Page 9 of Three's a Crowd
Her mum was in the living room with Sally, finishing off a glass of wine.
‘Did you want me, Mum?’ Daisy asked, poking her head around the door.
‘I just wondered where you were. You didn’t come in with Sam and Zach.’
‘I went for a walk around the garden with Adam. It’s gorgeous out there tonight,’ Daisy mumbled, not wanting tocatch her mother’s eye. Did she have an inkling about what had happened out there? Had Zach said something to her?
Her mum fixed her with a penetrating look as if she was trying to read her mind, then smiled as if she hadn’t found anything to worry about. ‘Okay. Well, I think everyone’s off to bed now. Have you got everything you need?’ she asked.
Daisy nodded. ‘Yeah. Night, Mum. Night, Sally. See you in the morning.’ She turned and left the room, hoping not to bump into Zach on her way to bed.
Luckily for her, he seemed to have already gone to bed himself, so she washed and brushed her teeth then got straight under the covers, feeling like someone had tied her insides into knots.
3
After breakfast the next morning, the parents dragged them all out for ‘a fun walk’, batting away their excuses of hangovers and, in Sam’s case, a general dislike of any kind of walking, especially ‘funwalking’.
They caught the passenger ferry across the narrow span of water that linked them to the picturesque village of Polruan on the other side. Zach spent the whole journey chatting to Sam, with his back to her, so Daisy was able to lose herself in gazing out at the stunning scenery and listening to the rushing of the water alongside them without concerning herself with actively ignoring him.
Once they’d docked and clambered out of the boat onto the quay, they strode off up the steep, narrow road that lead them past the dinky, pastel-coloured houses on the main street of the village. Out of breath at the top, they all paused for a minute or two to survey the stunning scene below them.
In the distance, the whitewashed houses that lined the seafront of Fowey gleamed in the steady sunlight, complimented by the brightly coloured sails of the dinghies that travelledslowly up and down the narrow stretch of water and out towards the blue-grey sea.
It really was a magnificent view.
As she drank in the heart-warming sight, Daisy became aware that someone was looking at her. Senses heightened, she turned to find Adam gazing at her, a crooked smile on his face. She knew she should have been pleased by this, but inexplicably, she felt a flash of disappointment. Internally reprimanding herself, she forced a smile back in reply.
‘Beautiful,’ Adam said, still smiling directly into her eyes.
‘Let’s get going,’ Zach said abruptly, right next to her, pushing so close past her, she stumbled forwards a couple of steps. He marched off, leaving them all standing there, taken by surprise at his grumpy manner.
‘I guess he hates “fun walking” too,’ Sam muttered under his breath.
Daisy watched Zach go, his tall, muscular frame seemingly tense with purpose.
Shrugging to each other, they followed in the direction he’d taken and soon caught him up at the turning to the narrow road that led down to Pont. The hedges were high on both sides here and the road barely wide enough for two cars, so they walked in single file, watching carefully for signs of any vehicles approaching. Soon, they found a footpath which led away from the road and continued on a shallow gradient downwards towards their destination.
In the way that English weather tends to do, the day had become overcast now, with a chilly wind rising and Daisy, who had forgotten to bring her waterproof, shivered in her fleece as fatdrops of rain began to fall and soak through her clothes. As they walked on, she thought back to that morning to distract herself from the discomfort.
There had been a peculiar tension at the breakfast table, with Zach studiously ignoring her, a dark expression on his face. She wondered whether he was just hungover, but he hadn’t drunk as much booze as the rest of them the night before.
‘Watching his figure,’ Adam had teased when he’d refused a drink in the last couple of rounds.
In response, she in turn hadn’t spoken to him either, or even looked at him if she could help it. Adam, on the other hand, had been overly friendly and chatted to her constantly, warming her with praise and charming her with his gentle wit.
If only she were back at that table right now.
Daisy’s head had started to throb from the cold but she trudged on miserably, not wanting to complain to the adults when they appeared to be really enjoying themselves.
Luckily, the rain decided to give them a reprieve a few minutes later and the sun even made an appearance, which changed the mood of the walk again.
Without warning, the winding path suddenly opened out to reveal an idyllic-looking scene. A large lake, framed by trees, lay still in the late summer light. The surface like a looking glass, mirrored the sky above it; clouds moving slowly across it giving the impression of enormous fish swimming lazily just below the surface.
Daisy halted in her tracks, awed by the sight.
A small bridge led over a narrow part of the lake and ducks waddled towards them in hope of an offering of breadcrusts.
They spent a while sitting at the edge of the lake gazing at the water, until the cool air against their damp skin forced them back on their walk. Zach and Sam had banded together and Adam seemed to have become her constant companion now –not that she minded too much. It was nice to have attention from someone who genuinely seemed to like her.
