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‘Youneed to get yourself out there a tad more.Findyourself a man.Notnecessarilytheman but have a bit of fun while you’re still young.Oryoungish,’Marionadded, with a twist of her lips.
‘AsIsaid.Rude!’Daisysnatched her hand away, uncomfortable with the turn in conversation.Marionwas always trying to matchmake her with someone.Forty-something, smugly marriedMarionwanted the same for her friend.ButDaisyhad given up on romance.Herheart had been broken and she’d given up on men.Inher experience all they did was lie and cheat. ‘Ihad a holiday inJanuarywhen things were quiet,’ she said, defensively. ‘Closedup the shop and everything.’
‘Andwhat did you do?’
Daisyhad the grace to blush. ‘Sleepmostly,’ she admitted.
‘Ha!You’renever going to meet any men at this rate.’Marionpointed toDaisy’sjeans and sober navy apron, emblazoned withVaVaBloom!‘Andlook at the state of you!Ahaircut and a manicure wouldn’t go amiss.’
‘Marion,I’vebeen at the wholesale flower marketsince five this morning, picking up a special order.Theydon’t go a bundle on snazzy hairdos up there.’
‘Hmmm.’
‘Marion,’Daisysaid, sighing. ‘Look, you knowI’vebeen trying to get the business going.’
‘There’smore to life than money.’
Fora secondDaisywas speechless.Marion’sentire lifestyle pivoted on being able to buy whatever she wanted, and whenever. ‘Notwhen it pays your mortgage,’ she retorted and then subsided.Ifshe carried on she’d get really angry.Marion, for all her snobbishness, was a good friend and a surprisingly hard-working employee but she hadn’t a clue.HerhusbandBarryearned enough to keep the whole family in the manner to which they had become accustomed.Mariononly worked because she wanted to, as she was bored out of her skull in her luxury detached house in amongst the new builds on the edge of town.Shehad no idea how oftenDaisyhad considered closing down, of the endless nights when she couldn’t sleep for worry over the bills, the soaring cost of stock, the business rates and her fear of doing it all on her own.Therewas a frigid silence for a moment and thenDaisyrelented.HowcouldMarioneven begin to understand. ‘HowcanIgo out with anyone?’ she asked, softening slightly. ‘Iget up at four most mornings and work all daySaturday.I’mso exhausted onSundayallIcan do is sleep.’
‘I’mgoing to have to take you in hand.You’renot getting any younger, you know.’Marion’shead gave an indignant little wobble.
Theanger burst through again. ‘Doyou mind?I’mthirty-three and very happy with my life.Canwe end this conversation now?’
Mariontook one look atDaisy’sfurious expression and finally took the hint. ‘OohSaturdays!Thatreminds me.Brittanyhas a friend looking for aSaturdayjob.Areyou interested?’
Daisylooked askance.Anyfriend ofMarion’sdaughter would likely be loud-mouthed, lazy and spoiled.
Asif reading her mindMarionchipped in with, ‘Ohshe’s nothing like myBrit, don’t you worry.’Marionwas nothing if not realistic about her offspring. ‘ApparentlyMiais really hardworking.’
‘Mia?’Daisy’slip curled at the name.
‘Daisy, you’re doing it again.Stopprejudging people.She’sa perfectly nice girl from theLinksEstate.’
‘Oh, it just gets better!’
TheLinksEstatewas a small enclave of social housing near the art school.
‘DaisyWiscombe, stop being such a snob!Thepoor girl can’t help where she lives.Stopjumping to conclusions.’
Daisythought it a bit richMarioncalling her a snob when the woman was the biggest one going. ‘RememberbeforeIgave up?Itaught some of the kids from that estate.Theymade my life hell.Itwas one reasonIwanted to get out of teaching.’
‘Well,Mia’sdifferent.She’slovely, a bit eccentric maybe, a little too serious but she’ll be an asset in the shop.I’mencouraging the friendship withBrit.Mightdo her good to discuss something other than shellac nails and fake tan.She’sa nice kid,’Marionadded asDaisystill looked dubious. ‘Andyou know how busySaturdaysget.’
Daisyacknowledged the truth of this.WithMarionrefusing to work onSaturdays,Daisystruggled to do the flower deliveries and run the shop on her own.Sheeven called in a favour every now and again from her mum now she’d taken early retirement, which was far from ideal.Still, she supposed the ex-office manager could deal with a stroppyMiaif she had to leave them together.Daisy’smum could deal with most things.Janwas an indomitable, no-nonsense character – and an even worse matchmaker thanMarion– if that were possible.
‘Goon then,’Daisyrelented. ‘Tellher to come in for a chat.Ifshe’s okay,I’llgive her a trial run.’Theshop door opened, letting in a ‘shush’ of briny sea air, and a customer entered.Itwas one of their regulars. ‘Canyou deal withMrsPearce?I’llmake a start on the first of these mysterious orders.’
Daisypeered inside the large envelope which contained six sealed smaller envelopes, each marked with a month fromMaytoOctober.Shetook out the first with a certain amount of excitement.Evenif she couldn’t buy intoMarion’sromanticism, it was intriguing and certainly something completely different from any order she’d ever received.Sheretreated to the little back room which doubled as office and kitchen – along with everything else.Lookingaround at the tiny table and rickety chairs, at the battered armchair, the shelves which held a haphazard collection of folders and the sink which was full of dirty mugs she hadn’t yet had time to wash up, she had to admit the place was a mess.Janwould have a fit when she came in onSaturday.Daisybit her lip and admitted defeat.PerhapsMarionwas right, they did need an extra pair of hands.Itwas just that she wasn’t sure they ought to belong to a twenty-two-year-old calledMiafrom theLinksEstate.
Chapter Two
June’s bouquet
Tulips – Liliaceae
Love’s passion, perfect true love.
Daisywas wrong.Shecouldn’t have been more wrong.Miaturned out to be a treasure.Sheworked harder than any of them.True, her appearance was slightly unusual but, nose ring and blue hair aside, underneath she was as romantic asMarion.
