Page 87 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
“I don’t blame you, Kayley,” Todd was saying. “This is his fault!”
Daisy couldn’t hear Kayley’s reply, and she wondered if they were talking about Tim. Daisy didn’t envy him. For a guy who was meant to be working on her image, Tim didn’t seem to be having much luck. She glanced towards the gate again. If she left now, she’d be gone before they could walk around and find her.
As she turned, her heel caught on some broken pavement, and she tripped, falling awkwardly onto her knee and elbow.
“Shit!” Daisy froze, clamping one hand over her mouth as she struggled to her feet.
Her ankle felt a bit tender, so she hobbled over to the stone bench near the wall, and sat down. She was massaging her ankle when she heard Todd’s voice again.
“Move back to the hotel, Kayley – you’d have your people looking out for you there!”
“You can look out for me here, Todd,” Kayley snapped. “Ineedyou to trust me.”
“Goddammit, Kayley, we work together! How can I do my job when I have to drive to this godforsaken museum every time I want to see you?”
“You know why I’m here!” Kayley’s voice rose.
“Are you trying to completely fuck everything up again? You know we need to get your career back on track.”
“What don’t you understand, Todd? This is bonus material – the streamers are gonna eat it up!”
“Trashing somebody’s house?” Todd sounded exasperated. “Having all that stuff appear in the media?”
“Screw that!” Kayley swore loudly, and Daisy wondered if Matt had been taking drugs the day he’d agreed to let the singer and her entourage use his house.
What was the bonus material? God, what did it matter? She couldn’t hang out here forever! Daisy rubbed her shoulder, wincing as pain shot through her arm. She stood, putting her sore foot to the ground, gingerly testing her ankle. It hurt.
She hobbled carefully back through the garden.
Matt was in the kitchen. “Finished my call, sorry about that.”
“No, it’s grand. I,um, was just getting some fresh air.”
He frowned. “What’s wrong with your ankle?”
“Oh, just twisted it slightly. It’s grand.” She debated whether to mention the conversation she’d overheard. Probably better not!
“So, where were we?” Matt said.
As the conversation turned back to work, Daisy wondered if Matt would raise the topic of them again. He’d thrown the ball neatly into her court. It had been the same when they’d been together: he’d let her know what he wanted but he’d leave the final decision to her.Only remember how heused to sulk when he didn’t like that decision?
The thought gnawed at the edges of her mind. It was the reason he hadn’t got to know her family better. Whenever she’d invited him down to Oranmore, Matt would suddenly produce tickets for the cinema or tell her he’d planned to see a band they liked in Whelans. If she went home without him, he’d sulk for days.
She had to admit, James had always been good about coming down to Oranmore – until this last year or two when work had become his default excuse!
Part of her wished that Matt had never come back, that she’d never let him get close again. But actions spoke louder than words, and she couldn’t ignore what had happened between them the night of the storm. It was pretty clear that Matt wanted a second chance. She just needed the courage to talk to James.
CHAPTER 40
By the time Daisy got home on Friday evening, she felt like she’d come through the longest week ever. Hanging her jacket and bike helmet in the hall, she slipped off her runners, already fantasising about takeout pizza and a cold beer.
As she got to the kitchen door she stopped at the sound of Alma’s voice.
“... really love it, honestly.”
She heard James murmur something and, ignoring the warning voice in her head, she opened the door.
James and Alma were standing close together near the window and, as they spun to look at her, Alma hurriedly slipped something into her pocket.
