She moved her hand to behind her where her palette knife rested in her back pocket and touched the handle for comfort. ‘I’m not seeing anyone and I’m not giving you a kiss,’ she said, summoning up all her bravery to stand up to him. ‘You might not like to think that our relationship is over, but it is. You shouldn’t have raised your hand to me and now Mum’s dead there’s no one you can threaten to make me keep seeing you.’
‘You came back from your jaunt to the east when you found out I’d been in touch with her though, didn’t you?’
‘You might have frightened Mum with your antics, but you don’t scare me any more,’ she lied, unable to hide her irritation with him for manipulating her sick mother.
‘We both know that’s crap,’ he said looking smug. ‘You soon came running back when your mother’s neighbour asked you to, didn’t you?’
‘Yes,’ she said, sickened at the triumphant tone in his voice. ‘But only because I suspected she’d taken a turn for the worse, which she had, thanks to your threats. Now why don’t you leave me alone and find someone who suits you far better than I ever did.’
‘You loved me once, you can love me again.’
‘Before you became controlling and tried to dictate everything about how I should behave,’ she said, forgetting what he was capable of for a moment.
He touched her face with the tips of his fingers. She recoiled without thinking.
Aaron narrowed his eyes and stared at her. He bent his head, resting it hard against her forehead, and whispered, ‘You’re lucky I’ve got to leave now, but don’t think you can tell me what I will and won’t feel about you. You’re mine. You always were, and don’t you forget it.’ He stepped back. ‘I’ll see you again, but right now I’m supposed to be buying ice creams.’
He turned and walked away, laughing. Amused by his own actions as always, Daisy thought, nausea rising. How was she ever going to be truly rid of him? she wondered, panic-stricken. Spots danced in front of her eyes and her head pounded. For a moment she thought she was going to pass out.
She put her paintbrush down on her easel and went to sit on a nearby grassy verge. She bent forward and lowered her head between her knees. How had he found her here? She took a few deep breaths and wondered ifmaybe Jersey was too small a place for her to lose herself. She needed to go somewhere huge. A big city, perhaps? Wherever she chose it would have to be a busy place and somewhere he’d never think of looking for her.
Two women with small boys and a dog each walked up to her. ‘You OK, love?’ one of them asked, looking concerned.
Daisy forced a smile onto her face. ‘Yes, thank you. Just a bit overtired maybe.’
‘We’ve got a bottle of water if you need a drink,’ offered the other woman.
‘No, thank you. I’ve got a bottle in my bag,’ Daisy said. She stood up as if to reassure them that she was fine, and satisfied they both continued with their walk.
Checking around her to see that Aaron wasn’t coming back again, she picked up her paintbrush and palette and set to work on her picture. She didn’t want anyone knowing what had happened. It was far too humiliating. She decided that the best thing to do was to carry on with her painting, so that she could have something to show for her time here when Fi did return to collect her.
Her hand was shaking, so she took a few deep breaths to try and calm down so that she could have control over her movements on the canvas. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone and move on? she wondered. Hadn’t they endured enough dramas together for one lifetime? She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and tried not to give in to the despair that seeing him once again had made her feel.
She focused on the view ahead and her half-painted canvas and it seemed like no time at all when Fi ran up, causing her to jump and drop her paintbrush on the grassy pathway.
‘Oh, sorry, Daisy,’ Fi said. ‘I didn’t mean to give you a fright. You must have been concentrating hard not to hear me calling you.’
Thethought that she’d not heard bothered Daisy. If only she could manage to paint and stay remotely in the present to be able to hear what was going on around her, she thought. ‘Sorry, I tend to become so involved in what I’m painting that I have no idea what’s going on nearby,’ she said, noticing how radiant Fi looked. ‘You obviously had a lovely time with your new man.’
Fi nodded. ‘I did,’ she giggled. ‘He’s so hot and very naughty. We had an ice cream.’
Daisy wiped her brush on a piece of paper towelling, amused by her friend’s enthusiasm. ‘Getting an ice cream doesn’t sound that naughty to me,’ she said, unable to help smiling.
Fi winked at her, helping her pack up her things. ‘I can’t wait for you to meet him, he’s gorgeous.’
They arrived back at the hotel and Fi dropped Daisy off and left to return to her brother’s home. ‘Don’t forget you said you’d come to the fashion show tomorrow,’ she said.
‘Won’t you want to take Phil instead of me?’
Fi shook her head. ‘No, I can meet him afterwards,’ she said. ‘I doubt he’d appreciate the fashion as much as you would. Anyway I want to chat about Paige’s designs with you afterwards. I’m thinking of asking her to make me a bespoke pair.’
‘How can I help?’ Daisy asked, lifting her easel box and rucksack from the back of the car. ‘I don’t have any upmarket shoes.’
‘Maybe not,’ Fi said, glancing down at Daisy’s flip flops. ‘But you’re creative and know colours, so you should be able to help me put together some ideas before I speak to Paige.’
Daisy liked the idea. ‘Great, I’d love that,’ she said. ‘Right, I’ll catch you later. I’d better take this painting to my room and let it dry if I’m not going to smudge it,’ she said, relieved to have some time alone in her room whereshe could sit quietly and muse over her confrontation with Aaron.
She unlocked her bedroom door and entered, almost slipping on a note that had been pushed underneath her door. Daisy put away her paint things and rested the wet canvas against the small inbuilt dressing table before bending down to retrieve the piece of folded paper. Opening the note, she read,I hope your friend was able to find you.It was signed by one of the receptionists who’d been on duty.
