Crazy For You. Emma Heatherington

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СКАЧАТЬ and then darted his gaze away when their eyes met for a second.

      “So, honey, I’ll see you very soon,” he said loudly to Christian so that Daisy could hear his every word.

      Christian let out a stammer. “Is this Jonathan or Eddie? I’m not gay, Ed. It’s time you faced the truth.”

      “I love you too, Shanny. Yeah, I know, I know. I’ll see you real soon.”

      Jonathan continued to mumble sweet nothings to a bewildered Christian when the doorbell rang.

      “You hang up.”

      “No you hang up,” said Christian in a girly voice. He had finally caught on to the fact that this was all for Daisy’s benefit.

      “I’ll get it,” said Daisy, turning and making her way back towards the front door. “I’d hate to disturb such a romantic conversation.”

      “Yes, yes, I’ll see you in a few minutes, pet. I can’t wait either. Drive carefully,” said Jonathan.

      Daisy opened the door while Jonathan continued to mumble into the phone behind her and she was greeted by a colt-like girl with platinum hair in a neat bob and wearing a pale-blue trench coat. Her mother stood alongside her, lean and fair, equally as glamorous and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

      “You must be Shannon and Fa…, I mean, Mrs Cassidy. How are you?” Daisy couldn’t speak more enthusiastically if she tried, and managed to do so at ear-bursting volume. She extended her arm to shake hands with the pair on their way in through the shiny red door and shot Jonathan a smug glance with raised eyebrows. “I’m an old friend of the family – Daisy Anderson. I’m afraid Jonathan is just taking a very important phone call.”

      Daisy opened the door wide to let the visitors in and looked over at Jonathan, who had his mouth open and the phone still to his ear, knowing his act of cable romance had been well and truly discovered a farce.

      “Lovely to meet you, Daisy,” said Shannon. She appeared no more than sixteen but had a streetwise look in her eye and her coat had obviously cost an arm and a leg.

      Daisy longed to touch it.

      “It’s John Rocha,” said Shannon, noticing how Daisy was eyeing her coat up. “Ahem. I can’t say Jonathan has ever mentioned you, but you know what men are like. I’m sure he would have told me about you sooner or later if you were important to him.”

      Daisy smirked and nodded towards Jonathan, who was making his way towards them. “Yes, I sure do know what men are like,” she said. “Especially the Eastwood men, now that you come to mention it. I know them very, very well indeed.”

      Jonathan marched towards them before Daisy could say any more and took his visitors’ coats.

      “Daisy is Eddie’s new girlfriend. My very happy brother, Eddie,” he said smugly. That would put her right back in her place. “Come on through, ladies. Mum has opened a few bottles of wine to lighten the mood.”

      Jonathan was humiliated. Why had he felt the need to pretend he was talking to Shannon on the phone anyway? He knew she would be arriving on the doorstep any minute and he would have his chance then to show Daisy how happy and in love he was. If Christian hadn’t been putting him under so much pressure he’d have been able to think straight. Now he had to pull himself together.

      “Ah, Shannon, love. Mrs Cassidy. It’s wonderful to see you both,” said Isobel when they entered the kitchen. “This is my son, Eddie. I don’t think you’ve all met before.”

      “Shannon and I met just yesterday,” said Eddie. “We had a very worthwhile chat, but I’ve never met Mrs Cassidy before. It’s a pleasure.”

      Eddie really wanted to use her first name but saying he had never met Fanny before would be just too close to the truth. He felt the laughter rise again. Think of a compliment, quickly.

      “Lovely to meet you, Eddie, and Daisy of course,” said Shannon’s mother as she looked at the unlikely couple.

      “Totally likewise,” Eddie replied in a nervous stammer. “Jonathan has told us all about you and I can definitely see where Shannon gets her good looks from.”

      Eddie could feel Daisy’s eyes burn through him like hot rods.

      “What a charmer. Just like his big brother, eh?” said Mrs Cassidy. “Please, just call me Fanny.”

      Eddie had to turn towards the sink and pretend he had something stuck in his throat before he totally let himself down. He could see Daisy’s glare turn into a smirk from the side of his eye and was getting hot under the collar from the urge to laugh every time he heard the woman’s name.

      “How about we put on some music, Isobel?” said Daisy, coming to the rescue.

      “Good idea, darling,” said Eddie with relief as he swallowed a mouthful of tap water. “What would you like to hear, Mum? Elvis? Tom Jones? I bet you’re in a Cliff mood. You have that look in your eye.” Eddie knew he had to try to be funny very quickly in order to release some of his pent-up laughter, so he smacked his teeth and danced around the kitchen mocking his mother’s favourite singer. Isobel pretended to be embarrassed but inside she was glowing with pride.

      “Oh, go on then. Cliff it is. You know me too well,” she said, even though music had been the furthest thing from her mind over the past while. Perhaps it would do her good.

      “I have the entire wedding guest list written out, but nobody told me about Daisy so I’ll have to add her on alongside Eddie,” said Shannon in a loud voice as she sat at the kitchen table and pulled out a ream of A4 paper from a folder marked “Our Wedding”. “This is so exciting. I don’t have any sisters to help me with my wedding plans. Do you, Daisy?”

      “No. Just one brother, Richard. But I’m not getting married for a long time, so I really don’t mind.”

      Shannon wrote down Daisy’s name in her neatest handwriting and Daisy felt bile rising in her throat. A neat freak. How could Jonathan have settled for a neat freak?

      “I don’t know anyone else called Daisy,” said Shannon as she wrote. “You don’t look like a Daisy.”

      “You mean, she doesn’t look like a yellow and white flower,” said Eddie. “I think she does. So cute.”

      “No, you look more like…like a Mary or an Anne,” said Shannon. “Something a bit plainer than Daisy.”

      Daisy felt her cheeks burn. She knew she was dressed very casually but “plain”? Oh dear…

      “I’m sure Daisy would be only too delighted to come to our wedding,” Jonathan said, with a touch of sarcasm.

      “Yes, and maybe you can help Daisy when it comes to our turn to walk up the aisle, Shannon,” said Eddie. “Daisy would be only too delighted to have you as her bridesmaid since you will be sisters-in-law after all.”

      Daisy kicked Eddie hard on the shin from under the table but he was too busy smiling at his mother, who was too engrossed in the happy scene to heed Daisy’s anguish.

      “Really, Eddie,” said Daisy. “I’m sure Shannon СКАЧАТЬ