Page 94 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
She knew it might be possible on a freelance basis, but compared with some of the bigger firms, there’d be so little work it would hardly be fair to him.
Laura seemed exhausted when she came in at lunchtime.
Daisy looked up from her screen. “Hey, how did things go? How’s Stephanie?”
Laura took a chicken-fillet roll and a bottle of water from her bag. “She’ll be fine. I had to stay until her mother could get down from Donegal.”
“Are the babies okay?”
“Yep, all good.” Laura bit into her roll. “But she was all over the place, and the hospitals are so understaffed! I was afraid ...” She paused. “I didn’t want to leave her on her own.”
Daisy gave Laura a long look. “You’re a good friend to her.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Laura switched on her laptop. “What about you? Any news?”
“Um, yeah, James’ company is buying a start-up – an ethical travel app. I think things will be okay.”
“It wasn’t like he was ever going to lose his job, Daisy.”
“I’m not so sure.”
Laura poured her water into a small glass on her desk. “So, who’s behind the start-up?”
“A couple of grad students. James approached them after he saw an article about their project in an online journal.”
“Hmm.” Laura’s attention seemed to be wandering.
“I also had the maddest call earlier from Matt.”
“Wait, don’t tell me. He’s decided grouse-shooting and riding to hounds isn’t actually his thing, so he’s going back to his New York bachelor pad and daily hotdog habit.”
“No!” Daisy managed a laugh. “Kayley can’t find her pendant, and he wanted to know if I’d seen it.”
Laura gave her a strange look. “Sounds like he was accusing you. Or she was, anyway.”
“I doubt that, Laura.” Daisy folded her arms, wishing she hadn’t said anything. It didn’t matter what Matt did, Laura’s feelings about him were never going to change.
“I think I might book Stephanie a couple of spa treatments,” Laura said, abruptly changing the subject. “She’ll appreciate them in a few weeks.”
Daisy remembered when Rosie had her twins. Despite her military-like organisation, it had taken months before things had settled into a new-normal routine.
“Some good salon close to her,” Laura was saying, looking online. “Maybe get her hair done too.”
Daisy just smiled. Laura’s reaction when she and Stephanie had bumped into her on Saturday still stung badly, but the last thing she wanted was for her to think she was jealous.
She wanted to ask if she’d done anything to upset her. But deep down, she was afraid that if she said anything, she might make things worse. The truth was, she’d always considered herself closer to Laura than to Rosie, or even James. And she couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
CHAPTER 43
MyStarScope Taurus: As a current project draws to a close, you have an important decision to make. Decide wisely.
Daisy arrived at Matt’s house on Friday morning, her car packed with lamps, throws, cushions, candles and other small items for the house.
Adding the finishing touches was normally one of her favourite parts of a job – it was the client’s chance to see the final important details fall into place. But all Daisy felt was panic that she’d have no excuse to see Matt anymore. Even though they both knew the truth, she wondered if too much had happened, if their lives had changed too much to fix things now.
She also knew that things were building to a head with James. It was clear that he’d told Alma about the App before he’d even told her! It seemed nuts to evensharesomething like that with the student who rented from them, but it was another sign ofhow close they were. She’d hoped to find time to talk to him properly, but she’d barely seen him since Saturday afternoon, because he was trying to “iron out some problems with the deal”, whatever that meant.
Daisy was lifting the first box out of the car when she heard Matt talking to someone. She glanced around, trying to locate him, before she realised he was around the side of the house. She was about to announce herself, when he mentioned her name.
