She closed her eyes briefly and stared at the ground. ‘I’ve been acting as if I know you well, when all the time I’m the only one who obviously didn’t know about you and Bella.’ She looked up at him. ‘I wish you’d told me, Gabe, that’s all.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t really find the right moment and I didn’t want to spoil the evening. I think Bella’s actually really embarrassed about it – she’s always been a bit of a joker and comes out with things she regrets afterwards.’
Daisy sighed. ‘Look, I think I just need to go back to the hotel and think for a bit.’
‘I understand,’ he said. ‘Let me drive you.’
They drove back in silence. Daisy pushed away the image of Bella’s face as she told her about her and Gabe and cringed.
‘Are you OK?’ Gabe asked, glancing at her.
‘Fine,’ she said, relieved to note that the road he’d just turned down was the one directly before the hotel. Only a few more minutes and she’d be alone to mull over what had happened.
He stopped the car and went to get out. ‘No, it’s fine,’ Daisy said. ‘You go back to the picnic.’ When he opened the door, she added, ‘I’m going to go and paint for a couple of hours.’
She got out of the car and watched him drive away. He didn’t seem very happy but right now she just wanted to be left alone.
The following morning Daisy got up early after a sleepless night and, choosing a quiet place down in the hotel valley, set up her small easel. Two hours later, with very little paint having been placed onto the canvas, she came to the conclusion that what had happened the previous night with Gabe was exactly the reason why she wasn’t ready for another relationship. She was better single. At least that way she knew where she stood and there’d be no nasty shocks sideswiping her when she least expected it.
5
GABRIEL
Gabriel rubbed his face with his palms. ‘Idiot,’ he groaned. He’d been too busy enjoying this chance of spending time with Daisy again to risk ruining it by mentioning his wife’s existence when they’d first met up again. He leant against the orangery door and checked his mobile for the tenth time that hour. She didn’t want to speak to him.
‘I’m going out for a bit,’ he shouted.
Luke looked up from the window frame he was finishing and scowled. ‘Try not to be too long, I’m going to need all the help I can get if this work is to be finished on time.’
Gabriel knew he was right, but he couldn’t leave Daisy to stew any longer than he already had done. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can; there’s something I need to do first.’
He didn’t blame Luke for looking unimpressed; after all, he was the one helping Gabe out, not the other way around.
He’d managed to upset too many people recently, he thought, as he got into his car and drove off to find Daisy. When he’d phoned the hotel earlier Fi told him that Daisy had gone out. She hadn’t mentioned going shopping – probably because that wasn’t really Daisy’s thing – so he assumed she must have gone somewhere to paint. He turned at the next lane and headed for his grandmother’s house. Daisy was aware that he and Luke were spending the day working on the orangery, so she would haveexpected him to be hard at work at the hotel, and he suspected she’d be making the most of him being away from his grandmother’s house to paint in the garden.
‘What are you doing here?’ Lydia asked a short while later, as she strode around the side of the house. ‘I thought you couldn’t leave the hotel until the orangery was finished.’
He turned off the engine and stepped out of the car, kissing his grandmother on both cheeks. ‘I needed to speak to Daisy. I left messages for her at reception and in her room, but she’s not called me back.’
‘Did you try her mobile?’
‘She doesn’t have one for some reason,’ he scowled. ‘It makes getting in touch with her rather difficult.’
Lydia tilted her head to one side. ‘You haven’t upset her, have you, Gabriel?’
He exhaled sharply. ‘She met Bella.’
His grandmother’s face fell. ‘Oh no.’
‘Yes. She came to the sunset concert at Grantez last night and told Daisy exactly who she was.’
Lydia frowned at him. ‘Oh Bella. Still the same. Have you explained things to Daisy?’
‘I’ve tried, but she seems to be avoiding me. Is she here? I thought she might have come to do some painting.’
She shook her head. ‘She was, but she offered to take Jack for a walk down on the beach. She said she wanted to do a bit of beachcombing and see if she could find a few bits to collect for her room.’
‘I told her yesterday how much people find after storms,’ he said, half to himself, relieved to have discovered where she was. ‘I’d better go and find her. Try to speak to her, if she’ll let me.’
