The Daisy Picker by Roisin Meaney Read Free Book Online

surprised.
    ‘Is that unheard of in the States?’
    He nods. ‘Pretty much – where I come from, anyway. My buddies and me all moved out after high school. We found apartments to share.’ Then he smiles, shaking his head.
‘Course, some of the places we stayed in . . . even the roaches moved out. And some of the roommates I got weren’t exactly house-trained.’
    She laughs. ‘But at least you had independence, did what you wanted. I’ve slept in the same bedroom since I was brought home from the nursing home. My mother cooks all the meals,
same things every week: always a roast on Sunday, lamb chops on Monday, bacon and cabbage on Tuesday . . .’
    He grins. ‘Hey, when I lived at home, we always had my mom’s blueberry pancakes for breakfast on Sundays.’
    ‘Mmm – sounds delicious. Much more interesting than prunes and Bran Flakes.’ Lizzie makes a face. ‘I’m never again going to eat prunes.’
    He nods. ‘Good idea. How ’bout the rest of your family – do they all live at home too?’
    She’s amused at his assumption that she comes from a good Catholic big Irish family. ‘There’s just me, I’m afraid. Only child.’
    ‘Yeah? So there’s no one to take the pressure off. All the expectations are restin’ on your head.’
    She looks over at him, amazed. ‘Exactly; that’s exactly it. I never had anyone to – I don’t know – dilute them with, I suppose; do you know what I mean?’
    Pete nods again. ‘Sure.’ And he really seems to understand. ‘So what made you make the break?’
    She smiles as she remembers the dentist’s waiting room. ‘Oh, just something I read; it made me realise that I was letting my life slip by, when I could do something about it if I
wanted.’ As she talks, she begins to feel the same excitement bubble up in her again. She looks over at Pete. ‘I was engaged, too, for years. And I worked with my fiancé, in his
family business.’
    ‘No kiddin’?’ He shakes his head. ‘So you finished with him?’
    She nods. ‘Broke off the engagement, packed in the job.’ She can’t believe she’s telling so much to a perfect stranger. Is it because she knows she’ll be waving
goodbye to him in about ten minutes? ‘So here I am, car packed with all my worldly goods, heading off to God knows where. I have no idea where I’m going to end up, don’t even know
where I’m going to sleep tonight.’ She darts a look at him. ‘What do you think – am I daft?’
    He smiles widely at her, showing his perfect American teeth again. ‘I think that’s a heck of a move you’re makin’ there. I think you’re gonna have a blast. Sounds
wonderful.’
    She laughs; that’s exactly what she wanted to hear. ‘I’m going to head for the coast; I’ve decided I want to live by the sea.’
    He nods slowly. ‘Yeah, good start, I guess. The ocean is a special place – and you’ve got some pretty cool coastline here.’ He puts his hands behind his head and
stretches his long legs out as much as the little car will allow. Then he closes his eyes with a deep sigh.
    Lizzie sneaks a proper look. He’s a bit younger than her; she guesses he’s somewhere in his mid-thirties. Sallow skin, slightly tanned; whatever work he does – if he does any
– is probably out of doors. Nice cheekbones, dark-blond stubble around his chin. No coat, in the middle of winter – mind you, that jumper looks like a blanket, and he’s probably
got loads of layers on under it. Hair in need of a good cut, but thick and clean-looking. Fingernails not too bad. A gold claddagh ring, and a battered leather wrist-strap with what she thinks is
‘Leo’ stamped on it. No wedding ring. She gets a faint smell of damp wool, and something sweet and vaguely familiar.
    Suddenly he sits up. ‘Hey, mind if I smoke?’
    ‘Em . . . OK.’
    Lizzie has never let anyone smoke in her car. But she can’t say no outright to a stranger. Well, she could – it
is
her car, after all, and she
is
doing him a