Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,28

dad, but the last one was a complete bitch. Don’t tell him I said that, he hates hearing me swear. So I want him to choose someone lovely, though I totally get that who I would choose for him and who he would choose for him would probably be two different people. Although I think he likes you, which is a first for us both to like the same woman.’

Penny felt a tightening in her throat and she tried to clear it before she spoke. ‘Really?’

Daisy nodded. ‘But he went through a bad break-up with his last girlfriend and it got all messy because of me so he’s not looking for anything serious at the moment. I told him not to mess around with you unless he thinks he can cope with something serious and he really doesn’t do serious.’

Penny stared at her angel without even seeing it. So that was why he had tried to cancel their date earlier – because Henry didn’t want anything serious with her. Well, if he was only interested in a quick fling, then it was a good job it had stopped before it had started.

‘I didn’t say the wrong thing, did I? I just didn’t want to see you getting hurt,’ Daisy said, obviously noticing Penny’s disappointment with this new turn of events.

Was she that needy and pathetic that even a sixteen-year-old girl had noticed it?

‘No, it’s totally fine. I’m happy on my own. I like Henry, but I don’t like him.’

‘Well, that’s cool then, you two can be friends. He needs friends in White Cliff Bay and I expect it gets lonely for you up here sometimes. You’ll be good for each other.’

And that was true. She hadn’t rented out the annexe with the hope of finding a man, she’d done it with the hope of finding a friend and it seemed that she had done that with Henry and even with Daisy. She would be grateful for that.

‘You should come ice skating with us tonight.’

Penny couldn’t think of anything worse than being the pity date, even if the alternative was a night in watching old reruns of Quantum Leap with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s. ‘I can’t really skate.’

‘My dad will help you, he’s really good, he used to have lessons when he was younger. That’s how he and my mum met apparently, at the ice rink. She was so impressed with his skills that… well, nine months later I arrived.’

Penny blinked, surprised at her candour. ‘Do you ever see your mum?’

‘No. Thank god. Apparently she’s heavily involved in drink and drugs. Lucky escape for me.’ She gave the ice a hard whack.

‘Henry told you that?’

‘No, my aunt Caitlyn did, my mum’s sister. I still see her and my grandparents from time to time, though they never see my mum at all. Whenever they come round they always pick holes in the way that my dad raises me, but at least he stuck by me, didn’t run off to Australia as soon as I was born.’

There was bitterness there and Penny just wanted to hug Daisy but she didn’t know her well enough to be able to do that.

Daisy stepped back to inspect her work. ‘I think I’m ready to use the die grinder now.’

Penny picked up the power tool and moved to have a look at what Daisy had created. The sketch of the snowflake was beautiful and very intricate. It would be unlikely that Daisy would be able to carve it successfully but it would be a great design for practising several different skills on. She powered up the die grinder and went over one of the lines that Daisy had made with the chisel.

‘Don’t push too hard, just let the grinder do the work for you,’ Penny explained before carefully passing the tool to Daisy’s greedy hands. She watched Daisy push the drill bit carefully into the ice. ‘That’s it, just go really slow and then you shouldn’t stray from the lines.’

‘What if I make a mistake?’

Penny shrugged. ‘Most mistakes can be incorporated into the design. Besides, it’s your first time, you’re going to make mistakes. Just don’t panic if you do.’

She stepped back to watch Daisy move the die grinder with all the concentration of a Grand Master at a chess match. Satisfied that she was doing it safely she moved back to the angel on the pretence of doing her own work, though surreptitiously keeping an eye on Daisy at the same time, but Daisy’s