Page 33 of Whispers at The Bookshop Pretty Beach
20
Afew days later, a post-lunch lull had just begun to settle into the shop when Daisy’s phone rang. She was behind the counter, smoothing out the corner of a slightly bent display card and sorting the paperbacks into neater piles, not really doing anything pressing but pottering in the shop. The twins were at school, her to-do list had been half-ignored, she’d just topped up her tea after having a long in-shop meeting with local book influencer Lotta about an event and she was having a bit of a breather. Through all of that, she’d successfully ignored the news via Holly and Xian about the proposed threat to her business and had decided that she would deal with it when she knew more. The bell above the door had stopped chiming after a morning of foot traffic, and for once, the bookshop felt still. Lovely, still and a moment of peace.
Fishing her phone out from her pocket, she assumed that it would be her mum calling about collecting the girls. She glanced at the screen and was surprised to see it was Miles, who had told her he was in meetings all day.
Daisy was bright and breezy. ‘Hi. How are you?’
Daisy frowned as Miles didn’t answer straight away and there was a strange static humming noise and then the sound of avoice saying something indistinct in the background. When he did speak, he didn’t sound like Miles at all; rather, his voice was tight, low and clipped. ‘Daise, I’m on the train. Sorry, that was the ticket collector. I’m on my way to the hospital. It’s my mum. Unbelievably, she’s been mugged again. It’s bad this time. Really bad!’
Daisy sat down quickly, the back of her knees hitting the stool behind the counter. ‘What? Seriously? I can’t believe it! What in the world?’
‘It happened near the post office. More or less the exact same place as last time. They think it was the same group, phone gang or whatever they’re calling it. Anyway, she hit her head and she didn’t get up right away. They were on those electric bikes and literally left her lying in the gutter! They also swooped on a couple who were coming out at the same time and got the woman’s bag and the man’s watch!’
‘So, what, you’re on your way to her now?’
‘I’m on the train, yes. My brother is at the hospital. They’re doing scans and stuff. A nurse said she’s stable but…’ Miles trailed off and swore.
‘I’m stunned. I don’t know what to say.’
‘I know. I legged it to the station and got the first train up. I should be pulling into town in about twenty minutes. I just left everything and now I’m wondering if I shut the flat door properly.’
‘Okay. I can cover anything you need down here. You don’t have to think about anything. I’ll pop over and have a look.’
Miles swore repeatedly. ‘I cannot believe this is happening. The police in this country are doing nothing about this stuff! She hadn’t fully recovered from the last thing!’
‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry this has happened again. What can I do?’
‘You don’t need to do anything, Daise. I just wanted to let you know. This is like some hideous deja vu playing tricks on me.’
‘Just focus on your mum. That’s all that matters right now. I’m here if you need anything. Anything at all. I can come up if you want.’
‘Thanks. I’ll be fine. You’ve got the girls and everything.’
‘There are enough people here who can hold the fort if you want me to get on a train, depending on what happens.’
Miles didn’t say no. ‘Okay, thank you. I’ll let you know. Oh, that’s my brother calling again. I’ll text you in a bit when I know more.’
‘Yep, keep me in the loop.’
Daisy put the phone face down and didn’t know what to do with herself. She went over to make a cup of tea and put the kettle on again, even though she hadn’t finished the cup she’d not long before topped up. Making a cup of tea felt like something she could do. Make tea and keep the shop ticking along. What a dreadful thing to happen.
As the kettle boiled, she paced to the front window and stood with her arms folded, watching the street as if it might offer her an answer. Shaking her head, she replayed the conversation in her head. Miles hadn’t asked her to come in so many words, but it sounded as if he needed her. She loved that and the way it made her feel. Immediately, she felt selfish about making it about her, but continued to think the same thing again, anyway.
She didn’t make tea but instead just stood there with the kettle boiled and everything a little bit out of sync. The kettle sat there, giving off steam, but she didn’t really care. All she could think was that out of everyone, Miles had picked up the phone and called her first.
She’d heard all sorts in his voice: fear, disbelief and helplessness. She knew without a doubt what being helpless sounded and felt like. She’d really heard the raw bits in hisvoice and then she’d heard herself offering to get on a train. It had come out quickly, instinctively and she’d offered without hesitation because it had felt right. Not because she wanted to be the one who swooped in and made it all about herself, but because she wanted to be near him. To stand next to him and make tea and give him something to lean on. As she stood not knowing what to do with herself, Daisy Henley realised just how much she now loved the man she’d first met when one of her twins had dropped chocolate ice cream on his private parts.
She thought about calling Susannah to line her up in case she needed her to help with Margot and Evie, then she changed her mind. He hadn’t said no to her going, but he hadn’t said yes either. A horrible flashback zoomed her back to when she’d thought Miles had ghosted her. How sick that had made her feel. Her mind continued to lurch from one thing to the next. What if he went quiet again and decided it was easier to deal with everything alone? What if he forgot how good it had been with her down in Pretty Beach? What if, what if, what if?
She hated that she was thinking about herself and that she was more concerned about herself in the middle of something, when his mum had been a victim of crime for a second time. The thing was, she couldn’t help it. Pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes, she felt the anxiety that hadn’t visited for a while slam into somewhere near her chest. Forcing herself to take a breath, she did a counting exercise she’d seen on YouTube and breathed in and out until the anxiety had gone again.
Why hadn’t she asked more questions? Why hadn’t she asked which hospital or if he wanted company? Why hadn’t she offered to get in the car? Because he hadn’t asked. Standing doing nothing made her feel like a spare part and question it all. She would have gone in a heartbeat, cancelled everything, packed a bag and got on the train if he’d said the word.
Her phone buzzed once in her pocket and her heart jumped. She pulled it out so quickly she dropped it, it clattered onto the floorboards and she bent to grab it. It wasn’t Miles, just a reminder from the school app about Evie’s reading folder needing to come home. She stared at it for a second, then put her phone back and sighed. She would just have to wait and see.
21
Later that evening, the bathroom steamed and the old sash window above it was open just an inch, letting out a sliver of warm, soapy air. Daisy knelt on the floor, sleeves rolled to her elbows, hand resting on the edge of the bathtub. Margot and Evie were half-submerged and busy playing with a dolphin sponge and a family of ducks they’d had since they were little. One end of the bath was foamed up with bubble bath and the other had a small flotilla of plastic animals, a pink flannel, and a battered plastic watering can with a crack down one side.
