by Emma Davies
He was so quiet that she thought he might have retreated back into the other room, but then she heard a long breath expelled.
‘Daisy?’ He put a hand out towards her. ‘Look, would you stop for a minute?’
She looked up at the exasperation in his voice.
‘I’m really sorry, we all are, it’s just that… well, we’re used to Mum’s antics but this, this is something else. It’s rather taken us all by surprise, and I don’t need to tell you it’s causing problems… For you as well.’
Daisy sighed. She was tired and they weren’t even open yet. ‘Look, I do understand, Kit, but, yes, you’re right, it is causing problems for me. I’ve worked here a long time and, while I don’t think that automatically entitles me to anything, I did think that your mum and I had a good working relationship and, as such, she would discuss with me anything which affected the running of the business. I certainly didn’t think she was going to retire any time soon, or make me party to some game she wants to play with her sons. I’m not looking forward to it any more than the rest of you.’
Kit nodded. ‘No, I can see that and, again, I’m sorry. Tempers got a little frayed this morning. I guess we’re still just trying to take it all in.’
Daisy glanced back through the doorway where she could see that Lawrence and Bertie were hovering.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, come in,’ she said, picking up her mug of tea and wrapping her hands around it. ‘But stop bloody arguing with one another or you can all leave.’ She paused, looking at Kit. ‘Not you,’ she added. ‘You can do some work for a change.’ To her surprise Kit flushed bright red and she suddenly wished she could take back her words.
She softened her voice. ‘I think we’re all agreed that none of us are thrilled by the challenge that Bea has set us, but there’s no point bickering and backbiting with one another, or me for that matter. It’s going to get us nowhere.’ She took a sip of her tea, looking at the three of them over the rim of her mug. ‘Come Christmas Eve, one of you is going to end up running this place, assuming you all want to enter Bea’s little competition, so you had all better have a think about what that means, for you individually, and as brothers. Whether you want to use this opportunity to unite the family or split it apart.’
Her words hung in the air between them but she knew it was what they had all been thinking. None of them worked in the business full time but Bea had promised their father that she would look after them financially and so she had, paying them all handsomely. Bertie looked after the accounts and administration, Lawrence looked after the buying and merchandising, and Kit worked on the sales floor. But, they did all at least have a job and, even before Bertie’s pronouncement of a few days ago about their financial situation, they must have known that the present arrangement was simply not sustainable. Something had to give, and Daisy suspected that this was the real reason why Bea had done what she had.
‘So, first things first, is anyone going to bow out gracefully now?’
The brothers looked at each other, and one by one they all shook their heads; even Kit, which rather surprised her.
‘Then you are going to need to come up with the perfect present for me and it strikes me that we can either do this the hard way, or the not-so-hard way.’ She rubbed a hand across her forehead. ‘I must be mad but, for what it’s worth, I think I need to help you. Whether you like it or not, I’m stuck in the middle of this too.’
Lawrence took a step forward. ‘I’m not sure we’re even deserving of that, but thank you, Daisy.’
His words sounded a little forced, but it was an apology of sorts, and would have cost him dear.
‘I’m not sure you’re deserving either,’ replied Daisy evenly. ‘But it struck me that perhaps this is as much about me as it is you. As you rightly said, Kit, none of you know me that well. You will each need to decide how you’re going to run the business, whether you’re going to do it alone, or whether there will still be a place for the others, or for me.’ She sighed. ‘Besides, there’s less than a month to go until Christmas and I can’t stand the thought of having what might turn out to be my last month here ruined by unpleasantness. There’s quite enough of that in the world already.’
‘That’s really kind of you,’ said Bertie. ‘And, under the circumstances, very generous. This is going to be difficult enough, without us at each other’s throats the whole time. But there’s a lot at stake, and I think we need to all agree, here and now, that there’s to be no funny business, nothing underhand… We should at least all try and behave like decent human beings.’
Kit narrowed his eyes, but he nodded, holding out his hand. Daisy waited to see who would take it first.
‘I agree,’ said Lawrence. ‘But it’s not quite as simple as that, is it?’
‘It’s as simple as you care to make it, surely?’ replied Daisy.
‘Except that the playing field isn’t what you’d call level.’
Kit’s hand dropped slowly to his side. He flicked a glance at Daisy and then looked uneasily at his brother.
‘How so?’ she asked.
‘Well, because clearly Kit already knows you much better than the rest of us,’ remarked Lawrence. ‘That’s obvious.’
Daisy stared at him. ‘I doubt that,’ she said. ‘In fact, I wouldn’t say Kit knows me at all.’
‘But you work together all day.’
She was beginning to feel increasingly uncomfortable again. She didn’t want to say anything to Kit’s detriment, that hardly seemed fair, but how did she explain to Lawrence that she and Kit barely spoke when they were at work, and certainly not about anything that mattered?
‘Yes, but we only really talk about work-related things, and—’
‘Daisy’s just being polite,’ broke in Kit. ‘What she should have said is that I have my head stuck in a book all day and she does all the work, so I rarely give her any opportunity to talk to me, although actually I doubt that she’d want to anyway.’
Daisy stared at him. Now what did she say? She could hardly agree with him.
‘Which is a point in itself, isn’t it, Kit? Everyone knows you don’t want to be here, so why even bother with the competition?’ asked Lawrence. ‘Or are you just doing it to piss me off?’
‘I don’t hear you asking Bertie the same question,’ Kit replied. ‘And yet, forgive me, but I can’t see him tied to the shop either, it would put a serious dent in his lifestyle.’ Kit held Lawrence’s look defiantly. ‘But yeah, now that you mention it, maybe that’s why I am doing it. It would do you good to lose every once in a while.’
Daisy looked anxiously between the three of them. ‘Kit, that’s hardly helpful.’
‘What? And Lawrence’s comment was?’
‘And what I do in my own time is no concern of yours,’ put in Bertie. ‘Not everyone wants to live the way you do.’
Daisy put her hands over her ears. ‘Stop it!’ she yelled. ‘Just stop it, all of you!’
There was a stunned silence for a moment as Daisy stood with her eyes shut, close to tears.
‘Jesus, she’s right,’ said Bertie coming to her rescue. ‘We can’t keep doing this to one another. There has to be an element of trust and acceptance that we each have as fair a chance as the other. I take your point about Kit, but—’
‘I have every right to enter the competition,’ growled Kit. ‘And whether you like it or not, I’m bloody well going to. I have my reasons, same as you do.’
‘Which is exactly what I was going to say,’ argued Bertie, his exasperation clear. He held up a placatory hand. ‘Look, this is getting us nowhere. Can we all please calm down and think about what Daisy said.’ He softened his expression as he turned to her. ‘We were talking about the fact that none of us knows you that well and you mentioned that you would help us… Did you have something particular in mind?’
‘Not really,’ she muttered, opening her eyes now that she was sure the danger of making a fool of herself by crying had passed.
; ‘Then surely the easiest way to accomplish that is if we each get an opportunity to spend some time with Daisy,’ suggested Lawrence. ‘Or how else can we possibly choose a piece of jewellery for her?’
‘Okay…’ said Daisy slowly. ‘And how are you proposing you do that?’
‘I don’t know,’ replied Lawrence, looking around him. ‘Maybe spend a day working here… or…’ His eyes suddenly widened and he clicked his fingers. ‘I know, why don’t we each take Daisy out for the day? Christmas is coming so there are loads of things to do… Where we go could be up to us, wherever we think will reveal the most about Daisy. We could ask her as many questions as we like but we’d all get the same opportunity as each other that way.’ He gave her a challenging look, obviously pleased with his idea. ‘What do you think?’ he prompted.
She was still trying to work out what his idea would mean for her.
‘It’s not a date,’ he added.
She could feel her cheeks growing hot. ‘Good. Because I certainly wouldn’t be going on a date with you, Lawrence… but yes, I think that might work.’ She had meant what she said about getting to know the brothers herself. Her very future depended on it. ‘But only on one condition.’
‘Go on,’ said Bertie.
‘That you all promise not to ask me what has been discussed on any of the trips. I don’t want to be accused of giving anyone unfair advantage.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Lawrence. ‘Kit? Bertie?’
The other two brothers nodded.
‘Then shake on it,’ said Daisy. ‘And at the same time do as Bertie suggested and swear to behave like decent human beings, for goodness’ sake. And you can draw straws to see who gets to go first; that way there can be no argument about that either.’
Bertie smiled and held out his hand. ‘You heard the lady,’ he said.
‘And please hurry up and get on with it,’ added Daisy, glancing at the clock. ‘I’m way behind with everything and there’s a shop to open up in case you’d forgotten.’
6
Saturday 7th December
Eighteen shopping days until Christmas
They only just got everything done to Daisy’s satisfaction before it was time to open and, to her surprise, Kit, having promised to polish everything to within an inch of its life, leaving her to concentrate on the displays, did just that. He was almost as exacting as she was.
It was a Saturday and one of only three left before Christmas, and so the moment the shop opened a customer appeared, and then another and another. Mostly they were just browsers, but it took time to cultivate the natural dialogue that Daisy preferred rather than the forced sales patter that made people sound like they were reading from a script. Obviously she had to judge the length of time she spent with each customer carefully when they were busy, but even so it was nearly an hour later before there was a lull and she could finally speak to Kit.
She placed a sugared mouse on the counter beside him before crossing to fill up the dishes for customers.
‘I just wanted to say thank you,’ she said. ‘For this morning, sticking up for me, I mean. And to apologise as well. I said some things that weren’t all that nice, and Lawrence… well, I can only imagine the grief that you’ve had to put up with from Lawrence.’
Kit looked up in surprise, his fingers sliding over the mouse. ‘Lawrence is an arse,’ he replied. ‘And an entitled arse at that, which is the very worst kind. He’s absolutely outraged at Mother for even considering that anyone else should run Buchanans.’
Daisy studied him. ‘I should think that rather hurt though,’ she said.
‘Oh, don’t feel sorry for him. He was peculiarly affronted as a child to have been presented with not one, but two brothers, and has behaved that way ever since. Bertie has always tried to be the peacemaker among us, whereas I learned to ignore him at an early age. Which suits me just fine.’
He picked up the little pink mouse and studied it for a moment before biting its head clean off, making a show of chewing slowly, savouring the taste. He gave a sudden smile which lit up his face.
‘But you’re welcome in any case,’ he added. ‘Our family is a complicated thing, Daisy. I wouldn’t try to get too involved if I were you, and I certainly wouldn’t try to make things better. It’s unfortunate that Mum thought it was okay to throw you into the middle of all this, but she has, and I’m sorry that’s the case. That said, Lawrence still needs to wind his neck in.’
It was probably the longest conversation she had ever shared with Kit about his childhood. ‘You’re very different from your brothers, aren’t you?’
Kit held her look. ‘I sincerely hope so, but thank you for noticing,’ he replied, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
She dipped her head. ‘And maybe I’m speaking a little out of turn, but I’m surprised to hear that you actually want to run this place. I didn’t think you’d be interested.’
Not for the first time she wished she could take back her words as the light in his eyes dimmed a little. ‘I’m sorry, I… It’s none of my business… and rude.’
‘No, actually, I don’t suppose I’ve ever given you any cause to think otherwise. I have my reasons though and perhaps one day I’ll be able to share them with you.’
She frowned at the strangely wistful tone in his voice. What a curious thing to say. She quickly filled the dishes with the sweet sugary mice to hide her confusion.
‘It will be interesting to see what everyone picks for me,’ she said, looking down at her wrist where the sapphires she’d been wearing on Wednesday had been replaced by rubies.
‘Don’t fish, Daisy,’ he said, and slid off his stool, nodding towards the window. ‘Oh, look, it’s ethereal man. Go get him, Daisy, now’s your chance.’ And he turned away with an odd smile.
‘Amos! Hello again,’ she said as he came through the door. She really hadn’t expected to see him again so soon, or in the shop for that matter. And although she tried to keep the surprise from showing on her face, she didn’t quite succeed.
Amos pulled a face. ‘Sorry, I feel like I’m ambushing you, but I had to come into town and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. Much better to come and see you, than ring.’ He looked past her into the shop. ‘I know you’ll be busy today, so I won’t be long.’
Daisy recovered herself. ‘No, don’t worry, it’s lovely to see you again. I had such a brilliant time yesterday.’ She slid Kit a sideways glance, but he was busy replacing a bauble that had rolled off the Christmas tree. ‘I even fired all the clay when I got home, but I haven’t had a chance to polish it yet.’
‘Well Flora is desperate to see your wreath, as is Grace for that matter. We were talking about it last night. In fact, it gave me the perfect opportunity to explain how you’re going to make a piece of jewellery for Flora as a present from Ned, and that it would really help you if you could chat to Grace and pick her brains for a little inspiration.’ He laughed. ‘Grace thought it was wonderfully romantic of course and just the sort of thing that Flora’s husband would do. I can’t wait to see her face on Christmas Day when she finds out the gift is really for her.’ He leaned towards her. ‘I didn’t think I’d be any good at this subterfuge lark, but I really rather enjoyed it. I should have been a spy…’
Daisy smiled at his comment but her heart was pounding. Kit still had his back to her but the shop was quiet, there was no way he wouldn’t have heard what Amos said. She had to get rid of Amos as quickly as she could.
‘Yes, I was thinking about that, actually. Showing Grace the wreath would give me the perfect excuse to see her, and Flora wouldn’t see anything odd in that. I should have it finished by early next week, so how about I take it over to show her and then we can have a chat about the other stuff too. Would Tuesday evening be okay?’
Amos smiled. ‘Come for dinner,’ he said. ‘About six thirty? Does that give you enough time after you finish work?’
She hesitated. It was a lovely offer, but even thinking about it was making her anx
ious. ‘Actually, that is a little early for me. And I’d hate to put Grace to all that bother. Why don’t I come about half seven instead? Then you can eat first without having to worry about me.’
Amos gave her a very direct look. ‘Grace will shoot me if I don’t bring you for something to eat, but half seven would still be fine. It can be a moveable feast.’ He grinned at her. ‘We’ll see you then.’ He flashed a look at Kit as two customers came into the shop. ‘I’d better let you get back to work,’ he added.
Daisy watched Amos leave with a sinking heart. She was grateful for the interruption, otherwise who knew where the conversation might have ended up. But it was probably already too late, her secret was surely no longer quite so secret. She gave Kit a nonchalant look as he turned back towards her but he gave her no clue about what he was thinking. He simply stared at her and walked forward to greet one of the customers.
Fortunately the rest of the day was busy and so Daisy had no opportunity to dwell on her conversation with Amos and what Kit might or might not, have overheard. She even cut her lunch hour short so she could help him with the lunchtime rush. If anything, she was far more preoccupied by the fact that Kit was helpful, polite, and showed a knowledge of their stock that she had never seen him demonstrate before. It was all very curious.
Five o’clock arrived before either of them had time to stop and think about anything much and, as she went to lock the door, Kit disappeared through to the back room.
‘Sorry, Daisy, but I need a drink before I do anything else. Would you like one?’
She did; she was gasping.
Moments later he returned. ‘So then,’ he said, handing her a mug. ‘Ethereal man is now Secret Agent man. Do tell…’ His eyes were watching hers over the rim of his mug as he drank.
Damn, she thought she had got away with it.
‘I mean, the day before yesterday you didn’t know who he was and yet today, he’s inviting you round to dinner. That’s fast work, Daisy. I’m impressed.’