Page 90 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
“Right.” Stephanie looked a bit flustered. “Baby brain, sorry. Great to meet you, Daisy.”
“See you on Monday.” Laura shot Daisy a brief smile, before turning and manoeuvring Stephanie towards the door.
What had that been about? Daisy mentally flicked back over the short conversation, trying to pinpoint anything she’d said or done that could have made Laura close that conversation down so rudely. Suddenly, she wasn’t in the mood for shopping anymore. She should just leave.
A well-dressed, elderly man appeared from the back of the shop. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Uh, no, thanks.” Daisy managed a tiny smile.
“I’ll be here if you want anything.” He retreated to the back of the shop.
Daisy found herself looking at the necklace she’d picked up. She definitely didn’t want it anymore.
First James. Now Laura. She wasn’t stupid. Therewasno appointment with a photographer across town. The truth was, Laura couldn’t wait to get away from her.
“How much did you say these are going for?” James said as he and Daisy trooped around one of the luxurious new showhouses in Dublin’s wealthy Ballsbridge.
“Two million.” Daisy grinned
In stark contrast to the grand, Victorian houses with their big gardens that stood facing each other on the tree-lined road, the newly created Dodder Court was a development of just seven high-spec three-bedroom homes, built on what had until recently been a field.
“Say if we won the Lotto,” Daisy mused, “would we buy one of these?”
“I thought you liked falling-down old houses.” James ran his hand over a marble table in the hall. “This house looks like a giant Lego build.”
Daisy thought about Granary House, and she flashed James a guilty smile. “Ha, hard agree.” She stopped and pulled him aside. “Never mind about what sort of houses I like for a moment. What about you? Would you live here?”
“Probably not.” He laughed. “It’s way too big.”
Daisy squeezed his hand. “I know. But we should pretend we’re interested buyers.” Just like all the times she and Matt had done.Stop thinking about Matt.“So, either we’re both on huge salaries, or we’ve come into a massive inheritance.” She beamed up at him, starting to enjoy the game she’d played so often in the past.
“Or one of us takes a hand-out from rich parents?” James said.
Daisy suppressed a sigh, wishing he wasn’t always so hung up on his parents’ generous offers of money, and his refusal to depend on them in any way. “Come on, James, lighten up!”
He released a tense laugh. “Sorry! Lead on!”
“There’s a little garden.” Daisy walked across the kitchen and stepped through the open sliding door. The tiny outside area was paved, with raised flower beds and large potted plants, and featured a garden dining set and built-in barbeque.
“Imagine sitting somewhere like this on summer evenings! I’ll bet it’s a suntrap.” Daisy ran her hand over the hardened, glass-top table.
“Yeah, I could work here on my laptop, keeping an eye on my offshore accounts.”
“You reckon if we lived here you’d have offshore accounts?”
He grinned. “I reckon if we lived here, I’d definitely need some!”
Daisy turned and looked back through the glass doors. A couple just a few years older than them, with a young child in tow, were inspecting the kitchen.
“Okay, what’s your favourite room so far?”
James shook his head. “I don’t have one. The best thing about this place is you, Daisy.”
She stared at him, trying to remember when he’d last said anything like that to her.
“Anyway, this is all fantasy stuff. I prefer to live in the real world.”
She swallowed her disappointment as he brought her back to reality. She knew he didn’t mean to, but in the real world he spent most of his time hunched over a laptop, and the rest of it gaming with their lodger!
