Page 48 of Tangled With the Wrong Guy
She took the key from him and put it to her lips, closing her eyes for a moment, offering up thanks to whatever angel or god or fairy godmother had organised for them to be locked together. Then she held the key up to his lips, and he kissed it, those blue eyes on hers.
‘Throw it.’
‘No, you throw it.’
‘Together.’ He pressed the key into the palm of her hand and closed her fingers round it, counting down: ‘Three, two, one …’ then held her hand out over the water. She opened it and the key dropped, quickly disappearing with the tiniest splash.
‘I’m going now,’ said Joel, his eyes still on the water. ‘I hate long goodbyes. I’m not going to kiss you again because it would be too sad, and anyway the last one was a top kiss, so … goodbye my angel, my lovely Chloe, and don’t forget, next year. Right here. By our padlock.’
She couldn’t look at him, either; she was crying too hard. As she sensed him moving away, she lifted her hand in a wave and called, ‘Don’t marry her!’
Chloe let a minute pass before she looked towards the south bank, but Joel was gone.
Chapter Fifteen
The doorbell tinkled as Chloe entered Coeurs et Fleurs. The taxi had dropped her off, and the clock on the wall told her she was on time. Nine thirty, on the dot. Well, how about that?
Aunt Daisy appeared out of the back room, weighed down by a big box of yellow orchids. ‘Oh hello! Good morning! Look at these, from that new grower we saw last week.’
Chloe smiled and nodded, not meeting her godmother’s eyes. Her own were surely puffy and red.
‘How was your evening? Did you spoil yourself with goodies from the pâtisserie?’
An image popped into Chloe’s head, of Joel licking icing off her stomach, looking up at her with that rakish grin. ‘Yes, Aunt Daisy, I did,’ she said, then burst into tears and flapped a hand saying, ‘Sorry, just got to …’ before dashing for the little toilet out the back of the shop.
Darling Aunt Daisy didn’t pry. Presumably she thought Chloe was still traumatised by the whole one-year anniversary thing. She quietly went about her business, organising displays, making bouquets, putting cups of coffee in front of Chloe. Today her pink hair was caught up in a hairclip decorated with a yellow frangipani flower.
Finally, just before twelve, she said, ‘Are you all right now, love? I thought we might go out one night this week. How aboutsomething grand and Parisian, like the opera or the ballet? Or an art gallery?’
‘That’d be nice,’ said Chloe, trying to look enthusiastic.
‘I’ll see what’s on, send you some links. Let me know what takes your fancy.’
Chloe suddenly remembered. ‘Oh … my phone! I left it in the cemetery last night, at Jim Morrison’s tomb. I took some photos and then put it down, and by the time I realised, I was outside and the gates were shut. I’ll have to go over at lunchtime, see if it’s been handed in.’
Joel wouldn’t be fetching it. He hadn’t mentioned it again; they’d said goodbye.
‘And you’ve only just remembered?’ said Aunt Daisy. ‘I thought your generation couldn’t manage a single minute without your phones?’
‘I was …’ Chloe attempted a smile, but it threatened to turn into something else. Her bottom lip wobbled. ‘I was preoccupied.’ Aunt Daisy would think she’d been deep in her one-year wallow, too caught up in her misery to be bothering with TikTok and all the other apps her aunt rolled her eyes over. Though she did like Chloe’s Instagram photos of the shop and its flowers.
‘Chloe …’ Aunt Daisy paused in arranging a bouquet of red roses. She laid her scissors down on the worktop. ‘I was going to tell you yesterday, but you were rather distracted.’
‘Oh? What were you going to tell me?’
‘I need to go away for a while.’
Chloe’s heart sank.She’s going to send me back to Huddersfield!She went cold at the thought. And in that instant, she realised just how much she loved this place, the shop and the city, and how badly she needed to follow up on that resolve and go out and grab life by the horns.
‘Away where?’
‘There’s somewhere I need to be. Quite soon. Not for too long though – six months at the most. No – it’s nothing horrible,’ she said, as Chloe’s face fell. ‘I’m in perfect health. And I was wondering, now you’ve got plenty of experience under your belt, and you’ve picked everything up soveryquickly, and I know you feel about flowers the way I do …’
‘I do, Aunt Daisy. I love it here. Please don’t–’
‘So how would you feel about running the shop for me, while I’m away? And if you wanted, you could live in my flat.’ (Aunt Daisy lived on the floor above, in a beautiful, spacious one-bedroom apartment with a normal-sized bathroom.) ‘I can let Madame Lol know she needs to find another tenant, if you decide yes. And I wouldn’t expect you to run this all by yourself, we’d advertise for another florist, just temporary, to help you.’
Chloe went to respondYes, a million times yes!but Aunt Daisy said, ‘No need to give me an answer yet. Have a good think. Areallygood think.’ She winked, then got on with her orchids.
