Page 81 of Somewhere Only We Know

‘Lucky you!’ I smiled at the glee in her eye, remembering how much Brontë had loved school days like that. Her favourite had been World Book Day. She’d have to pick a character from a book to dress as and I’d endeavour to create an outfit that vaguely resembled it. I’d grumbled then at the effort I’d have to go to for one day. Now, of course, I’d give anything to sit up half the night transforming an old sleeping bag into the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

‘Which is why,’ Daisy continued, lowering her voice, ‘today is the perfect day to do what I’m going to do.’

‘Go on,’ I prompted. Alarm bells began to ring.

‘I’m not going to school.’ She chewed her lip. ‘I’ve got it all planned out. I’m getting the train to Sydney to meet Mum.’

‘And this is the secret you want me to keep?’ I said warily.

She nodded. ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said on that first day we made breakfast together. Mum left my dad, not me. So, I thought that maybe she might want to hear from me after all. I sent her a text yesterday telling her that I needed her. She sent me one straight back saying how much she missed me and that she’s so sorry about leaving me behind. Isn’t that amazing?’

‘I’m glad you two are in contact again. And the bit about your mum missing you is lovely to hear,’ I agreed, squeezing her hand. ‘But bunking off school and going behind your dad’s back isn’t.’

‘I can’t tell him,’ she said, firmly. ‘He’d try and stop me; I know he would. I love him, but I love Mum too. She still loves me, but she said she didn’t have any choice about leaving me. What if she’s regretting it? That’s why I want to see her. Maybe I can be the one to get them talking again. Maybe deep down they still love each other. Imagine if I could get them back together! Everyone was so much happier before Pierre came to work here. We could be happy again.’

My chest swelled with affection for her youthful optimism. If only life’s issues were so easy to solve. Even if Jono did still have feelings for Andrea, I was sure he’d be wary of letting her back into his life.

‘That’s a lovely thought,’ I said carefully. ‘But your dad was very upset when your mum left with Pierre. His pride was hurt, and he was angry with her for upsetting you. Your mum arranging to see you behind Jono’s back is not the way to go about this.’

‘It’s the only way,’ Daisy protested. ‘It’s not as if I’m missing anything useful at school, and Mum was coming to Sydney anyway. It’s too good an opportunity to pass up.’

I could see how much this meant to her. But what was Andrea thinking to encourage her fourteen-year-old child to lie to her father and travel to Sydney on her own? It was ridiculously irresponsible of her and, if it went wrong, Jono would be even more angry with his ex-wife.

‘You won’t keep my secret, will you,’ said Daisy hotly, getting to her feet. ‘I thought I could trust you, and that you’d be on my side, but you’re like every other adult. You don’t take my feelings seriously.’

Her words hit me like a blow to the stomach. This took me right back to my last conversation with Brontë. I hadn’t listened to her when she’d tried to tell me about her gap year. I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice; I wanted to do better.

‘Oh, Daisy. That’s not true,’ I told her. ‘I’m putting myself in Jono’s shoes. You’re the most precious thing in his world. He’d be devastated if anything happened to you. And he’d be furious with me for not telling him where you’d gone – rightly so.’

She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. ‘It’s an easy train ride. Nothing’s going to happen.’

‘That’s probably what Brontë thought the last time she left her house with Harry,’ I said, meeting her eye. ‘The thing is, we never know what’s around the corner. I wouldn’t be being a good friend to you if I didn’t point out the possible dangers of this trip.’

Daisy appeared to consider this for a moment. ‘Fine. Let’s swap numbers. I’ll let you know when I arrive.’

‘Your dad needs to know too. If you won’t tell him now,’ I said. ‘Then at least text him from the train so he knows where you’ve gone. It’ll be too late for him to do anything about it, and he might be angry with you, but at least he’ll have had a chance to calm down by the time you come home.’

She sighed with relief. ‘Cool. Thanks. And it’s the end-of-harvest dinner tonight, so Dad will probably have a few beers. He’ll be so happy and caught up with celebrating that I’ll be back before he even notices that I’ve gone.’

‘What’s the end-of-harvest dinner?’ I asked.

Before she had the chance to reply, the sound of the metal sliding doors on the winery made us both look up and Jono came loping towards us.

‘Please don’t say anything,’ Daisy hissed, clutching my shoulder. ‘I’ll text him, I promise.’

‘Make sure you do.’ I really didn’t want to get involved in this, but it looked like I already was. I hoped I didn’t live to regret it.

‘What are you two looking so serious about?’ He looked from his daughter to me, an eyebrow raised.

‘You haven’t told Maggie about the end-of-harvest dinner,’ Daisy gave him a peck on his cheek and sent me one last pleading look. ‘I’ve got to go.’

‘How exciting,’ I said, smiling up at him. ‘What’s the dress code, ballgowns and tiaras?’

‘Not exactly. More like clean feet and a good sense of humour. You’ll love it,’ he said with a grin. ‘It’s Daisy’s favourite thing, isn’t it?’

She mumbled something about possibly being late back, avoiding his eye.

‘Can’t wait,’ I said, my stomach twisting uneasily.