New Beginnings at Wildflower Lock, page 15
‘Sure, sure,’ she replied, not even sparing the time to even think of a valid excuse for cancelling. All that mattered was getting to work.
She ran to the car. Not that it made any difference. For the entire journey, the traffic gods were against her. She hit every red light going, got cut up at more than one junction, and even sat in a half-mile tailback because of a broken-down white van.
‘There’s no need to rush,’ she tried to tell herself repeatedly as she reached the final turning onto her road. ‘I’ve had a family emergency. They will understand.’
Having spent two consecutive nights aboard the September Rose, she couldn’t even skip a shower. She rushed through the front door, pulling the post out of the letter box as she went. Post that consisted mainly of circulars, with one small, brown envelope amongst the pile. Her name and address were handwritten on the front.
Daisy stopped and frowned. The letter about the boat had come in a brown envelope. But that had been bigger, with her name typed on a sticker, not scribbled in pen like this one. Knowing that another three minutes wouldn’t change anything, she opened it up and read the contents. Only to wish she hadn’t.
At work, Daisy was relieved by the lack of fuss at her late appearance. In fact, no one seemed to notice her at all, which was a good thing, given how she was unable to focus on anything other than the contents of the letter. She should’ve seen it coming.
Her landlord was going to up her rent.
It shouldn’t have come as a shock, given that she’d paid exactly the same since moving there, about 20 per cent less than the average rental flat in the area. She should’ve known it was going to happen at some point. And it wasn’t unreasonable. The landlord had informed her that next month would be the start of an eighty pounds a week increase, in line with inflation and standard rentals in the area, also noting the fact she’d had no increase in rent before. All of that was true, but an extra three hundred and sixty pounds a month was absolutely impossible. That was an extra four thousand pounds a year. Maybe if she’d been working at the office a little longer, she could’ve asked for a pay rise. But she’d only been there six months. And today, after arriving late, hardly seemed like the ideal time to ask. She’d have to figure something out. Maybe go through her wardrobe and dig out some of those old shoes and clothes she’d been holding onto. People made money doing that, didn’t they?
With her mind preoccupied and having missed half the day, she had nowhere near enough time to get all her work done. The stream of emails was constant, but it was nearly impossible to reply due to the arrival of clients for face-to-face appointments. And to make it even worse, her productivity was hindered further by the incessant ringing of her phone.
Ringing Daisy at work was not something Pippa had done before, but that day she hadn’t stopped. No doubt she wanted to apologise again, or perhaps just check that she was okay. But given how much she had to do, Daisy just didn’t have the time to talk to her. Besides, there was nothing she had to say. Not yet. She needed some time to make sense of things. So, the first dozen times her phone buzzed, she just tapped on the end call button. But by three o’clock, when she had received nearly twenty calls, she gave up.
‘This is not a good time, Mum,’ she said abruptly, checking to see whether any managers were within earshot.
‘Daisy, I just want to you to know—’
‘No. I don’t want to talk to you like this. Please. I will speak to you again when I’m ready. But not now.’ She dropped her head as she hung up the call. Only when she lifted it again did she see the shadow hovering in the distance.
‘Everything okay?’ Amanda asked.
‘Sorry, yes.’
‘The family emergency again?’
Daisy wasn’t sure whether there was a shortness to Amanda’s tone. Then again, it was Monday. Everyone was short on Monday, weren’t they?
‘Yes, unfortunately,’ she replied.
‘Well, let’s hope it all gets cleared up soon.’
When the clock finally tipped to five o’clock, Daisy’s whole body groaned in relief. What she wanted to do now was head home and get a proper night’s sleep in a proper bed.
It was on the bus part of her journey when Daisy’s thoughts slipped back to the night before. She couldn’t remember the last time she had chatted to someone as easily as she had to Theo. There was an ineffable ease about him. Although her musing of their newly formed friendship was followed by a heavy groan. With all the stress of the day, she had entirely forgotten they’d arranged to meet up.
Damn. Another late night was the last thing she wanted. Under normal circumstances, she would have rung and cancelled, but she didn’t have Theo’s number. And she couldn’t just not turn up. Not after he’d agreed to help with the September Rose.
Feeling like she had aged ten years in one weekend, she reached her front door and saw the bulging bag waiting for her. One that was substantially larger than normal. It must have been a slow day at the bakery, she thought as she pulled it off the handle. Slow days were always bad news for the bakery, of course, but good news for her. And today, she considered with a smile on her face, Theo too.
36
Wildflower Lock was once again teeming with paddleboarders and dog walkers.
‘Back here again?’ one paddleboarder said, offering her a short wave as she passed.
‘Guess I am,’ she replied, not sure if she had already met this person or not.
When she reached the Narrow Escape, Theo was out on the deck, a book in his hand. If this was how relaxed someone looked when they worked as a linesman, perhaps she should consider the change in career, she thought, only to remember she didn’t really have a career. She had a job instead.
As she approached, Theo sat up and closed his book.
‘I’ll be honest. I thought you might stand me up,’ he said.
‘I’ll be honest. I thought I might stand you up too.’
Not waiting for an invitation, she stepped onto the boat.
‘Here you go,’ she said, handing him the plastic bag.
‘What’s this?’
‘You have to open it to find out. I don’t know. Could be croissants, could be a Bakewell tart. I live above a bakery. The guys there leave me any of the extras they don’t want.’
‘Nice arrangement.’
‘It’s a definite perk. Not that I’m sure how much longer I can stay there. My landlord’s put the rent up. I found out today.’
Theo let out a thin whistle from between his teeth.
‘I guess you need to get this place sorted as quickly as you can then,’ he said. ‘There’ll be no landlord to worry about when you’re living on the water. You’ll just have the mooring fees. Assuming you don’t want to keep moving.’
‘I am not planning on living on the water,’ Daisy replied. ‘I’m fairly sure I told you that.’
Theo sat forward, a thin smile playing on his lips.
‘You did. I remember you telling me that it was your boat to do with whatever you wanted. You were quite emphatic on the matter.’
‘Well, you hadn’t particularly endeared yourself to me.’
‘Fair enough. I was a bit of a jerk when we first met, but I was thinking about last night. There’s a reason you haven’t considered living on the water yet. That’s because you’ve never been on it.’
‘What are you on about? I slept on the Rose two nights in a row,’ she said, somewhat indignantly.
‘Yes, in a mooring. You haven’t been out. You haven’t seen what the countryside has to offer. Which is why, this evening, Daisy May, I am going to show you all the highlights of Wildflower Lock and beyond.’
Daisy didn’t move. She wasn’t 100 per cent sure what Theo was saying. She waited, hoping he would clarify, but when he didn’t, she was left with no choice but to ask.
‘Do you mean…’ She still wasn’t able to finish.
‘I mean today, Daisy May, I’m taking you for a drive.’
Daisy wasn’t sure why she felt nervous about going on a boat.
‘You really don’t have to do this,’ she said more than once. ‘I get it. Living on the water is lovely. I suspect it’s all calm and peaceful. I can tell that.’
‘How about you stop talking and we get to work?’ he said, stunning her into silence. ‘Okay, so Wildflower Lock is behind us and Paper Mill about five miles down this way. Am I right in assuming you have never been in a lock while it’s in action?’
‘You’ll be more right assuming I’ve never even seen a lock in action.’
Theo’s jaw dropped.
‘Okay, that’s not technically true,’ she said, feeling like she needed to stand up for herself. ‘I’ve probably been in hundreds of locks. I just don’t remember it. I did live on a boat, remember?’
Theo pursed his lips slightly before continuing.
‘Okay, so that means this is going to be your first time casting off. Go down to the bow and untie the rope.’
‘The bow?’
‘The front of the boat. Down there.’ He nodded to where a white rope was twisted around a metal post at the far end. ‘When you’ve done it, come back here. I’m going to get you working.’
As disgruntled as she could’ve been, spending her evening doing further work, Daisy struggled to control the flutter of excitement she felt as she untied the knot and threw the rope onto the front of the boat. She headed back across the bank to jump onto the back next to Theo.
‘You’ve untied the front… The boat’s not connected at the bow at all, so now we need to get out of this mooring. I want you to pull on this rope sharply.’
The rope he was referring to was wrapped loosely around a metal post and holding the back of the boat in place. Pulling on it didn’t seem like the most sensible thing to do if they wanted to move out into the canal.
‘Pull on the rope?’
‘Just trust me, pull on it.’
Knowing that there was no point ignoring the person who actually knew what they were doing, Daisy gripped her hands around the rope and tugged it towards her.
‘There you go. A little more, a little more,’ Theo encouraged, though Daisy couldn’t see anything. ‘Have a look up by the bow,’ he said a moment later.
It was then that she saw the effects of her work. The nose of the boat was no longer parallel to the bank of the river. But instead, it was pointing out into the centre.
‘I haven’t been out on the river for a couple of days, so I warmed the engine up earlier. You’ll need to do the same when you take the September Rose out.’
Daisy laughed. ‘Oh, I don’t think I’m going to take her out. Remember, my aim is to get her into a saleable condition. That’s it.’
‘And if you want to get a decent price for her, which is likely your main purpose, you’re going to need to make sure she’s in good nick. People aren’t gonna pay top dollar for a boat that doesn’t go. All right, so I’ll get us out of here, but when the riverbank clears up a little more, and we’re away from all these other boats, you’re gonna be the one in charge of the tiller.’
‘The what?’
Theo rolled his eyes, though it didn’t stop them twinkling with a smile.
‘The steering, Daisy. You’re going to be in charge of the steering.’
Given how slowly it felt like they were going, Daisy was surprised that it didn’t take long before the boats along the side of the canal thinned out and then disappeared altogether.
‘This is beautiful,’ Daisy said, her heart swelling in her chest at the view.
The scenery constantly changed. One moment, they were gliding past thick, dense trees with branches overhanging into the water. Then it was rushes, filled with moorhens, cygnets, ducks and plenty of other waterfowl Daisy didn’t know the names of. There were open fields to the sides of them. Houses. Footpaths with joggers. Every time she turned her head, the view changed.
Far sooner than she would have anticipated, Theo turned to face her.
‘Okay, time for you to take over.’
She looked at the long metal pole in his hand, which was connected directly to the rudder, and shook her head.
‘I don’t think I’m ready for that right now,’ she said. ‘Honestly, this is fine. Better than fine. This is great.’
‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ Theo replied softly. ‘Honestly, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.’
Daisy was about to refuse again when she was cut off by her phone ringing.
‘I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing you’ve still got reception here,’ Theo said, lifting an eyebrow.
After a quick rifle through her handbag, Daisy saw that once again, her mother was calling. With a firm press of her thumb, she switched the phone off and turned back to Theo.
‘Do you know what? I think I might give this tiller thing a go after all.’
37
By the time they were heading back to Wildflower Lock, dusk was upon them. Never in her life had Daisy felt like she spent so much time simply staring upwards. She was enjoying watching the brushstroke clouds as they swept across the pale, rose-gold sky.
‘I love this time of day,’ Theo said, standing beside her, his gaze lost in the same clouds as hers.
‘I find it mesmerising, the knowledge that you’ll never see the same sky twice,’ Daisy replied, wishing she had the words to convey what she was feeling. ‘Does that make sense?’
‘It does. I feel the same about the water. Canal life. Wildflower Lock isn’t big, but every day it changes. The water, the clouds, the birds, the plants. No two days are the same.’
‘I suspect that can get addictive,’ Daisy said, more to herself than Theo, but when she brought her gaze away from the clouds, she saw how he was staring straight at her. Her skin flooded with warmth. Shifting slightly, she placed her hand back on the tiller. ‘So where next?’
They had gone under bridges, beside busy roads and through open fields. But without a doubt, her favourite part of the evening’s adventure had been her first experience of a lock. Not that she had done anything. Theo had very definitely done all the work this time, but she had watched on as the water rushed through the open paddles, raising her boat so it could join the level of the rest of the canal.
‘Do you never worry that it’s going to go wrong?’ she asked as they slowly drove through the open lock and back towards their mooring. ‘Like the water might rush in too fast and you’ll sink?’
‘Just take your time. River life isn’t about rushing,’ he replied. ‘As long as you’re not rushing, you’ll be fine.’
As the September Rose came into view, Daisy was struck by a hint of sadness. Obviously, she couldn’t keep Theo out all night. Especially not having accosted him the evening before, too. And there was the added fact that it would soon be dark, but she really could have spent hours on the boat.
‘So, are you hooked yet?’ Theo asked when they were moored up.
‘I think it’ll take more than one trip out for me to be hooked. But I will admit, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it a lot.’
Following Theo’s instructions, she tied the ropes around the mooring post, before stepping back to let him check her handiwork. When the Narrow Escape was secured, Daisy couldn’t help but look at the September Rose with despondency. It was going to take so much time and money to fix her up properly; it was hard to know if it would be worth it. After all, it wasn’t like she had cash to spare at the minute.
‘I don’t know how I’m going to do her up. I might be better just calling it a day, sell her for scrap and take whatever I can get.’
‘You can’t be serious. You’ve already done the hardest part: clearing out all the stuff. That’s the dull bit. Everything else from this point is fun.’
‘I don’t think we have the same idea of fun. I’ve never so much as put up a shelf. There’s no way I can do all this on my own.’
‘I told you last night, you’re not alone in this.’ His hand rested on hers for a fraction of a second. Then, as if he had realised what he had done, he snatched it back.
‘I… I… I should get going,’ Daisy stuttered, wondering why her pulse had taken such a sudden upward surge. ‘Work tomorrow.’
‘Of course. I completely get it. But first, would it be possible to get your telephone number?’
Daisy swallowed, only to be hit by a spur of anger. He had a girlfriend. One he’d told her all about. And now he had the audacity to make a move.
‘You’re with someone,’ she said.
A pink tint coloured Theo’s cheeks. ‘Oh… no… I didn’t mean like that. At all… God, I am… No. I just meant for the boat. You know, if I find anything that might be able to help you. Or it might help to have each other’s numbers if you want to let me know you’re coming down; then I can check the engine and things. You’ll also need someone here at the lock to have a way to contact you.’
It was Daisy’s cheeks that coloured this time, and not to a light pink flush, but fluorescent red. She could feel the heat burning on her face.
‘Oh. Of course. Yes, sorry. My mistake.’
‘I really shouldn’t invite women into my house for focaccia.’ Theo laughed as he handed her his phone. When she handed it back, with the number now saved, he hesitated. ‘I don’t want to come across as too presumptuous or anything. But would you mind giving me one of your keys?’
‘My keys?’ She’d already embarrassed herself over the phone number incident, but this seemed a step too far.
‘It’s up to you, of course. It’s just… I could get some work done on the September Rose before I start work. With the mornings getting light and everything, I’m up by five most days just pottering about. Only if you don’t mind, that is?’
Would Daisy mind somebody helping her out, doing work on the boat for free? The answer to that was absolutely not. Or not in any normal circumstance. But something about Theo wasn’t feeling entirely normal. Not for her, at least. She had opened up about her past to him in a way she had never done with anybody. Whether there was alcohol involved or not, it didn’t change the fact he knew more about her than she felt comfortable with. Throw into that the ridiculous, heart racing moment that occurred simply from him touching her and her mind was a mess. Still, she needed to think objectively. Firstly, he wasn’t her type. And it wasn’t like she actually liked him. These emotions had simply arisen because of the trauma of everything with her mum. He had been there at the moment she needed somebody. That’s all it was. And she would be a fool to refuse a gift like he was offering.
