Does James have it?”
“I’m not sure,” Daisy said. “But it’s very contagious. I mean, you only have to breathe on someone.”
“Right,” Rosie said, after a pause. “So, what were you and Matt chatting about that night? And please don’t tell me it was work. It’s just, Mum is a bit worried.”
Daisy felt a surge of irritation. She was thirty years old, but the rest of her family still treated her like she was sixteen. She did her best to sound offhand. “I can’t remember, just stuff.”
Rosie sighed. “Be careful around him, Daisy, please. I don’t trust him at all, and neither should you.”
“Rosie, you probably met Matt about three times in your whole life!”
“So has he explained why he ran off to the States?” Rosie said, ignoring Daisy’s outburst.
“Not exactly,” Daisy conceded.
“Imagine that.”
Daisy took a deep breath. “Can we not do this, please?”
“Okay, not another word.” Rosie’s tone softened. “But I’m always here for you, if you want to talk.”
In the background, Daisy could hear her nieces and nephews. It sounded like they were all killing each other.
“And don’t shut Mum and Dad out either, okay?” Rosie continued. “Look, they didn’t want you to know, but they coughed up half for your birthday party.”
“What?” It came out as a squeak. “What exactly did they pay for?”
