Page 76 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
“Right.” Daisy was relieved to get away. “Let me know if I can get you anything.”
As she slipped out of the room, James had already closed his eyes.
Alma was in the hall when she came downstairs.
“Have a good night.” Daisy forced herself to smile again.
“Thank you.” Alma paused. “I was looking at videos of the flooding in Wicklow.”
“Yes – it was very bad.”
“I read that Kayley Lynch is going to be gigging in Wicklow. At an old house?”
Daisy did her best to sound disinterested. “Yeah, I’ve heard that too.” Before Alma could say anything else, she excused herself and walked into the kitchen, closing the door firmly behind her. Oh God! Did Alma guess that she was working there? Was it some sort of game that she was playing?
Leaning her hip against the wall, she stared out at their tiny patio. It wasn’t the only game Alma was playing. There was definitely something up with her and James.
But it was really just a feeling. She had no actualevidencethat there was anything going on. For now, the best course of action was to do nothing.
CHAPTER 34
American country singer Kayley Lynch is embroiled in a new scandal, after a second leaked video has gone viral. It appears to show Kayley verbally attacking former band member, Newry Stone, after Newry accused Kayley of racist remarks. Kayley has denied the remarks were racist, and claims that she was simply defending herself. The video comes just three months after another video, where Kayley appeared to verbally abuse a member of her band, who’d threatened to sue the singer for not being properly paid.
Kayley Lynch is currently in Ireland for the last leg of her European tour. She is staying at Dublin’s five-star Shelbourne Hotel.
Daisy was glad to be working at Freya’s house the following day. Since Matt’s revelation the night of the storm, her emotions feltridiculously close to the surface, and she’d found herself second-guessing all her choices since he’d left. She hoped that a bit of time apart would put things in perspective.
Freya seemed distracted when she answered the door.
“Hi, Freya, all okay?” Daisy stepped into the hall, and shrugged out of her coat.
Freya gave a brief smile. “I’m just working from home. Holly’s off school sick.”
Daisy nodded, making sure her expression didn’t change. She’d noticed that Holly seemed to take a lot of time off school, although Daisy had never seen her sick. Freya always seemed more watchful around her too. It reminded Daisy of the way Rosie kept an extra eye on Ben.
She took out her iPad. “Mind if I start upstairs?”
“Sure. Oh, quick question just before you –”
“Yep, let me open up your file.”
“No, it’s not that. I was wondering if your sister knows a good occupational therapist in Dublin.” Freya folded her arms. “There’s a private wait list of three to four months – that’s too long. And it’s not therapy that’s needed, just a diagnosis.”
Daisy remembered that she’d briefly mentioned what her sister did, during her first meeting with Freya. Clearly, the woman had a knack of mentally filing stuff away.
“Um, sure, I can ask her for you.” Was Freya worried about an elderly parent? Daisy wondered if either of her own parents would need an occupational therapist someday. They were so young, it seemed pointless to worry. But for the first time, she felt grateful that Rosie lived so close to them.
“Thanks, Daisy. So, the painters are finishing the girls’ bedroom, I think, and Niamh is finishing some electrics in the kitchen.” Freya turned and went into her study, closing the door firmly behind her.
Daisy went upstairs, hoping Freya was wrong about the decorators. When she’d checked the previous day, they’d finished the big bedroom at the back of the house. But she found Evan repainting the lower half of the walls a dusty rose.
“Howya, Daisy, come to check up on us?”
She shook her head. “Snag list. I thought you finished this yesterday?”
“We did.” He gave her a pointed look. “But this morning we found the whole lower part of the wall covered in navy-blue.”
“You’re kidding.”
