Page 80 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
Food, Daisy thought. The boy was allergic to food: too much of it. But if her sister didn’t hear it from an expert, or better still, figure it out for herself, she’d dismiss the idea immediately.
“By the way, Mum’s been trying to sell that painting of hers.” Rosie sounded grim.
Daisy thought for a moment. “The nude? Can you not persuade her to hang it in her bedroom, or something?”
“You think I haven’t tried?” Rosie huffed. “The worst thing is that Dad’s told her it’s the best painting she’s ever done.”
“Shit!I mean, I suppose it probably is. Like, objectively.”
“Daisy!”
“Sorry! Where’s she trying to sell it?”
“The open-air market in Galway, you know the one. She took a stall!”
“You don’t think they’re a bit short of money, do you?” Daisy said. “Maybe they’re starting to realise how much this party is going to cost, and this is Mum’s way of helping out.”
“If it’s true, it’s her own fault.” Rosie sniffed. “Séan has offered to do her accounts so many times, and Mum keeps turning him down and telling him she’s quite capable of doing a few tax returns.”
“Maybe I could have a word?” Daisy offered.
“That’s a great idea,” Rosie said, quickly. “She might actually listen to you. And I’ve enough going on without having to deal with this! Listen, I’ve got to go. Don’t forget to ask whether it’s a paediatric OT your friend is looking for.”
“Thanks, Rosie.”
“Yeah, don’t mention it, just talk to Mum. I’m going now. Bye.” Rosie hung up.
Daisy tried to imagine her mother at the weekend markets in Church Lane, trying to sell her life-sized, nude self-portrait. She supposed she should be grateful she was living in Dublin.
CHAPTER 36
MyStarScope Taurus: With Neptune in your Orbit, you should view challenges as opportunities to grow.
“Oh crap, Matt, what happened?” Daisy stood in the kitchen at Granary House the following Monday, and stared at the huge hole in the conservatory roof directly above the scaffolding and the shattered glass all over the floor.
Matt folded his arms tightly across his chest. “I’d have thought that was pretty obvious. Kenny didn’t secure this properly.”
Daisy’s stomach clenched nervously. “Matt, hang on. I’ve worked with Kenny for years. There’s no way he’d mess up scaffolding. And it doesn’t explain the hole in the ceiling.” She peered closer. “Wait, isn’t that where the ceiling fan was?”
Matt’s lips thinned. “It fell down.”
Daisy walked carefully across the room, trying not to step on any glass. “It’s here – it’s broken too.” She squinted up at theceiling. “You’re lucky the way this roof was constructed. You’ve only lost a couple of panels, the rest of them seem to be intact. But wewillhave to get the whole thing checked.”
“Fuck!This is going to delay everything, isn’t it?”
“A bit,” Daisy admitted.
Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “How much is a bit? I need this job done, Daisy, and I can’t afford any more delays.”
Daisy pushed away her annoyance. “Look, we probably shouldn’t be disturbing anything. I’m assuming your insurance will take care of this. Have you called them yet?”
“Er, no.” Matt cleared his throat.
“Okay, well, let’s wait to see what Kenny has to say. He might have an idea what –”
“Christ on a bike, what the fuck happened?”
They both turned at the sound of Kenny’s voice. He seemed to be assessing the scene. “Out of there now, Daisy. It’s not safe.” He glared at Matt as Daisy picked her way carefully back across the room.
