Page 25 of New Beginnings at Lullbury Bay

‘It’scosy,Daisy,’Honorsaid. ‘Andthe scent from your stock is wonderful.’

‘Thanks,Honor.Iwould have come to you but it’s easier this way.Ican show you samples of some of the flowers and we can put a few colours and designs together.’

‘I’dlove that!It’sall so exciting,Ican’t believe the wedding is only a few weeks away now.’

‘Isuppose you had to plan it for a school holiday?’

Honornodded. ‘Yes.Theholidays are very welcome as a teacher butIdon’t have any flexibility whenItake them.’

‘It’slate inAugust.Areyou not having a honeymoon?’

Honorglanced lovingly atJago. ‘Ohyes but we’re saving that forChristmas.We’regoing toIceland.’

‘Ohhow fabulous.Now, flowers.Doyou want small, large, traditional or a cottagey look, or something more sculptural.’

Honorblinked. ‘Ihave absolutely no idea.Nowit’s my turn to apologise.Mybrain’s still fried from the summer term.Idon’t thinkI’verecovered yet.Anothergood reason to wait until the end of next month.Atleast thenI’llbe in a fit state to thoroughly enjoy the day!’

‘Iremember it well.Itaught for a while too.Onlybegan to feel human in mid-August.’Daisylaughed. ‘Well, how about we start with favourite flowers.Isthere anything special connected to when you first got together?’

Honormade a face. ‘Thatwas atChristmastoo.’Shegiggled. ‘I’mso sorry.We’rehopeless, aren’t we?’

‘Notat all.I’veclosed the shop for an hour so we can take our time,’Daisysaid.Itmeant she’d have to miss lunch but she didn’t mind; she wanted to get it right for these two.Shetook in a breath. ‘Let’sstart again.Colours?’

‘Thebridesmaids will be in a very pale pink.’

Daisymade a note. ‘Haveyou a sample of the material?’

Honorscrabbled in her handbag. ‘Yes.Shehanded over a scrap of oyster-pink satin.Thegrown-up bridesmaids and matron of honour will be in that colour andMerryn, that’sJago’slittle sister, will be in a slightly warmer shade.’

‘That’spretty.Wecan put a whole range of colours against it.Ican make the same bouquets for the bridesmaids and for you, or you can have something slightly different, or you can have a bigger version of the same.’Daisysaw the confusion and burgeoning panic onHonor’sface. ‘It’sgoing to be in the church, isn’t it?’

Honornodded. ‘Verity’smarrying us.’

‘Sheagreed even thoughI’mdivorced,’Jagoput in.Heput an arm aroundHonorand hugged her to him. ‘SheknowsI’min it for life this time.’Hekissed her cheek and she blushed.

Daisywatched them.Theyreally were a gorgeous couple.Honorwas a honey blonde with eyes so blue they were almost purple, the perfect foil toJago’sslightly piratical looks.Therewas something old-fashioned about her and she was going to make a stunning bride. ‘CanImake a suggestion?’

‘Pleasedo!’Thereply fromJagowas heartfelt.

‘Withyour colouring,Honor, and the bridesmaids’ delicate pink dresses,Ithink you should go for something unstructured in pale shades.Asimple bouquet of cream and very pale-pink roses, with maybe some peonies and some soft green foliage to set it off.Subtleand delicate.Ican add lavender and freesias if you like to give it scent.ShallIput together a rough example?’

Honorclapped her hands together. ‘Soundsperfect,Daisy.’

‘Great.Oncewe’ve got the rightcolours and flowers, we can work from there for the church and reception.It’satCheneyHouse, isn’t it?OveratBereford?’

‘Yes.Ina marquee.’

Daisypictured the lovely mellow stone walls of theGeorgianhouse.Primarilya garden centre with a lake and beautiful grounds, they’d recently begun hosting weddings.Itwas the perfect romantic setting. ‘IfI’mright in remembering, there’s a rambling rose, aGertrudeJekyllthat would be the perfect background for the photographs.Althoughit might have gone over by the end ofAugust.’Shetapped her chin, thinking. ‘There’sa superbAlbertinetoo so we might be in luck.Janey, the head gardener, knows how to look after her plants so it’ll be looking tip-top.Thinkthe rose theme is the way to go.Haveanother coffee, help yourself to biscuits andI’llbe just a minute.’

Goingthrough to the shopfront, she put together a hastily arranged bouquet of delicate, shell-pink roses, some slightly deeper pink gerberas, three pure-white roses and added some silver-dollar eucalyptus.Wrappingsome pale-pink satin ribbon in a broad band firmly around the stems, she returned to the happy couple.

Shewent unnoticed for a minute asHonorandJagowere chatting to one another.Shecouldn’t help it.Lonelinesspierced her.She’dspent the years since splitting up fromNevilleresolutely ignoring and dismissing anything romantic in any shape or form.She’ddeveloped a hard shell, flippant on the outside but which hid the pain underneath.Itwas as if she didn’t acknowledge her softer side, then it didn’t exist.Shesaved her best cynical act forValentine’sDay, spouting her personal theory that it was a commercial nonsense and if you couldn’t be romantic all year round, why save it up for one day.

Shedidn’t miss the irony that it was one of the days, along withMother’sDay, when she made a good profit.Thehard persona she’d built up since finding out aboutNeville’sbetrayal had become such a habit it could almost be her true self.Butit wasn’t.Shespent her days making other people happy andromantic with the gift of flowers; she wanted just a little bit of that for herself.Asshe watchedJagohugHonorto him and kiss the top of her head in a gesture so tender it nearly made her weep, the emotions tumbling through her almost burst out.Itwas ridiculous, she’d done flowers for tens of weddings since she’d been in the business; what was so affecting about this one?

‘Hereyou go,’ she announced over-brightly. ‘Notconvinced the gerberas work but it gives you a general feel.’Sheplonked herself on the opposite side of the table and handed the bouquet toHonor. ‘Someargue brighter colours work best for the photographs, but you can’t beat a subtle colour palette and roses for a classy look.Wecan continue the theme for the buttonholes, the pew ends and the flowers for the wedding breakfast.’

Honorcradled the flowers to her, eyes sparkling with tears.Shecouldn’t speak soJagospoke on her behalf. ‘You’rea genius,Daisy.It’slike painting with flowers.’

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