Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,34
was how upset Daisy had been by the break-up too. He shook his head. Why was he trying to justify his relationships to his sixteen-year-old daughter? Surely it should be the other way round.
‘She was never going to be a good fit for us.’
‘She doesn’t need to be a fit for us, she needs to be a fit for you. You finished it with her because she was getting too close.’
It was true that he found it hard to imagine ever trusting or loving someone enough to have them in his and Daisy’s life permanently. He always kept women at a distance. But Daisy had lectured him about his commitment issues after he had split with Rosie and he had tried to prove he didn’t have these issues by bringing Emily into their life, which had resulted in the very thing he had tried for years to protect Daisy from. Daisy feared rejection, he knew that, that she was scared that one day he would leave her just as her mum had. But what Henry feared was any woman he was with rejecting Daisy, making her feel for one second unloved and unwanted, and Emily had done just that. It would be a long time before he could trust someone enough to let them into his life again.
‘Look, I like Penny and the ice carving is important to me. If you break her heart she is hardly likely to want me around any more. Be nice to her, be friends with her, but please don’t sleep with her,’ Daisy said.
‘Hang on, you don’t get to dictate who I do or don’t go out with. I would never presume to tell you who you can or can’t date.’
‘Oh, if that’s the case, you’ll be OK with me dating the huge tattooed guy who was just flirting with me in the kitchen.’
Henry let out an involuntary growl. ‘That’s different and you know it.’
‘I have never asked you not to date anyone before, not even bitches like Emily.’
‘Watch your language.’
‘The point being I hope you can see how important this job is to me. I like living here. I know it’s small but the views are incredible and I really like living next door to Penny and Bernard. I think she’s lovely.’
‘I do too.’
‘So do you really want to ruin what could be a fantastic friendship for you two and ruin my first job just for a few weeks of fun?’
Henry couldn’t help feeling like the naughty child called in front of the headmaster.
Daisy walked back towards the house and Henry rubbed his head with the sudden complications. But if it really was that important to Daisy, he would have to forget about being with Penny once and for all.
Daisy was right, he didn’t want anything serious and Penny didn’t want to get hurt. It was better all round if he stayed away from her.
* * *
Henry knocked softly on the connecting door later that night as Daisy tucked into the Italian with great relish. The girl was like a gannet, eating everything and anything in sight, and she still stayed stick-thin.
‘Save some for the rest of us, greedy guts.’
Daisy grinned up at him with her winning smile and carried on eating at full speed.
There was no answer from Penny so Henry tentatively let himself in.
He didn’t want to call out if she was working in the cool room; if he scared her whilst she was working with some of those tools she could end up cutting off one of her fingers. He opened the cool room door but the room was empty. He closed it and that was when he saw her lying on the sofa in the darkness of the front room.
He moved closer and noticed she had evidently fallen asleep reading some romance book. He carefully took the book out of her hands, marked the place with a piece of paper and put it on the coffee table. She was sleeping peacefully, her mouth parted slightly, her long eyelashes dusting her cheeks. He sat down on the coffee table feeling mildly creepy watching her sleep, but finding her peaceful slumber incredibly alluring too.
He ran his hand up her arm, giving her a gentle shake and her eyes fluttered open.
‘Hey,’ he said softly. ‘Dinner is ready and if we don’t get in there soon, the hungry caterpillar in there will eat it all.’
She looked around in confusion. ‘Did I fall asleep?’