The Holiday Swap: The perfect feel good romance for fans of the Christmas movie The Holiday. Zara Stoneley
rat-arsed on cheap wine.
He’d controlled her right up until the end. She’d been the worst kind of fool, trying to keep up a pretence of being the happiest person in the world, of living the perfect life, and she’d been so determined to succeed she’d ignored the warning signs that were hammering like a battering ram against her defences. Well Oli wasn’t going to do it for a second longer.
She just hoped that spending a weekend with her childhood friends wasn’t going to make her even more homesick than she already was.
***
‘Are you absolutely positive this is where Flo meant, and she said seven o’clock?’ Daisy stared at the firmly closed shutters, and the crowd of people which had been steadily growing in the five minutes they’d been standing there.
The route Flo had marked on the map had been easy to follow, but she was now beginning to wonder if Anna had sabotaged it. Despite the fact she’d even taken it to the loo with her.
‘You’re the map-reader.’ Anna grinned. ‘I wish they’d bloody hurry up and open the place though, I’m starving.’
‘Hey, you made it!’ Daisy glanced up to see the welcome sight of a smiling Flo.
‘Fab, you found it.’
‘We did, but we were just beginning to wonder if we’d come to the wrong place.’
‘Or you’d stood us up.’ Added Anna.
Daisy rolled her eyes and Flo laughed. ‘Get ready for the scramble.’ She nodded at the shutter behind them, which was slowly moving upwards. The crowd of people fidgeted and edged forward. The shutter stopped three feet up. They relaxed. It lifted a bit more, people edged closer and Daisy began to wonder just what kind of place Flo had brought them to.
***
The moment the shutter was lifted, Flo dived forward. She swung round to check that Anna and Daisy had followed, then put one hand out in a ta-dah gesture and waited for the reaction.
‘Wow.’ Daisy stared, her brown eyes opening wide, and Flo grinned in satisfaction as she spun round on the spot, taking in the blue ceramic-tiled walls, marble tables and the artefacts that fought for space on the little shelves running along each wall.
Anna giggled, unimpressed. ‘She did that in Placa Catalunya, she’s going to go home all wound up and need spinning back the other way. Daisy, stop it and sit down. Wow, look at those tapas, can we try all of them?’
Daisy sat. Craning her neck as she shifted on the narrow bench and tried to read the plaques on the wall above. ‘This place is incredible, it’s lovely, so cute. I want to live here.’
Flo grinned. She’d always loved the way Daisy just came out with what was in her head. ‘It’s amazing, isn’t it? I love it, even though it’s always cram-packed with tourists.’ She looked apologetically at Anna and Daisy, ‘sorry, but you know what I mean. The owner won’t let anybody change it though, the local Barcelonese love the house cava and traditional tapas, and as far as he’s concerned the visitors can like it or lump it.’ She grinned. ‘Most of them like it.’
‘I do, it’s lovely.’ Daisy nearly slipped off her seat as she twisted round again.
‘You are acting the complete tourist.’ Anna shook her head disapprovingly, but was laughing.
‘I don’t care, I am a tourist and I’ve never, ever been anywhere like this before.’
‘Wait ‘til you try the cava. It’s compulsory, I won’t let you drink anything else.’
A litre of the house speciality, bubbly, and three coupe glasses were soon on the table, along with tapas. Flo pointed. ‘Pan con tomate, obligatory round here, and anchovies.’
‘Anchovies?’ Anna shuddered and pulled a face.
‘You can’t come to Barcelona and not eat anchovies. Trust me, they’re the best with this cava.’
‘I trust you.’ Daisy forked one up, looking at it suspiciously. ‘I think.’
‘Good!’
‘Although I do remember you trying to get me to eat a mud-and-worm sandwich once.’
‘You’ve got a memory like an elephant, Daisy.’ Flo grinned, ‘It’s so good to see you guys again, I know I keep saying it, but it is. I’ve got to meet somebody about work tomorrow afternoon, but how about I give you a grand tour in the morning?’
‘Are you sure? I mean you don’t have stuff you have to do? We can just get on one of those tour buses.’
‘Don’t be daft Daisy, no way are you doing that. I need the company to be honest,’ Flo took a deep breath. There was something refreshing about talking to old friends, no pretence required, ‘I’ve just had the shittiest holiday you can imagine,’ she glanced at Anna, ‘and you’d be doing me a favour, give me something to think about and stop me drinking every bottle of wine in the apartment.’
Daisy was staring at her. ‘Oh I’m so sorry, Flo, you don’t deserve it. I’ve always wanted your life, you just look the most together person, you always did, not the type to experience shit holidays or turn to drink. That’s my job.’
‘No, it’s mine.’ Anna poked her own chest proudly. ‘I’m the one that has shit relationships, I hold a special certificate in it.’
Daisy and Flo both laughed.
‘Well, I always look like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards, and haven’t got a clue.’
It was Anna who laughed this time. ‘You usually have been dragged through a hedge, Daisy.’ She grinned at Flo. ‘She’s even worse than she used to be. She spends most of her time these days covered in dog hair or being dumped by her horse into water troughs.’
‘That was only once.’ Daisy objected.
‘Or trampled by him when he’s spotted a monster in the hedge.’
‘He’s easily scared.’
‘Scared my arse, he’s massive.’
Daisy shifted her gaze from Anna to Flo. ‘She doesn’t get horses.’ She rifled through the picture gallery on her phone and waved the resulting picture of an out-of-focus hairy horse at Flo. ‘I miss him.’ Flo wasn’t sure she got horses either, and ordered another bottle of cava.
Daisy, who had been staring at her horse photographs, put her phone down. ‘That’s why I decided to escape from Tippermere for a bit really, because of a man, although I did, of course, want to see you.’ She added the last bit hastily.
‘Oh no, not you too.’ Flo glanced at Anna. ‘You never said, you just said Daisy needed to have a change of scene, live a little. Nasty split?’ She’d sensed that Daisy was acting a bit out of character, and now it made sense.
‘No, Jimmy asked me to marry him.’
‘Jimmy?’ Flo stopped, mid-pour, and put the cava bottle down. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. ‘Jimmy as in dimples-and-dirty-boots Jimmy?’
Daisy nodded.
‘I didn’t know it was that serious.’
‘Nor did Daisy.’ Anna grinned.
‘And he asked you to,’ she stumbled over the word, ‘marry him?’ The lump that had been resting just below her collarbone for the last week popped straight into her throat and made her eyes water. ‘I thought,’ she swallowed hard, and tried to ignore the burn at the back of her eyes, ‘I thought Oli was going to ask, you know, if I wanted to… and… oh, how could I ever have thought he was taking me on a lovely romantic break?’ It came out as an undignified wail.
‘Oh shit.’ Daisy put her hands up to her mouth. ‘I’m sorry, that was so thoughtless, I thought you knew, I’m