LITMIR.BIZ

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eventually meeting Daisy’s eye.

      “No, I know about your holiday plans falling apart.”

      “How?”

      “It’s a long story.”

      “I have all day. It’s not like I have a plane to catch or anything.”

      Daisy curled her feet underneath her and watched as Eddie flung the magazine into a chrome rack by the television and braced himself.

      “Well, you see…” He cleared his throat, as Daisy thought, for added effect. He never could tell a story and get straight to the point.

      “I see…,” nodded Daisy.

      “It’s…well, it’s my Mum,” he said, avoiding her eye. “By the way, what is this wine? It’s quite good.”

      “It’s white and cold, that’s all I know. What about your mum? Don’t tell me it’s…”

      Eddie took his time to answer and drained back the dregs of his glass like he was swallowing nails.

      “It’s come back, Daisy,” he murmured, and stared out of the window onto the roof of the opposite apartment block. “The cancer’s back.”

      Now it was her turn to sigh. She felt her heart hit the floor, bounce back up into her mouth, then settle to form a huge lump in her throat.

      “Oh, Eddie, I am so, so sorry. I didn’t know. When?” Daisy moved towards her friend and draped her arm around his shoulder. He smelled flowery and fresh. Not manly in the slightest, but nice and clean all the same.

      “She’s riddled with the bastard. I just found out yesterday. She, er, she doesn’t have very long.”

      Daisy watched Eddie’s eyes fill up with tears and she felt the same overwhelming urge to comfort and protect him as she did when they were at high school and the other kids taunted him for his feminine ways. She hugged him tightly, letting his hot tears fall onto her face, his sun-bleached hair brushing softly against her cheek.

      “Is she at home?” asked Daisy when his gentle sobbing subsided.

      “Yes. She’s at home for the rest of her time, whatever that means. We wouldn’t have it any other way and your mum has agreed to help nurse her through it. She told me about your non-holiday.”

      Eddie fought within him to hold back tears.

      “This is awful,” said Daisy. “Were you still in America when you found out?”

      He shook his head.

      “Well, it’s was a bit of a fluke, really,” he said. “I wanted to surprise our Jonathan for his birthday and got a great last-minute deal on a flight home yesterday, but instead I arrived, full of Happy Birthdays, only to hear the worst news possible.”

      Daisy retraced the events of the past few days. She had been so wrapped up in her own self pity that she just about managed to text her own mother the day before to inform her of her ruined holiday after the holiday company had crashed at the eleventh hour. If she’d bothered to phone home more often she would have known all about this and would have raced there straight away, instead of worrying about a lack of warm water or a range of wasted bikinis and flip-flops with the labels still on them.

      “Is there anything I can do?” asked Daisy, ditching the empty champagne flutes into the sink and pouring two goldfish bowl-sized glasses of wine instead. She hated that silly question used so often in such horrible circumstances. What would be the perfect answer? Find a cure for cancer?

      “Actually, yes. There is something you can do,” said Eddie, taking another gulp of wine. “You see, Daisy, that’s why I’m here.”

      “It is? Oh, great.” She’d walk over hot coals right now if it meant easing Eddie’s pain.

      “But you haven’t heard what it is yet.”

      Daisy slung an arm around Eddie and rested her head on his broad shoulder.

      “I said I’ll do anything. Even help Jon, if need be, and you know how much I can’t stand your big brother. No offense.”

      Eddie threw up his eyes in disbelief. “Yeah, yeah. Well, you know the way I’ve never actually got around to telling Mum of my, er, of my…you know.”

      “That you’re gay? You still haven’t told your mum you’re gay? Oh, come on, Eddie! I thought you told her ages ago…”

      Daisy bounced away from his side and Eddie stared back, his faced stern with determination.

      “No. I haven’t told her and I won’t tell her. Ever. She has enough on her plate.”

      Daisy felt an urge to shake him but felt sorry for him at the same time.

      “Christ, Eddie. I don’t bloody well believe this. It’s who you are. You can’t deny it forever and let’s face it, you’re as camp as a row of tents and all that. I mean, it’s so bloody obvious.” Daisy heard her voice raise a notch in disbelief. “She’s bound to know. You should be honest with her. Tell her the truth. We’re almost twenty-seven and not getting any younger, unfortunately.”

      Eddie pursed his lips and looked again out of the window.

      “OK, so that’s not going to happen,” continued Daisy in an uncharacteristic flap. “Tell me then. Where do I come into the equation? Do you want me to tell her the truth? I thought I’d quit being your minder years ago. Oh, hello Isobel. Long time no see. I just called to say that your youngest son has decided to come out of a very cobwebbed closet.”

      Eddie looked directly into Daisy’s eyes. “Don’t be like that. I just want you to come home with me for a few days, that’s all, and … ”

      “Oh.” Daisy retracted and sat down. She felt guilty now. “I’m so sorry. Is that it? Of course I’ll come home with you. It’s about time I bit the bullet and spent a few days in Killshannon and if it helps you get through all of this…”

      Eddie looked stunned and it dawned on Daisy that she was missing a vital component of his plans.

      “There was an ‘and’ in there, wasn’t there?”

      He nodded slowly.

      “So what else would I have to do?” She sat up straight in her chair, poised and ready to take the challenge.

      “Well, it’s just… You see, I told Mum…” Eddie looked away again.

      “Go on…”

      “Well, I sort of told Mum I had a girlfriend.”

      “You what?”

      Eddie knew he had only one chance at selling this fantastic, but crazy idea to Daisy so he just spat the rest of it out.

      “…and she was delighted. Over the moon. In fact, it made her day. It made the rest of her life, to be honest. Daisy, I told her that you… are my girlfriend.”

      Daisy’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t speak. She should be in Spain now, but instead she was here in Belfast listening to the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She should be on the beach drinking sangria with Lorna and eyeing up gorgeous lifeguards and meeting ugly sea creatures face to face under water. Not putting on a façade for her gay friend and his poor dying mother.

      “And…,” said Eddie, quickening the pace of his speech into a wild gallop. “I sort of told her, that we were… that I was going to ask you to marry me.”

      Daisy sunk into the sofa and stared dizzily at the blond bombshell in front of her, whose eyes were shut tightly in preparation for her response.

      “Oh, this is crazy. Get me another glass of wine, you absolute shit,” she said through clenched teeth.

      “Anything

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