‘Welcome back, Daisy,’ my Uncle Adam said, giving me a tight hug. I guessed, by the lack of shock on his face, that Willow had warned him I was on the way. Adam had been my dad’s elder brother and it was always a shock to the system to see the similarities between them. He looked much older than he had five years ago. An age my father would sadly never reach. My uncle was now completely salt-and-pepper grey and there were lines on his face that hadn’t been there the last time I’d seen him. I knew he suffered with arthritis, and his movements were a little stiff as he pulled back from me, but his smile was warm and welcoming just as it had been when I was growing up.
‘This is my boyfriend, Dylan,’ Willow said then.
Dylan smiled and held out a hand for me to shake. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you.’ He was tall with almost-black hair and bright-blue eyes. He had a posh accent too.
‘I would ask if it was all good but under the circumstances…’ I gestured to the white elephant in the room – my dress – with a grimace.
‘Oh, well, it definitely was,’ Dylan said, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
Willow nudged me. ‘You should style it out – act like it’s the new latest fashion trend for spring/summer.’
I chuckled – she had always been good at diffusing any awkwardness. ‘Yeah…’ I trailed off at the sound of a car on the driveway behind me. For a moment, I was worried it was Henry chasing me from the wedding. But when I turned around, I soon realised with relief that I didn’t recognise the car.
‘Shit, I forgot that Blake was coming now,’ Dylan said then.
‘Oh, that’s right,’ Willow said, giving me an apologetic smile. ‘One of Dylan’s old friends – he’s coming to stay for a couple of weeks in one of our Airbnb cottages.’
My heart sank a little bit. It was hard enough to be back at the farm again, let alone meeting new people. I’d had to deal with meeting Willow’s boyfriend and now I had to face one of his friends too. In my current frame of mind, and dress, I wasn’t at my most social. I tried to push my shoulders back and stay confident but I was on the verge of crumbling.
Out of the car climbed a man who did a half-handshake, half-hug with Dylan, who had headed over to greet him. Willow and Uncle Adam also approached, while I hung back self-consciously.
‘You must be Blake,’ Willow said, smiling and holding her hand out.
‘This is my girlfriend, Willow Connor, and this is Blake Daniels,’ Dylan introduced them and Willow and Blake shook hands. Then Blake moved to greet my uncle. ‘Her dad, Adam.’
‘It’s nice to meet you all,’ Blake said.
Dylan looked behind to where I stood, feeling out of place. ‘And this is Willow’s cousin, Daisy.’
Blake turned to look at me and his eyes widened as his gaze looked me up and down, taking in what I was wearing.
‘Rocking this season’s “it” dress,’ Willow joked as I looked back at Blake.
He was so tall, I had to lift my face up slightly. He must have been six foot five. He had light-brown hair that was short and tidy and a line of stubble around his chin. He wore chinos and canvas shoes with a white shirt – kind of preppy-looking, the opposite of Dylan in his beat-up farm clothes. I started to smile but his gaze flicked over me, looking at my dress, his hazel eyes cold when our gazes met. ‘Is this some kind of sick joke?’ he spat out, his deep voice suddenly sounding bitter.
There were a couple of seconds of shocked silence.
‘Um… no…’ Dylan said awkwardly. ‘Daisy is…’ he trailed off, stumped.
‘Wearing a wedding dress,’ I supplied, hating that I was making everyone so uncomfortable. ‘This was supposed to be my wedding day but I couldn’t go through with it.’
‘You left your fiancé at the altar?!’ Blake said incredulously. He stepped back a few steps like I might be contagious.
I narrowed my eyes. This man didn’t know anything about me but disapproval oozed out of him and it made me feel even worse than I already did. ‘Not that it’s any of your business but yes, I did.’
‘Look, why don’t we get you settled into the cottage?’ Dylan said hurriedly, putting a hand on Blake’s arm. ‘Willow can get Daisy settled in the farmhouse,’ he added, clearly desperate to separate me and Blake.
‘Sounds good to me!’ Blake said, abruptly turning around so I got his back view. ‘Let’s go.’
I raised an eyebrow as he started walking, clearly desperate to get away from me. Dylan threw me and Willow an apologetic smile and then followed him. This guy was really rude. ‘Not sure about your boyfriend’s taste in friends,’ I said to Willow, loud enough that Blake hopefully heard me as he left.
‘Sorry, yeah, that was awkward,’ Willow said. She shrugged. ‘I haven’t met him before. He actually lives in the city too. Said he needed to get away so Dylan let him have a cottage. He’s going to renovate them this summer but he wanted to make room for a friend in need. Come on, let’s go inside. You won’t have to see him much, I’m sure.’
I didn’t want to cause any more drama so I threw on a tight smile. ‘Yeah. Maybe I could get out of this dress to stop any more awkward questions, though?’
She gave a tense laugh. ‘Definitely. Let’s go upstairs.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ my uncle said, walking in slowly.
