“Are you doing well, sweet girl?” Tina asked.
“Busy, but okay.” She wasn’t anywhere close to okay, but it felt good to be around people who genuinely cared.
The door dinged open, and Tina squeezed her shoulder. “I’m just so proud of you.” She hurried to go greet the newcomers. Tina loved everybody, so it wasn’t uncommon for her to make you feel good about yourself. Still, Daisy felt elated that her hard work made Tina proud. Almost as soon as the thought hit her, she slammed back down to earth. It was all over now.
Jamison watched her closely. “So how does it feel to be a town hero?”
“You should know. How many kids dream of playing ball professionally? And you did it.”
“Yeah, it was spectacular, but nothing close to what you’ve accomplished, and you’re what … eighteen?”
“Twenty-two.” She shot back.
“My mistake.” There was a glimmer in his eyes. “Don’t worry. I can tell that you’ve grown into a beautiful woman.”
Her face burned, and she took a quick drink of her water.
“Hey, pretty fairy,” Jordan said. “Do you know that you look a lot like Daisy Castleton?”
Daisy spit the water across the table, hitting Jamison square in the chest.
“Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry.” Daisy grabbed a stack of napkins, stood, and moved next to Jamison, blotting the water on his chest with the napkin.
His eyes widened. Then he started to laugh. Jordan joined with him, and Hazel added her tinkling laughter, though she surely didn’t know why she was laughing.
Jamison placed his hand over hers and stopped her frantic movements. “It’s okay. I don’t mind if a beautiful fairy spits on me. It’s probably magical like fairy dust.”
Everything in Daisy stilled. His hand surrounding hers settled the constant fears, turmoil, and pressure. Worry that she would never sing again, worry that surgery was going to bring a halt to her career at its peak, and worry that she still hadn’t gotten brave enough to tell Treven. None of it mattered as Jamison’s hand covered hers and his eyes communicated kindness, understanding, and a desire that made her flush.
She finally pulled her hand free and dropped the napkins on the table. “I don’t think you want fairies spitting on you.” She managed to get the words out as she sank back into her seat.
“Spit on me, fairy,” Jordan called out.
“Inside voice.” Jamison gently reminded him.
“Fairy, fairy.” Hazel chanted. She seemed to have recovered from the scare of Halloween costumes.
Tina set their cocoas down and received their thanks with a smile. Daisy stirred some extra creamer into Hazel’s. “Wait a little bit, and I’ll help you take a drink.”
“No, I big.” Hazel tried to reach for the glass.
Thankfully, Tina returned with their cinnamon rolls and the boys’ pieces of pie. Hazel was distracted by the fluffy white roll with heaps of cream cheese frosting. She yanked a piece off and put it in her mouth. “Yummy.”
Daisy pulled off her own piece and savored the rich, creamy frosting, cinnamon-sugar, and homemade bread. “It is delicious.”
Jordan was devouring his apple pie, but Jamison simply studied her. “So our beautiful fairy is partial to cinnamon rolls and hikes in the mountains, but how does she feel about going on a few super-fun dates with Thor?”
Daisy smiled at the Thor reference, but no matter how drawn she was to him, she couldn’t let him break down her barriers. “I’m sorry, Thor, but fairies aren’t meant to date.”
His brows drew together. “Zero dating? As in celibacy?”
She smirked, but had to say, “Zero.”
“Is that in the fairy contract?”
Daisy bit at her lower lip and put a hand to her throat. She knew exactly what he was asking—did her singing career somehow prevent her from dating.
“I could understand the rejection if I were a mere mortal, but as you can see, I am not.” He arched a challenging eyebrow at her.
Indeed he was not. She’d always thought he was great, but seeing him develop into the confident, happy, and handsome man in front of her, she knew he was something extra-special. If only she was at a different spot in her life.
“I’m sorry. Fairies are just meant to be alone.”
Jamison’s blue eyes turned almost navy as he studied her.
Jordan had finished his pie and was slurping down his hot cocoa. “Hot!” He exclaimed.
Hazel reached for her drink.
“No, sweetie. Give it a second. Here.” Daisy handed her the water glass, and Hazel slurped out of the straw then picked up another piece of her cinnamon roll.
Jordan was eyeing Daisy’s cinnamon roll.
“Would you like it?” Daisy asked, pushing it toward him.
“Whoa! Hold up there, buddy. We don’t take food from pretty ladies.”
Daisy about wept. She’d just turned Jamison down without giving him any kind of decent reason, and he was still complimenting her. Why did he have to be such a nice guy?
“But I already had pie, and the cinnamon roll looks so good.” Jordan turned his pleading to his brother.
“I don’t mind.” Daisy lifted the plate over to him. “I’m sure Hazel will have a bite left of hers. That’s pretty big for a two-year-old.” She tried to smile, but it fell flat.
The little ones were soon busy eating again, and Jamison zeroed in on her. “So fairies lead a life of sheer misery?”
“What do you mean?” she asked. She wasn’t miserable, well okay, sort-of, but not completely.
“No eating treats, no dating Thor?” He raised a challenging eyebrow.
Daisy wished she could explain why she couldn’t date right now, but he’d figure it out soon enough. What if the doctor ordered chemotherapy and all her hair fell out? How bad would the scars be from her surgery? Without being able to sing, she felt like she would be nothing. The Little Mermaid must’ve been a lot stronger than she was. At least, right now she could talk. If she lost that with the surgery and looked horribly ugly, the thought sucked what little confidence she had left. Jamison was a nice guy, but he had no clue what was coming for her. She had nothing to offer him.
“Sadly true,” she said. “Fairies lead a lonely, boring life.”
He leaned back in his chair, his pie still untouched, and folded his arms across his chest. Did basketball build that body or was it working on the ranch? The blond wig actually worked for him, but she still wanted to see his hair. She kept wondering if it was as red as it used to be, as red as his little brother’s sitting next to him was.
“That is rip-my-heart-out sad.” He gave her a pleading look. “Guess the little fairy is going to miss out.”
She lifted her cocoa and took a sip of the hot liquid, unable to look at him anymore or she might cave. “I guess so.”
Chapter 4
Jamison flew to North Carolina on Wednesday morning to evaluate a junior in high school who’d shown a lot of potential in his stats and the film he’d sent along with his application. Jamison was also interested in helping because the boy and his parents were realistic about his options. Of course they’d love for him to go Division I with a full-ride offer, but they were open to any level of play and really just wanted him to have the opportunity to keep playing the game he loved.
He spent a great few days with the boy and his family and set up school visits for him in the summer. Jamison might even be able to accompany him on a few.
Friday night, he got home late and went straight to bed. It had been good to get away and not think about his beautiful fairy, er Daisy, being back in Snow Valley but having absolutely no interest in being with him. It really stung. He wasn’t cocky, but he knew women found his face and body attractive, and he was a successful, hard-working, and nice person. Most people even appreciated his sense of humor. He went to church on Sundays, helped out with youth group, and donated generously to charities.
Why wasn’t he enough for her?
Because she was a superstar who lived in a different world than him. He’d lived in a superstar world in Europe, and it had been a fun ride being idolized and making lots of money, but it was even better to be back to his roots and close to family. Daisy wasn’t planning to stay around and would probably never see him as anything more than a cowboy who used to run around with her brother.
Saturday morning was chilly. It was only forty-five degrees outside when he jumped in his truck to drive to Jordan’s game. His parents had left earlier to get Jordan to warm-ups and only his eighteen-year-old brother, Jason, came with him. Justin had to stay home and do extra chores because he’d stolen all of Jordan’s Halloween candy, taken it to school, and given it away to all of his friends. It would’ve been funny if Jamison hadn’t seen Jordan’s broken-hearted face in the text Jason sent to him.
They arrived at the high school field. It was a home game, so they didn’t have to leave the valley. They walked along the track and then up the bleachers. This stadium brought back a lot of fun memories. Jamison had enjoyed football and played throughout little league and into middle school, but in high school, he’d chosen to focus on basketball year-round. His parents had supported him and helped him find the right competitive teams to improve his game and get exposure.
Jordan was down on the field, warming up. He saw him, waved, and hollered, “Hi, Jamison!”
Jamison returned the wave.
“That’s my brother,” Jordan told the kid next to him.
Jamison loved that Jordan was proud to be his brother. Jordan was nine years younger than Justin, the next youngest brother to him, and everybody doted on him. Well, Justin teased him mercilessly, but he loved him.
Jamison scanned the stands for his parents and saw them near the middle of the bleachers. He started that direction but a woman sitting alone caught his attention. She was bundled with a hooded sweatshirt pulled tight around her face and a blanket wrapped around her. She also had sunglasses on, so it was hard to see her face clearly, but he was pretty sure from the small nose and beautiful rosebud lips that it was Daisy. Jordan had invited her to the game back on Tuesday night. How had she known the time, and why had she come? Apparently, while she wanted nothing to do with Jamison, his little brother was a different story.
He wanted to go sit with her, but she’d made it more than clear she wasn’t interested. He sat next to his mom and kissed her cheek, tugging his baseball cap down lower. He felt like Daisy was staring at his back, so he turned around and waved obnoxiously to her. He saw her lips part in a kind of stunned laugh, and then she gave him a short wave.
The game started, and he tried to focus on Jordan. The kid was so cute, but such a beast on the field. He was almost a head taller than the other kids and thick. His team’s most effective play consisted of the quarterback simply handing the ball to Jordan. Then he would bulldoze a path through the defensive line, twisting and turning before he sprinted down the field. Sometimes, the defense would tackle him, with three or four defenders clinging to him to pull him down. Still, he’d scored six touchdowns before halftime. Jamison thought Jordan’s coach had showed immense charity for the other team as he ran a lot of other plays that put the ball in anyone’s hands but Jordan’s. But even just every fourth or fifth play with Jordan getting the ball was too much for the other team to stop.
Jamison kept an ear out for Daisy to call something to Jordan or cheer, but all was quiet from her spot on the bleacher.
The halftime buzzer sounded, and the other team’s head coach strode across the field. Even from the bleachers, Jamison could see that he was red-faced and sweaty. He got right in the ref’s face. “You’re telling me that number twenty-six meets the weight requirements?” he yelled.
Silence descended on the stadium. Jordan’s coaches all turned to look at the guy.
The ref picked up the book from the score table and looked it over. “Yes, he does. Barely, but he does.”
“Let’s go get a scale right now,” the coach insisted.
“You know those aren’t the rules. The league has already weighed everyone, and those are the numbers we’re using for the season.”
The coach threw his hands in the air and cursed the ref. “This is home cooking like I’ve never seen it.”
“No, I’m pretty sure he’ll beat you fair and square on your home field too,” Jason yelled out at the opposing coach.
“Jason,” their mom said admonishingly.
The coach looked up at their family and flipped them the bird.
“Now, that is going too far.” Mom stood up. “These are a bunch of seven-year-olds for heaven’s sake. Have some class. You going to do something ref?”
The ref nodded obediently to her, blew his whistle, and threw his flag. “That’ll be a fifteen-yard penalty on Coach Riker to start the second half.”
The coach cast them one more dirty look before storming off toward his team huddled across the field.
“Is it Happy Days like this every week?” Jamison asked. He’d been so busy traveling with his business this fall that this was, sadly, only the second game he’d been able to make it to. The first game he’d seen, the opposing team’s coach had just looked like a whipped puppy the whole time.
“Yes, and this is a play-off game, so it just makes them more upset,” his mom said.
Jamison stood. “I’ll be back.” He made the mistake of glancing up and was pretty sure he saw Daisy staring at him.
He turned away and walked down the stadium seats, taking a lap around the track to stretch his legs and keep from throwing himself at Daisy. Unfortunately, he had to walk past the other team’s coach.
The guy glanced up and zeroed in on him. “You think it’s funny to teach your little brother to bully a bunch of seven-year-olds?” The guy threw the words at him.
Jamison stopped, arched his eyebrows, and folded his arms across his chest, knowing with the size of his arms he’d look intimidating. “Fair playing field, man. I do however think it’s absolutely hilarious when a full-grown man gives his son and team the example of being a total dipwad.” Guaranteed this coach was a dad. They all were in peewees.
The guy eyed him up and down then probably decided he didn’t want to mess with him. He huffed and turned away. Jamison kept walking. When he reached their side of the bleachers, he couldn’t resist glancing at Daisy again. She waved him toward her. Jamison should’ve pretended he didn’t see it and walked to his family, but he couldn’t resist even the slightest encouragement from her. He walked past his parents and Jason, saying, “I’ll be right back.”
He reached Daisy’s bench, and she patted the spot next to her. Was this her giving him encouragement? He shouldn’t hope, but how could he not?
He sat down, his spine stiff and his heart begging for mercy, and she hadn’t even spoken.
“That coach is crazy, huh?” she asked quietly.
“I’m gonna call his doc and recommend a high dose of Prozac.”
She giggled, and it was such a cute sound. “Jordan’s amazing. It’s so fun to watch him.”
He let himself glance at her then. Her high cheekbones were delicate under her smooth skin, and her lips were like a perfect little pink rose. He swallowed and looked away. “I taught him everything he knows.”
She laughed again, and it was almost as appealing as her lips.
“Why’d you come?” He tried to soften his tone, but he had a right to know. She was the one who wouldn’t allow anything to happen between them.
“Jordan asked me to come.”
“Seven-year-olds are used to disappointment.”
“What about their big brothers?”
“We feed on it.” He pinned her with a look. “We know fairies fly too high above us common folk. If they associate with us, we might burn their wings.”
She took off her glasses and blessed him with a look into those bright blue eyes. Were her eyelashes that long naturally? Who cared when they made her look so beautiful?
“May
be this fairy has already had her wings broken,” she said in a quiet tone.
Jamison’s heart thudded heavily against his rib cage. Someone had hurt her. How? Why? “Is that why the fairy won’t give Thor a chance?”
She nodded shortly then shoved her glasses back on and turned toward the field. Jordan and his teammates were running on to take the field. Jamison could hardly concentrate on anything but what she’d said. He wanted to know every detail and thump anyone who may have hurt her. He wanted to reassure her that he would treat her with respect and courtesy. He just wanted a chance to get to know her and be around her. Why would the Lord put it in his heart to be so drawn to her if he had no chance of getting to know her?
Chapter 5
Daisy followed her brother as Treven carried Hazel into church and settled on the pew their parents used to sit in. It was surreal sometimes that Mom was gone and Dad was a broken, drunken shell of himself. Daisy hadn’t even gone to see him. What was the point? If he even recognized she was there, it would just make him agitated and her sad.
She’d wanted to refuse coming to church, but that would’ve started an argument with her brother she wasn’t ready for. He thought all she cared about was her career and image and would probably assume her lackluster testimony was due to her success not the real truth. The Lord had deserted her when her mom had died, and Daisy getting cancer too just affirmed that He didn’t care about her. It was fine. She could survive on her own. Pastor John knew about her anger with God and all of her pain and fear, and somehow, he didn’t judge or push her. She loved him like the father she didn’t have anymore.
She heard the buzz and glanced around. A blonde teenager had her phone out and was snapping pictures of Daisy. She shook her head as the little bit of peace she’d had was sucked away. Her privacy was probably shot now. Enough social media posts going out and the real media would get word that she was in Snow Valley. Would her agent, manager, and someone from Millennial Records track her down? She’d made them all a lot of money, and she knew they were planning on more. She’d asked for some time off to help her sister-in-law and brother, and they hadn’t liked it. She’d need to tell everyone the truth soon. Especially with the surgery for the tumor removal scheduled a week from Tuesday. She’d researched the best cancer centers, and Seattle had been in the top ten. She probably should’ve stayed in L.A. but there was just too much risk of the media finding out. She’d flown to Seattle and been impressed with the doctor she met, and though the biopsy had shown her tumor was malignant, he was very encouraging that he could remove it. He’d scheduled her for surgery at his first opening.
Romancing the Singer (Cami's Snow Valley Romance Book 5) Page 3
