The Life Daisy Devlin Designed

CHAPTER 48

Daisy knew something was wrong the moment Matt’s name flashed up on her phone early Friday morning. Storm Henry had raged all night, and even though the rain had subsided to a persistent drizzle, and the high winds had died down, it had wreaked havoc.

“Hi, Matt.” Daisy walked over to her bedroom window, leaning her hip against the edge, as she looked out at her driveway. “All good?”

“Actually, we’re in a bit of trouble. The storm took down half the rigging and damaged part of the stage.”

“Oh.” Daisy noticed that one of her neighbour’s trees had split down the middle, and was hanging dangerously over the footpath. “Won’t Kayley’s people take care of it?”

Matt sighed. “They can, but it’s a big job and they don’t have much time. They could do with a bit of help.”

Daisy frowned. “I suppose you could ask Kenny. You have his number, right?”

“I do, yeah, but Kenny’s not my biggest fan. Can you ask him for me?”

It was strange that Kenny seemed to dislike Matt so intensely, she thought. She’d never seen him clash with a client before.

“I’ll ask him.”

“I knew I could depend on you, Daisy.” Matt’s voice was warmer now. “I’ll see you later?”

Daisy tried to shake off the feeling that she was being manipulated again.

“Fionn and I will be there. I’ll call Kenny now.”

Daisy tried to shake off a growing tension as she worked on Friday morning. The previous day, she’d messaged Laura to ask how she was, and to her relief she’d replied to say she was out of hospital, but on an antibiotic, and was taking a few days off to rest. She still didn’t explain why she had needed to be hospitalised and so Daisy didn’t ask any questions.

I feel bad putting off Stephanie like this, Laura had added. I’ll probably do a video call from home.

Daisy had messaged back to tell her to stop thinking about work. At the same time, she knew that Stephanie needed to get everything done before the triplets were born.

Now, she caught Fionn’s eye.

“How would you feel about going out on site? By yourself?”

“Say that to me again. Slowly. ” A broad smile crept across his face.

“It’s Stephanie’s place, one of those converted mews off Herbert Park. Look, I know Laura had suggested keeping the downstairs open plan, but apparently Stephanie’s not sure. Maybe you could have a fresh look? Give her a ring and see if you can head out now.”

“So do I get to make some actual decisions?” When Daisy nodded, he lit up. “An actual project during my final year!”

“We’ll have to get everything done before her babies arrive,” Daisy warned.

“Right.” Fionn flicked his fringe across his forehead. “Can you manage here without me?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Daisy paused. “If you’re not sure about anything, run it by me, okay?”

He beamed again. “Real site work and a personal meeting with Kayley Lynch! Plus, Mercury is rising for the Gemini moon signs right now!”

“Which reminds me, I should check MyStarScope for today.” When Fionn shot her a horrified look, she grinned. “I know, the app’s total rubbish. It’s also totally fun. So what’s the real deal for Taurus?”

“You want the short or long version?”

“Give me the soundbite.”

“ Uh , your close relationships are rocky at the moment, so proceed with caution!”

“ Riiiight … ” Daisy sighed. “Any clue as to when they might sort themselves out?”

Fionn looked solemn. “Sorry, Daisy.”

“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “Depressingly accurate, as it happens.”

“Except for you and me.” He looked at her. “We’re sound, right?”

“Sound.” She smiled. “Cheers, Fionn.”

By Friday lunchtime, Daisy had still heard nothing from James. Alma had messaged to say that her mother was making a good recovery, but she’d be completing her postgrad in Sweden. Daisy felt relieved that everything was okay, but even guiltier that she’d blamed her for James’ behaviour.

Fionn arrived back Friday afternoon, and handed Daisy a coffee and a pink-and-white paper bag. “I don’t know if it’s too late in the day for a coffee, but I took a chance.”

She brightened. “Never too late for a coffee, Fionn.” She took a sip. “It tastes different.”

“Yeah, our usual place is closed for staff training, so I had to go around the corner to that new bakery. Look in the bag.”

She peeked inside. “Doughnuts? You got us jam doughnuts?”

“Just please don’t tell Laura. She’ll hate me even more.”

Daisy coughed as she swallowed too quickly and burnt the back of her throat.

“Why would she hate you? Did things go really badly at Stephanie’s place?”

“No. From a design point of view, it went really well.”

“As opposed to what point of view?” When Fionn said nothing, Daisy said, “So, Stephanie was definitely happy?”

“Yeah, she’d changed her mind about the open-plan thing, but didn’t want to upset Laura. She’s just totally freaked out at the amount of stuff they’ll have with three babies!” Fionn nibbled a doughnut. “She’s agreed to a partial partition wall that hides a lot of the living area from the kitchen. It’s my own design – a completely hollow wall that opens out with tons of storage for all their baby stuff.”

“Well done.” Daisy paused. “So, no problems?”

“All good.” Colour crept up his neck.

“Fionn, you’d tell me if something happened, wouldn’t you?” When he looked even more flustered, she persisted gently. “This business is all about building trust with our clients.”

“Everything went super-well, Daisy!”

She’d better drop it, whatever it was. Presumably he’d tell her eventually. “So, are you still on to meet Kayley later this evening?”

His eyes lit up. “Totally. I can’t believe I’m getting to meet her in person! And see her concert tomorrow night!” He chewed on his lip. “Once it’s not cancelled, like. There’s another storm coming.”

“Not until Sunday morning.”

“Yeah, hope you’re right.” His expression changed as something new seemed to occur to him. “So, you don’t mind me crashing in on your dinner with Matt, do you?”

“No, not at all!” She managed a little laugh as anticipation shivered through her. “We’ve just some business to finish up.”