Page 75 of The Only Way Is Up

‘Apparently so.’ Daisy thought about Tom, who’d been waiting so patiently in the wings, and had come through for her again on Saturday night with Christian. She shivered at the memory of the hard urgency of him under the table on Saturday, then tried to focus. ‘Have you heard from Spotlight?’

‘Yeah. Clara’s left several messages. I’m pretty sure she’ll do some squawking, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.’

‘Thanks.’ Daisy felt exhausted. ‘And thank you for the birthday present. I didn’t get a chance to say how much I loved it. I’ll call Roger later.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Daisy could hear the smile in Katie’s voice. ‘So, what are you going to do today?’

‘Stay indoors with the curtains closed,’ Daisy parroted. ‘Edit the book and enjoy the peace. Ruby’s safely back at school and Hank has gone back to London with Simon and Archie.’ She looked at the space on the sofa where Hank would normally be, curled up in a tight ball behind her knees. ‘I really miss Hank, but at least I don’t have to walk him.’

‘No walks. The village will be crawling with press, so sit tight,’ Katie murmured.

‘Melanie lives next door to the pub. She can see them from her husband’s office window. She’s promised to let me know when they leave. It can’t be more than a day or two, surely?’

‘Depends on how welcome the village makes them and how willing people are to talk to them.’ Daisy could hear Katie moving around, shuffling papers, opening drawers. ‘Did you ever find out who the leak was?’

‘No.’

‘Who’s your best guess?’

‘Honestly? I have no idea.’ Tom, Stella, Justin, Melanie . . . she didn’t want to think any of them were capable of it.

Anybody walking past Willow Cottage on Monday would have assumed from the drawn curtains and the cold chimney that nobody was home – only Daisy’s friends in the village knew she was hunkered down in the kitchen, warmed by the AGA. As Radio 2 played softly in the background, Daisy propped her laptop on the kitchen counter and tapped out the Acknowledgements – her heartfelt thanks to Stella, Justin, Will, Tom and the staff, parents and students of Shipton House School. It was strange to think how important they’d all been to the book even though she’d only known them for less than four months. So much had happened in that time.

She took a break to watch Justella’s latest YouTube video, filmed by Will in the pub kitchen on Saturday morning, while they’d iced and decorated her beautiful birthday cake. She’d never had a chance to taste it, although apparently the chef at the Shipton Arms had put a chunk of it in the pub freezer for her. The video made her laugh: they were so naturally funny and charming, especially when Stella tried to teach Justin, with his giant sausage fingers, how to make delicate sugar paste daisies.

The video already had nearly a million views, no doubt helped along by the press coverage of what happened later, but it was also clear from the comments that Justella were starting to get some traction in the States. There was a lot of love for Justin and Stella’s accents and their British humour. Perhaps they were going to be the next biggest British invasion since Downton Abbey. Her mother would love that.

After lunch Daisy did some chores, cleaning the cottage and doing some laundry, and by late afternoon Melanie had confirmed that the remaining Vultures had gone. Daisy breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like she could relax for the first time in an age. She stood in the garden for a few minutes, enjoying the frosty winter air. Sometimes you just had to absent yourself from all the noise and let it burn itself out.

Her phone buzzed while she watched the sun disappear behind the trees in a haze of pink sky; her stomach flipped when she saw it was Tom. They hadn’t spoken since their late-night WhatsApps on Saturday, and he’d sensibly stayed well away from Willow Cottage yesterday, although she probably wouldn’t have said no if he’d knocked on her door.

Are you OK? Tx

Daisy smiled, happy that he was thinking about her. She quickly tapped out a reply.

I’m fine, holed up in the cottage working hard. Thank you for asking.

I was just thinking about you. Just thought you’d like to know.

What were you thinking about?

Lots of things. Most of them not suitable for work, so I’ll save them for another day.

Daisy grinned, feeling suddenly very warm despite the frigid air. She thought for a moment about her reply, then her phone rang.

‘Hey,’ said Daisy breathlessly.

‘I thought I’d call,’ Tom laughed nervously. ‘Call me old-fashioned.’

‘You’re old-fashioned. But I find it rather charming.’

‘Thank God,’ Tom muttered fervently. ‘I just walked Henry through the village and the reporters have gone.’

‘That’s good news. I might be able to leave the house soon.’

There was a moment of hesitation. ‘Can I come over? Just for ten minutes? I’d like to see you.’

Daisy thought about it for about three milliseconds. ‘That would be nice, actually. When’s a good time?’