Page 118 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
She was exhausted now! “You know this seat is going to be soaked.”
He shrugged. “It’s a hire car, and it’ll dry out. Sorry you had to sit through that nauseating spectacle, by the way.”
Daisy frowned. “You mean the proposal?”
Tim nodded. “I was keeping an eye on Kayley’s social media. So were those reporters, obviously. Her fans will love it, which is the main thing. Because we’ll have to cancel or reschedule her tour.”
“She’ll just have to listen to the doctors, I guess.” Daisy tried to sound upbeat.
Tim smiled grimly. “I was thinking about her new manager.”
Daisy looked at him. In spite of everything, she was reluctant to speak badly of Matt.
Tim seemed to read her mind. “Kayley told us you and Matt used to be together.”
“Yeah, it ended five years ago.”
“Can I be brutally honest?”
“Said no PR person ever,” Daisy joked.
Tim shrugged. “I’ve decided to trust you. Kayley met Matt at a big charity event in New York. When they started dating, I advised her to keep it quiet. Matt wasn’t involved in the industry, and to be honest, Todd and I didn’t really trust him. I don’t know why – just a feeling. The thing was, he wanted to keep it quiet too. Maybe he understood more than we gave him credit for. Then he just broke it off. But, to be honest, Kayley was a real mess by that stage. It was around the time that first video of her went viral, and she went into rehab.”
“Okay.” Daisy could feel the heater in the car blowing warm air around her feet.
“When she got dry, she decided she’d do a European tour. A few weeks later, Matt contacted her and offered her Granary House. Kayley thought he was trying to help.” Tim pulled a face. “Maybe he was. Anyway, he sent her a video of the house and grounds and really bigged it up as the perfect venue for her first Irish concert. And once she agreed to move in, Todd and I guessed they’d be back together.”
Matt had told her that the promoter had contactedhim. Why hadn’t he just told her the truth?
It seemed he’d had his eye on the bigger picture all along. Granary House to lure Kayley back to him, and make it easy to persuade her to fire Todd and let him step in instead.
“Still, the streamers will lap up that helicopter proposal.” Tim increased the wipers’ speed on the window. “Financially, Kayley is starting to look very strong again.”
“Right.” Daisy yawned. “I wasn’t expecting that proposal thing. I didn’t even know they were in a relationship.”
“The proposal was meant to happen at the concert tomorrow night.” Tim flicked her a look. “Remember that scene at the end ofNotting Hill, where Hugh Grant turns up at Julia Roberts’ press conference, and asks for a second chance? Kayley was going to be on stage, and Matt was to be miked up in the centre of the crowd. He was going to walk up onto the stage and get down on one knee!”
Daisy giggled tiredly. “Did you plan that?”
“Nope! They planned it together,” Tim said. “But if you tell anyone, I’ll deny it.”
God, she’d been so naive. How had she ever thought that Matt had been pining for her, or that they had some sort of future together? The only second chance he’d wanted had been with Kayley.
“If Kayley has any sense, she’ll make him sign a prenup.” Tim sped up the windscreen wipers.
Daisy rested her head back. “It’d suit both of them. Matt’s quite well-off too.”
“He’s not in her league, Daisy.”
She glanced over. “Maybe not, but he’s done really well for himself.” When Tim said nothing, she added, “Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not saying?”
Tim pursed his lips.
“It’s just, Matt beat my boyfriend to a business deal recently,” Daisy persisted. “And he’d have needed a lot of money to do that.”
Tim looked a bit uncomfortable. “Kayleydidmention that Matt needed money for some work project, so she loaned it to him.” He indicated and changed lanes. “I suppose the guy had enough to buy that big house, but nobody has bottomless pockets.”
Matt had needed the money to buy the app, she realised. She shouldn’t be surprised: he’d always managed to get exactly what he wanted.
