‘Don’t be mean,’ Daisy said, putting on her own shoes as she held onto his arm for support.
‘You never did have very good balance, did you?’ he teased. He tickled her waist and she screamed and writhed away from him. ‘Stop it,’ she said, pushing her hand through her dishevelled hair. ‘I’m supposed to be acting like a lady. Your mother’s my boss, don’t forget.’
‘She’s not going to be worried by you having a little fun,’ he said, tickling her again. When she’d stopped laughing, he grabbed her and holding her tightly against him, stepped back behind a tall cluster of palm trees and kissed her.
Eventually, she broke the kiss and pushed him gently away. ‘Come on, we need to go back and join them. I hope they didn’t see you pull me into the bushes.’
He laughed. ‘They’re not bushes, and I doubt they saw anything from where they’re sitting – they’re too involved with their own conversation.’
‘Good.’ She straightened her top and tidied up her hair. She looked up at him, studied him briefly and reached up to smooth down his unruly mop. She took a deep breath. ‘Right, now we can go back and behave like sensible adults.’
‘If you insist,’ he said, raising an eyebrow and making her laugh.
They reached the table and the conversation stopped. Lydia studied them briefly and smiled.
‘Good walk?’ she asked. They nodded. ‘Sit down and we’ll let you know what we’ve been saying.’
‘This sounds serious,’ Gabriel said, concerned. He held out Daisy’s chair for her to sit before taking his own next to her. ‘Is everything OK?’
‘It is, darling,’ his mum said.
Lydia took a sip from her almost empty glass. ‘Stupid pride,’ Lydia said. She turned her attention to Daisy and added, ‘Which is why I was so determined you should give Gabriel a chance to put things right over his marriage to Bella. I couldn’t bear to see two young people making the same mistake Lorenzo and I made. We were headstrong and very foolish and have wasted far too many years by ourselves when we could have enjoyed a life together.’
‘Are you saying you’ve never been happy?’ Francesca asked her mother, leaning forward and resting her chin in her cupped hands.
Lydia smiled. ‘No. I’ve been very happy with my family and friends. I’ve had a delightful life, but not when it came to love. I’ve been lonely a lot of the time, but it was of my own making.’
‘Mum,’ Francesca said, shocked.
‘Just listen and stop arguing, Mum,’ Gabriel said, resting his hand on his mother’s arm to comfort her.
Their meal finished, Francesca stood up. ‘Right, I think it’s time I left. There’s a lot going on at the moment.’ She looked from Gabriel to Daisy. ‘I have a lot to mull over. For now though, I’m tired.’
Gabriel nodded. ‘I’ll give you a lift home,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave Daisy here to chat to you, Nan, if that’s OK?’
His grandmother took Daisy’s hand in both of hers. ‘Of course it is. We have much to discuss.’
Gabriel waited for his mother to kiss Lydia goodnight and the two of them walked across the lawn to his car. He held the door open for his mother to get in and looked up to see Daisy and his grandmother watching them in silence. The evening had gone better than he’d expected. He just wished his father was back from his tour to be able to hear his news.
The last thing he needed to do now that everything seemed to be going so well was to push Daisy away. He’d have to tell her what he’d done, and sooner rather than later.
18
DAISY
Daisy was content to stay with Lydia at her home while Gabriel dropped off his mother. No one seemed to think it odd that he’d left her here. I’m being paranoid again, she mused, deciding to make a concerted effort to worry less about what others thought of her. She wasn’t her mother and she’d seen how poisonous it could be to focus too much of negative thoughts. Above all, it was a waste of energy.
Lydia stared out across the garden towards the beach before she began to speak again. ‘I think I realised for the first time since running away from Lorenzo with Francesca how much long-term damage his infidelity had caused me, when I watched you and Gabriel coping with your relationship. I knew it deep down, of course, which is why I’ve been so determined to see you and Gabriel find a way to work through your issues,’ Lydia said.
Daisy swallowed the lump forming in her throat. She couldn’t help thinking of her own mother and her wasted life waiting for Peter who was never free to be with her. ‘So many wasted lives,’ she said quietly. ‘Why do people make choices to spite themselves, do you think?’ she asked, aware she’d almost done exactly the same thing.
‘I have no idea,’ Lydia said. ‘Foolish pride, most probably. None of us want to lose face or be humiliated.’
Daisy watched the beautiful lady she’d come to love and wished she could erase the hurt she’d suffered for far too long. ‘Thank you for being so bossy with me andmaking me at least give Gabriel the chance to put things right.’
‘Bossy?’ Lydia laughed. ‘I supposed I can be, but you’re both well-suited. I could tell the instant I saw you together that you felt about each other the same way Lorenzo and I had done when we were young. I couldn’t bear to sit back and watch two people I was fond of make an unnecessary mistake. You and Gabriel didn’t deserve to suffer because of a bad choice he’d made, and any preconceived ideas where you were concerned.’
‘You’re right,’ Daisy said thoughtfully. ‘I’ve spent too many years watching Mum suffering because of her choices with my dad after he walked out on her that time. I didn’t want to have to go through the same thing.’
