Gabe frowned. ‘Why not?’ he asked, leaning slightly closer to her, his concern obvious.
She shrugged. Now wasn’t the time to confide her private family matters. ‘Too much going on,’ she said, forcing a laugh. It wasn’t exactly a lie.
‘If you’ve got talent you should make the most of it,’ Lydia said, taking a sip of her wine. ‘I’d love to see what you can do. I used to paint but I was hopeless.’
Gabe laughed. ‘It didn’t stop you though, did it?’
‘Of course not,’ she said, a determined twinkle in her blue eyes. She looked at Daisy. ‘You can come here and paint any time you want to make the most of these views – if it’s landscapes you like, that is. You’ll be left in peace.’ She smiled at Gabe. ‘Won’t she, Gabriel?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, of course. If that’s what you want.’
She saw Lydia raise an eyebrow at him and had tostruggle not to let them see how amused she was. If there was one person in the world Daisy wouldn’t mind disturbing her it was Gabe.
‘I’m so pleased you two know each other,’ Lydia said smiling. ‘Why haven’t I heard anything about Daisy before?’
‘Because I don’t report back to you on my private life, Nan,’ Gabriel teased.
Daisy could see an unmistakeable glimpse of pain in his eyes and had to look away, but then felt his hand brush hers as he took it. ‘We spent a couple of months together and travelled around a bit, but then Daisy had to return home.’
Did she hear an accusatory tone in his voice? Daisy wondered. Determined to keep the mood light, she ignored her suspicions. ‘Yes, my mum was unwell.’
Daisy pulled her hand slowly from his. He released his hold on her but kept up the eye contact.
Lydia looked from Daisy to Gabriel and back to her again. ‘You didn’t keep in touch?’ she asked. Daisy shook her head. ‘Oh. I hope I haven’t made things difficult for you, inviting you to dinner here with Gabriel tonight. I can be rather impulsive, but I thought it would be nice if we all had a catch up.’
Daisy shook her head. ‘Not at all,’ she said. ‘I think it’s a bit of a shock for both of us to see each other again after nearly two years.’
‘I’d say it was more of a surprise,’ Gabe said. ‘It was fantastic to find Daisy at the Encore this afternoon.’
Daisy couldn’t help relaxing in his company. ‘Thanks, Gabe,’ she said. ‘It was great to see you again too.’
Lydia straightened her place mat. ‘Sorry to harp on, but I’m intrigued. You both say you’re happy to see each other here and it sounds to me as if you had a splendid time in Vietnam together, so why haven’t you kept in contact?’
Daisy was astounded by Lydia’s directness, and when she glanced at Gabe she saw he too was struggling to answer. ‘I’d really wanted to continue travelling,’ she said, ‘but I heard from back home that my mum had had a stroke, and I had… um… a few issues that needed to be faced. I ended up having to make an emergency trip back home. It cost me the rest of my travel funds.’
Gabe’s dark eyebrows lowered. ‘What issues? Why didn’t you tell me about those?’
She took a deep breath. Now was not the time to try and explain her dramas with Aaron. She didn’t want to have to think about his nastiness on this perfect evening. ‘Mum has always been intensely private, so I wasn’t used to sharing any information about her, or our life. I suppose it never occurred to me to say anything,’ she said. ‘She had another stroke before I arrived home and from then on needed constant care.’
He took hold of Daisy’s hand. ‘I would have come back to help you, if I’d known.’
She believed him, but couldn’t tell him how mortified she’d have been for him to come to their home and be turned away by her highly defensive mum. She placed her hand on the top of his. He was still the same Gabe, caring and adorable. ‘I know you would and that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. You’d only just begun your adventures. I couldn’t expect you to give everything up and come to Devon.’
‘Yes, you could.’
She shook her head. ‘Thank you, that’s really sweet.’ It wasn’t something worth debating, not now.
‘How is your mother now, Daisy?’ Lydia’s soft voice drew her attention from Gabe’s stricken face.
Daisy shrugged. ‘She died, Mrs Grey. Six months ago.’ She cleared her throat to push away the tears that were threatening to take over.
Focusing her attention back to Gabe once more, shesaid. ‘I thought I’d been distant from you for too long by the time she died and knew you’d either have met someone or were involved in a project somewhere exotic. I didn’t think it would be fair of me to interrupt your life.’
Lydia stood up. ‘I’m going to clear this table and leave you two to catch up. You obviously have a lot to talk about and you don’t need me sitting here hindering your conversation.’
Daisy was horrified at the thought of pushing Lydia away from her meal. ‘No, please. Gabe is in Jersey now and I’m sure we’ll have plenty of chances to say all we need to.’ She gave him a pointed stare. ‘Won’t we, Gabe?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, Nan, we will. Now, please sit down and let me clear these plates.’
