The Life Daisy Devlin Designed

CHAPTER 38

Controversial American country singer Kayley Lynch and her new band have damaged part of Granary House in County Wicklow, the private Georgian home Kayley is currently renting. A source close to the band told the Irish Daily News that Kayley and her band were partying at the historic house, which is currently under renovation, when bass guitarist Greg Fields ‘climbed some scaffolding in the conservatory’. He fell, breaking part of a glass roof, but didn’t sustain any serious injuries.

Kayley is in Ireland to begin the final leg of her month-long, European tour on June 1 at the grounds of Granary House. She was forced to cancel all her planned American concerts after being admitted to rehab for alcohol abuse.

Daisy was sitting in her car in Matt’s driveway, and had just finished reading her emails when she saw the story. She scrolled through the accompanying photos of the kitchen with the hole in the roof, the chandelier on the floor surrounded by broken glass, and reception room littered with glasses and bottles. She looked closer, and noticed what looked like traces of white powder on a corner of the dark coffee table.

Her phone rang, and Freya’s name flashed up. Daisy swiped to answer.

“Hi, Freya, how are things?”

“Daisy, is this a good time?”

Daisy was wondering who the source close to the band was. Maybe Kayley had been rude to one of the camera crew making the documentary.

“ Uh , fine – go ahead, Freya.”

“It’s about the occupational therapist. Will you tell your sister it’s for Holly?” Freya hurried on. “It might be nothing at all, but she’s not settling at school and, if she wasn’t pretty bright, I don’t think she’d be learning anything. Thing is, the school wants her assessed, and I trust them – they’ve been very good to my other kids. I just don’t want to wait months to have her see someone.”

“I see. Okay – I’ll talk to Rosie and tell her it’s for your daughter.”

“Is your sister practising at the moment?” Freya asked.

“No, she’s still on a career break.”

There was a brief silence. “I’ll leave it with you,” Freya said. “Thanks, Daisy.”

Daisy put a quick note in her phone to call Rosie, and went into the house. She found Matt, Kayley and Todd in the newly finished study.

“Oh, hi.” Daisy flashed them a quick smile, but she had the feeling she’d walked in on something important. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“It’s fine.” Matt glanced at the others. “We’re finished here – let’s go down to the kitchen.”

The sun was streaming in through the patio doors, and Daisy was relieved to see the scaffolding was gone and the new design was quickly taking shape. She ran a hand over the smooth, pale countertops.

“Kenny’s a talented craftsman.”

Matt gave a short laugh. “He’s just working to your designs.” Turning, he closed the door behind him. “So, this is a bit awkward; I’ll just get straight to the point. Did you see the story in the Irish Daily News today?”

Daisy nodded. “About half an hour ago, yeah.”

Matt sighed. “The thing is, Kayley and Todd think one of your crew leaked it.”

“What?” Daisy stared at him. “That’s a very big leap, isn’t it? I mean, why would they bother?”

“I don’t know.” Matt folded his arms. “Money, maybe? Or just to piss Kayley off. I know she can be a bit –”

Of a cow , Daisy thought.

“Highly strung,” Matt said, after a beat.

“Matt, it’s way more likely that someone from her own crew went to the press. Like maybe ...” Daisy tried to think, “the guy who fell off the scaffolding. I mean, let’s face it, he can’t be very happy about that.”

“Except that if it was someone in the band, there’d be photos from the night itself,” Matt said.

Daisy shook her head. “Unless they were too clever to take photos because they’d know it’d be traced back to them!”

Matt raised an eyebrow.

“Look, Matt,” Daisy persisted, “they can’t just start accusing people!”

“Not everyone, no. We could narrow it down to whoever was here that morning.” He folded his arms.

Clearly, Matt was determined to play Sherlock Holmes! “I’ll ask Kenny, but I don’t think it’ll prove anything.”

When Matt said nothing, Daisy realised that he was seriously annoyed. She suppressed a sigh. He was probably under huge pressure from Kayley’s agent and publicity manager. Better to change the subject.

“So, um , I was wondering if you’ve thought about what you’re putting on your walls?”

He frowned. “Haven’t we already decided all that?”

Yep, definitely annoyed! “I’m talking about art. Original paintings, prints, wall hangings, mirrors – everything.” Daisy smiled. “Some clients like me to pick out a few pieces, others prefer to do all that themselves. It’s pretty personal.”

“Oh, okay, actually, I’m way ahead of you.” Matt powered on his laptop, typed something into the search bar, and turned the screen so she could get a better look. “It’s a website for new Irish art, with links to all the artists’ individual websites.”

“ Wow , I didn’t know this existed.” Daisy peered over Matt’s shoulder as he scrolled down the pages. Up close, she could smell his familiar aftershave and an apple-scented shampoo. She jerked her head back. “I should tell Mum about this. She’s an artist too.”

Matt turned. “I’d forgotten you’d told me that.”

Why had she reminded him? It didn’t matter: the chances of her mother being organised enough to have her own website were extremely slim.“It’s all pretty reasonable,” Matt was saying. “And it’s good to support Irish artists.”

She and James had two of her mother’s paintings, both of which Miriam had painted and given them. Daisy felt a stab of guilt that she’d never offered to buy any more.

Todd came into the room. “We’re gonna head off. Daisy, we’re gonna have to ask you and the rest of the crew to leave your phones in a box when Kayley is here.” He gave a hard smile. “Thank you for your understanding.” Before Daisy had a chance to reply, he added, “Matt, can you get heating in the guest wing sorted? Kayley says it’s not working.”

After he left, Daisy turned to Matt. “I’m not leaving my phone in a box, Matt. I need it when I’m working. And it’s not like Kayley is some sort of recluse. The woman’s on social media the whole time!”

He sighed. “I’ll talk to her, but she deserves her privacy.”

Daisy resisted the urge to laugh. “Matt, if I ever want a photo of her, I’ll just ask.”

Matt’s lips thinned. “I’d better take a look at the boiler.”

“Or you could wait until Niamh is out again,” Daisy suggested. “If it’s an electrical thing, she’ll sort it quickly.”

“Yeah, I also have the name of that other guy Kenny called out when we lost our power.” Matt ran a hand across the back of his neck. “He said Niamh might have overloaded the fuse boards.”

“Kenny said that?” Daisy frowned.

“Nope, the other electrician did.”

“Did you tell him a woman did the electrics?”

“What?” He rolled his eyes. “I probably mentioned it.”

“Ah, big mistake.” Daisy tried not to react to Matt’s expression. “Let me have a quick look at the boiler. In case it’s something small that Kayley might have missed.”

“Thanks.” Matt briefly squeezed her hand, and she smiled, waiting for the little tingle she usually got when he touched her. Nothing. Clearly, the collective stress was rubbing off on her!

She let herself into the guest wing, remembering the last time she’d been here with Matt. Now it looked like all of Kayley’s belongings had simply exploded all over the place.

Stepping carefully across the room, Daisy opened the small cupboard that housed the boiler, before going into the kitchen to try the heating clock. Nothing.

It couldn’t be something big, she reasoned – the heating system was pretty new. She took another look around the boiler, hunkering down to check the meter, when something caught her eye: the master switch on the wall was turned off. She flicked it back on, and immediately the boiler started to fire up.

As Daisy turned to leave, she noticed a glass dish on the coffee table, filled with crystals. Picking up the large white stone on top, she turned it over in her hand to admire it.

The door banged, and Kayley came into the room.

“Hello?” She stopped at the door. “Can I help you?”

“Actually, I just helped you!” When Kayley continued to stare stonily at her, Daisy forced herself to smile. “I figured out the boiler – the master switch was turned off.” She half-turned to point it out. “It’s the low switch on the wall, it must have been –”

“Must have been what?” Kayley’s eyes narrowed. “You think I turned it off? That’s what you’re implying, right? Because how would I understand your strange little Irish heating systems, like it’s not like we have switches in the States!”

Okaaay. She wouldn’t react; she was a professional! “Well, it’s sorted now.”

“Don’t let me delay you.” As Kayley stepped aside, a movement behind her caught Daisy’s eye, and her heart sank as she spotted a mouse flash by the skirting board. She’d already put down a few traps in the main part of the house, but she really should have put some down here too.

She wondered if Kayley’s reaction was down to stress, or if she’d done anything to make the other woman dislike her. Kayley Lynch might be a talented singer, but she was a total pain!