The Life Daisy Devlin Designed

CHAPTER 29

Daisy got up and wandered over to the window, aware of a slight draught along the ledge. She took out her phone to check if there was anything from James: nothing. She rang him again, relieved when the call was picked up.

“James?”

“Hello, Daisy? It’s Alma.”

Her skin prickled. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. James just went to bed. I told him I would answer his phone if you rang. He was very tired.”

For a moment, Daisy was speechless. How had James agreed to leave his phone with Alma? He didn’t even like her answering his phone! She swallowed hard.

“Good, yeah, glad he’s sleeping. Um , did he get my message earlier about me being stuck in Wicklow?”

“Of course.” Alma paused. “Please don’t worry, Daisy. I will keep an eye on him.”

“Look, no need to do anything, Alma. Thanks for answering my call, but if it rings again, James’ voicemail will pick it up.”

“Sure.” Alma sounded unfazed. “Will you be home tomorrow?”

“I could be home at any time,” Daisy said with forced cheerfulness. “I have to go now. Bye.” She hung up. What was wrong with Alma? What was wrong with James ? She jumped when her phone rang again, before she realised that it was Matt’s.

“Matt?” Should she take it upstairs to him? She picked it up, surprised to see Kayley’s name on the screen. Why was Kayley Lynch calling him?

She put it down and let it ring out; Matt would see the missed call. Feeling a bit awkward, she walked over to fill the kettle, scrolling through her Instagram feed as she waited.

Matt came back downstairs. “I’m glad you’re making yourself at home.”

“Oh yeah, I was wondering if you had any infusions.”

“Should do.” He’d picked up his phone before putting it on the counter to search one of the cupboards. “I’ve blackcurrant and lemon, raspberry, and green tea.”

“ Um , I think your phone rang.”

“It’s work.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I’ll ring them tomorrow.”

Work? She supposed Kayley fell loosely into that category. Not that it was any of her business. She was about to close Instagram, when something caught her eye.

“Matt, isn’t that the front of the house?” She looked closer. “It’s on Deuxmoi.”

He moved closer to look. “Yeah, what the hell?”

She scrolled to the second picture on the post. “It’s just photos of Kayley’s crew arriving,” she said.

Matt frowned. “I didn’t notice any photographers hanging around.”

She tried to remember. “No, but they could have been anywhere.”

“Yeah, but it’s a bit isolated out here.” He shook his head. “Like, where the fuck were they hiding?”

She swiped to the last picture. It was one of Kayley and Matt in the driveway.

She looked a bit closer. Almost out of the frame was Alec, standing near the door, his gaze seemingly trained on Kayley. She sighed. Kayley was a pretty big star and she was fairly sure Alec’s attentions were normal. But she’d mention it again to Kenny. If Todd was even half right about Alec, she couldn’t ignore it. But there was no point saying anything now. Instead, she put her phone away.

“Listen, Matt, if you need to work tonight, I can go upstairs.”

“No, there’s nothing I need to do.” He dropped the infusions into a couple of mugs. “We can just talk if you want.”

It felt like an invitation, she thought, as she watched him pour the water into the mugs.

“I know you’re wondering why I came back,” he said, finally.

Daisy found herself holding her breath.

“The thing is, I thought I had everything I wanted, but lately I’ve been wondering if I should have stayed and fought a bit harder.”

“To give your career a chance here?” Daisy’s voice was husky.

“Partly. And I think I should have fought for you.”

For a few moments, Daisy couldn’t breathe. Instead, she stared at Matt, until she realised he was probably waiting for her to say something. Stick to the truth, Daisy.

“Why would there have been a fight, Matt? You went to the States that summer and you decided to stay. Period!”

Matt sighed. “I didn’t think you’d want to do this.”

“I do.” Daisy swallowed. “I’ve never understood why you just left. You didn’t even break up with me properly. It hurt.” It still hurt, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to admit it.

He stared at her and she held his gaze.

“I heard about the party,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “Brian told me.”

“What party?”

“The one in your boyfriend’s house that summer I did my internship in New York.”

Daisy frowned, trying to think. She hadn’t even known James at the time. “What are you talking about?”

“Come on, Daisy. Brian told me he was supposed to go that night, but he was sick, so Laura took you along instead.” He sounded resigned.

Memories floated back. A warm, dry night in a student house off the Drumcondra road, so packed with people that most of them had ended up in the garden, drinking and smoking weed. It had been a small miracle that nobody had called the Guards, but nearly all the neighbouring houses had been rented by students.

She’d never tried weed before that night. Or since. Even now, she squirmed, remembering how she’d thrown up in a bush, before messaging Laura that she was going home, and she’d see her the next day. At the time, she hadn’t even known it was James’ house – there’d been a gang of people living there.

“Yes, I remember. But I don’t understand …”

“Brian told me he heard you’d stayed over with James.”

“ What? ”

“You slept with him, Daisy. So I just made things easier for you.”