Page 1 of Three's a Crowd
1
SIX YEARS AGO
The day was perfect, yet also imperfect.
Trouble was on the way; Daisy Malone could feel it in her bones. Though exactly what sort of trouble was anyone’s guess.
Looking around the table at the gathered guests, she experienced a shiver of apprehension, but told herself not to be ridiculous. Nothing could go wrong in such an idyllic setting with such a lovely group of people around her.
A banner bearing the words ‘Happy Silver Wedding Anniversary’ drifted languidly behind her in the cool breeze, where it hung between two cherry trees in the garden of the rented cottage. In the distance, brightly coloured dinghies bobbed in Fowey harbour and just below the cliff, where the cottage resided, waves gently lapped at the shore of a cove.
The waning, end-of-the-summer sun bathed the garden in golden light, highlighting the cheerful daisies that crowded the borders alongside the camomile lawn, their sweet fragrance mingling with the tang of salt in the air.
The guests of honour, Andy and Sally Carmichael, beamed at everyone gathered around the long, makeshift table, now laden with half-empty plates and the remainder of the feast theiroldest friends, the Malones, had planned for them as part of their long weekend celebration. The table had groaned under the plates of cold meats, smoked salmon and delicate savoury tarts, surrounded by big bowls of colourful salads, couscous and thick wedges of soft granary bread.
They were all stuffed.
Daisy’s father, Jack, raised his glass. ‘A toast, to the best friends we could ever hope to have, and their wonderful boys.’ He nodded to Adam and Sam, who had happily agreed to travel down to the coastal town in Cornwall to celebrate with them. ‘May there be many more celebrations together to come. To Andy and Sally.’ Everyone raised their glasses and a chorus of voices repeated, ‘Andy and Sally.’
As an only child, it had always heartened Daisy to have the Carmichaels as her surrogate extended family.
They’d not gathered like this since the summer, two years ago, when she was sixteen, and it was wonderful to all be together again.
She’d missed them all.
Particularly the extrasomeonewho hadn’t made it to the party yet.
As if reading her thoughts, Sam, the baby of the family – though only a year younger than Daisy – asked, ‘Where’s Zach? I thought he was supposed to be getting in at six o’clock. It’s almost nine now.’
Adam shrugged. ‘You know Zach. He’s a law unto himself.’
At the sound of his name, goosebumps broke across Daisy’s skin.
Trouble personified.
Adam leant over and stole a couple of crisps that she’d left on her plate, giving her a sly wink.
She grinned back, glad of the distraction.
She’d always liked Adam. He was headstrong, but kind, with sky-blue eyes and a warm smile, all of which had the effect of charming the metaphorical pants off most girls he met. Daisy had always been vaguely aware that he was attractive, but she’d never felt anything romantically for him. He was too much like a brother for that.
‘I miss holidays with you lot,’ she said to him, offering him the bread that still sat forlornly on her plate.
He shook his head, patting his belly to display exactly how full he was.
‘Yeah, we had a laugh, didn’t we?’ he said, leaning back in his chair and having a good stretch.
‘Hey, do you remember—’ she started to say.
‘—burying Sam in the sand and running off and leaving him?’ Adam finished for her, grin-grimacing at the memory.
‘Yeah. So dangerous. He was terrified we weren’t coming back, poor thing,’ Daisy said, mirroring Adam’s contrite expression. ‘Thank God we didn’t bury him that deeply and he managed to escape. We were real idiots back then.’
‘I felt terrible about that – but then we got distracted because Zach went missing. Do you remember? We found him hours later in the dunes with his hand in that girl’s bra,’ Adam said with a proper grin this time.
Daisy remembered that well. And the sting of jealousy she’d felt at the sight of the girl draped all over Zach, lapping up his undivided attention. She’d hated the fact someone else had broken into their cosy foursome. It was meant to be justthemhanging out together all summer. Like they always had.
‘You projectile vomiting ice-cream all over the floor of that café… I have a vivid memory of that. Just the sight of a banana split still makes me queasy,’ she said, trying to pull her thoughts away from Zach and the way he always managed to get her back up in some way or other.
