Dreaming of Daisy (A Red Maple Falls Novel, #6)

by Theresa Paolo

  “The truck has sentimental value, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand something like that.” He stared at her for a long, heated minute. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

  She needed to say something. Anything.

  “We should go,” he said and stormed around the truck to the driver’s side, leaving her feeling like a grade A asshole.

  Chapter 3

  They drove in silence as Daisy fought the onslaught of memories that flooded her mind. They’d spent so many days and nights in this truck. She couldn’t count how many times she leaned across the console and kissed him, how many times they moved their make-out session to the backseat. The last time she was in this truck was the last time she saw him before she slid out the door and out of his life.

  It was like the curtains opened, and act after act pulled her further into the memories. So many years of not looking back were catching up to her, and she needed to turn it off before it grabbed hold of her and forced her in the one direction she swore she’d never go.

  She slipped her phone out of her pocket, counting the seconds until they were finally at the hospital. Funny how on her journey she’d dreaded the hospital. Now it seemed like a nice reprieve from the suffocating tension in this truck.

  She couldn’t help but wonder how they’d gotten here. How could the one guy who always made her laugh, even when she wanted to cry, make her so uncomfortable?

  Not that she had to wonder hard.

  It was her fault.

  She’d left, and he was bitter about it. She couldn’t blame him. Not one bit. He had every right to hate her. Truth was she hated herself for being such a coward.

  Nick was always the nice guy who would let her get her way because he knew how happy it made her. He was the guy who knew when to leave her alone and when to hold her. The least he deserved was an explanation, and she never gave him that in the six years since she left.

  God, thinking back, she had so many flaws yet he loved her anyway. All she had to do was ask him to go with her, and he would’ve changed his entire life to do it. It wouldn’t have mattered that he wanted to get married and have children who went to the same schools they did. If she wanted to chase an impossible dream in New York, he would’ve chased it with her.

  If she had just let him…

  But she’d been scared, so she made her choice, possibly the wrong choice, and now she would never know what her life would have been if she had asked him to go with her.

  “Betty will be happy to see you,” Nick said, his voice cutting through the tension.

  The uneasiness inside her slowly faded. Whatever had crawled up his ass earlier seemed to have retreated.

  “I’ll be happy to see her, too.”

  “How long are you staying?” he asked, and her body momentarily froze. The last thing she wanted was for Nick to think she was home for any reason other than visiting her grandmother. So she focused on keeping a straight face and replied, “I’m going to see how it goes. I’m lucky enough to be in between shows at the moment, and my rent’s paid for the rest of the month, so I’m going to play it by ear.”

  “That’s convenient.”

  “Just worked out that way, that’s all.”

  “So, what’s the next show?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You said you’re in between shows. What’s the next one you’re in?”

  She thought the tension-filled air was bad but this butting into her business was a thousand times worse.

  “It’s Off Broadway. You wouldn’t even know about it.”

  “Try me.”

  She wracked her brain for any Off Broadway shows she could think of. Not that she expected Nick to fact check her, but just in case he did, she needed something current, something Off Broadway, yet impressive. “Skintight,” she finally said, thinking about an article she recently read where Idina Menzel was making her comeback to the Off Broadway stage in over a decade. If Nick looked that up he would definitely be impressed. Idina Menzel was Elsa for crying out loud. Everyone knew Frozen.

  “That sounds pornographic,” he said, causing her head to snap up.

  “It does not. I’d have you know it’s…” The words got stuck in her throat when she suddenly remembered what the play was about. It might not have been pornographic, but the main characters father did get embroiled with a young porn star. Crap.

  “It’s…?” He waited, staring at her out of the corner of his eye.

  “Currently the most anticipated show of the year,” she said with conviction.

  “Isn’t that something then?”

  Silence spread between them like a dark cloud, and she turned to stare out the window when she heard a consistent tapping. Her eyes caught on his fingers, long and slender, fingers she knew were capable of bringing her pure ecstasy, strumming against his thigh.

  His hand stilled and she glanced up, catching his eyes. It was the briefest of moments but somehow managed to make the years between them nonexistent. A simple look from him and she felt like she was in high school all over again.

  A rush of warmth spread through her cheeks and she suddenly wondered what life would’ve been if she didn’t go to New York.

  “That’s really great, Daze,” he said, knocking her back to reality. “I’m happy for you.”

  She stared at him, trying to read his face, but as he was once an open book, now he was a slab of cement that didn’t crack at all. Still she had a hard time believing that he was happy for her. Not after what she did. “No, you’re not,” she said.

  “I am. It seems you finally found the happiness I couldn’t give you.”

  His words, unexpected, were like a knife to the back. How could he say that? After everything they had shared with each other. The adventures, the laughs and the tender moments that warmed her heart just thinking about them. “Nick, that’s—”

  “We’re here,” he announced, cutting her off. He turned the truck into the parking lot, his words bouncing around in her head.

  There was so much she could say. He had made her happy. Leaving had nothing to do with him and everything to do with her. Her current happiness was nothing more than a fabrication. She was optimistic, but that didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t had a role in over five months, unless she counted the singing waitress gig she’d snagged before getting fired for being late because of an audition. Her roommates decided not to renew their lease without giving her any warning, and she had zero money in the bank. She wasn’t happy. She was surviving.

  “What do you want to do with your suitcases?” Nick asked, putting the truck in park.

  She hadn’t thought about that. Not when her mind was in constant turmoil since she’d laid eyes on him at the train station. Her luggage was the least of her worries. “I don’t know.”

  “Tell Mason to text me when you figure it out, and I’ll drop them off.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I can send one of my brothers to come get them. Or if you wait a minute, I’ll go find one of them, and we can transfer them into their trucks.”

  “I don’t want to take anyone away from Betty. I’ll drop them to you later.”

  She reached for the door handle then turned back in her seat until she faced him. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t. Go.”

  “Okay.” She opened the door and slid out. “Nick, I just…”

  He looked at her, but before she could manage any words he turned back in his seat. “Go,” he said. She hesitated, debating if she should apologize, or make him realize that he did make her happy once, but seeing his stiff grip on the steering wheel and the way the veins in his neck bulged, she thought better of it.

  She shut the door and walked away, but his cutting words about happiness stayed with her with each step she took until she exited the elevator and heard her family’s familiar, loud voices floating down the hallway. She didn’t even bother to look at the numbers on the doors as she made her way
to her grandmother; she just followed her family’s voices until she was standing outside Betty’s room.

  She wasn’t sure she was prepared to see her grandma in a hospital bed. She had always been an impossibly strong woman. The backbone of the Hayes family so the thought of her being fragile and hurt didn’t sit well with Daisy, but until Daisy saw her with her own eyes, Daisy’s world would continue to be off balance.

  With a deep breath, Daisy plastered a smile on her face and walked into the room. Her entire family was gathered around Betty’s bed. Cooper, her youngest brother, was telling a story, arms flailing. His wife, Sarah, sat in a chair behind him, cradling their son, Theo, in her arms, and her oldest, Tommy, stood by Cooper’s side, hanging on his step-dad’s every word.

  Next to them was Matt, her oldest brother in his sheriff’s uniform, and his pregnant wife Shay, Daisy’s life saver and good friend. Their son Matthew was secured in Matt’s arms. Kate, her oldest sister was at the front of the bed with her husband Caleb, and next to them was Mason and his fiancée Cassie. On the other side of the bed were her parents, her other sister Hadley and her husband Sam, who Daisy had known all of her life.

  Her grandfather, Harold, sat in a chair beside his wife, holding her hand, his thumb brushing her knuckles. The sight caused a rush of emotion to overtake her. Her grandparents were what she imagined all couples aspired to be—married for sixty years and still very much in love. Sure, they bickered and got on each other’s nerves, but there were moments like this, whether it be a loving glance, a tender touch, or a shared smile, she could see their love and how without the other, they’d be completely lost.

  That’s what she’d had with Nick all those years ago. Maybe not exactly… but as close to it as she could imagine. It was strong and intense and had been a feeling that had always scared her. Being so reliant on another person, having her life completely connected to his, where people didn’t just see her, they saw them as a pair… While her dreams drove her to leave, she’d be lying if she said that was the only reason.

  It seems you finally found the happiness I couldn’t give you.

  Looking at her grandparents now, she realized the happiness they’d found with each other was one in a million, and she doubted there would be any Broadway stage big enough to accomplish that.

  She stood back and watched her larger-than-life family—the family that started because of her grandparents. Without her they were incomplete, but she’d been gone for so long that sometimes she felt like she didn’t belong, like she was an outsider looking in.

  Being the youngest of six she had to stand out, be her own ray of light in a room of other shining stars, but truth be told, she didn’t have to try all that hard. She was different and while it was something she’d always wanted, at times it also made her feel like she simply didn’t belong.

  Not that she didn’t love her family… she loved them more than anything in the world; she just didn’t always understand them.

  “Daisy!” her mother said as she spotted her.

  “Daisy?” Kate said, her face lighting up.

  Her mom rushed over, arms up in the air, a huge smile on her face. She grabbed Daisy and pulled her in for a massive hug, erasing any thoughts about being an outsider.

  That was the thing with her family—no matter how long she was gone and no matter how much she felt like she didn’t belong, they always made sure she did.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  Carol Hayes stepped back, taking Daisy’s face in her hands. Her blonde hair was perfectly combed and sat just above her shoulders. The wrinkles around her eyes were getting more prominent as the years went on, but they were still barely noticeable.

  “It’s so good to see you,” Carol said.

  “I was just here a couple months ago.”

  “Well, it’s felt like an eternity.”

  “Stop hogging my granddaughter.” Betty’s voice rose above the crowd.

  Carol stepped aside, and Daisy saw Betty’s bright blue eyes and white pixie cut. She looked like she always did, just in a hospital gown.

  “Grandma,” Daisy said, and the emotion she had been fighting from the minute she received that dreaded phone call erupted. Tears fell down her face as she went and gave her grandma a kiss on the cheek.

  “Oh sweetie, don’t cry. I’m fine.”

  “I’m sorry,” She wiped the tears from her cheek and gave her grandpa a kiss hello. “It’s been a really long day,” she said as she straightened. “How are you, Grandma?”

  “Could be worse. I could be dead.”

  “Mom!” Jonathon Hayes said before giving Daisy a hug. “Happy to have you home, Munchkin.”

  “Maybe I should break bones more often,” Betty said.

  “After your surgery I don’t want to see a hospital again until Shay gives birth,” Hadley said as she walked over to give Daisy a hug. “How was your trip?”

  Daisy narrowed her eyes at Mason.

  “Hey sis,” he said, a sheepish smile slowly taking form.

  “Don’t you ‘hey sis’ me.”

  “Wait a second. How did you get here?” Carol asked.

  Daisy continued to glare at Mason.

  He shrugged. “I might have sent Nick.”

  “That’s my boy,” Betty said with a laugh, and Daisy turned her glare on her grandma. Betty Hayes’ current mission in life was to see her grandkids paired off and married so they could give her great-grandbabies. Unfortunately for Daisy she was the only one left.

  Betty held up her hands, mocking innocence. “How is Nicholas?”

  Unbelievably sexy and infuriating.

  “He’s fine,” she responded.

  Betty laughed. “That he is.”

  “Ew, Grandma,” Daisy said.

  “If you think ‘ew’ then you need to get your eyes checked. He grew into a very good-looking man.”

  “Just admit it, Daze,” Kate said. “He’s kind of hot.”

  “Hey!” Caleb exclaimed and Kate kissed his cheek.

  “Not as hot as you of course. But what can I say? Little Nicky grew up.”

  “Come on. Admit it,” Hadley said.

  “Fine,” Daisy relented. “He looks good. Can we talk about something else now?”

  Mason, with his arms crossed over his chest a smug smirk on his face, shrugged. “I’m assuming Nick is somewhere all in one piece.”

  “Or he could be in pieces in my suitcase.”

  Mason laughed. “And risk blood getting on your clothes? Doubtful.”

  “All I’m saying is a heads up would have been nice.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I guess I can accept your apology.”

  “You’re too nice,” Cassie said from behind him, her brownish red hair was tucked behind one ear and fell in waves over her shoulders.

  “Tell me about it,” Daisy mumbled. “So…” She clapped her hands together “New topic!”

  “We all know I’m going under the knife,” Betty said.

  “Not what I had in mind,” Daisy said.

  Betty ignored her. “There’s a possibility of complications.”

  “Mom, let’s not discuss that,” Jonathon Hayes said.

  “Then when are we supposed to discuss it? When I’m dead?”

  “Mom!” Carol exclaimed.

  Matt let out an annoyed sigh. “You’re not going to die.”

  “I don’t plan on it, but you never know, and I’d rather be safe than sorry. I would hate to go into this surgery knowing there are things left undetermined and unsaid. So if I can just have ten minutes of your time.”

  “Grandma, you’re going to be fine,” Daisy said, not sure if she was assuring Betty or herself.

  “Like I said, I plan on it, but I will feel better going into surgery knowing things are squared away.”

  “Can you give the woman what she wants so she stops blathering on and on about it,” Harold Hayes said. He had been quiet since Daisy had arrived, and Daisy wondered if it was because he was simply tired or if h
e had more on his mind than he was letting be known.

  “I want you all to know how much I love you,” Betty said. Harold stroked his thumb across her knuckles and as if the gesture gave her strength she continued. “And the only thing I want is to see you all happy. I know I’ve butted my nose into places in the past.”

  Hadley laughed. “No, not at all.”

  “Hey, you should be thanking me or who knows when you two would have finally realized you’re meant to be together.”

  Sam put his arm around Hadley and pulled her close, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Thank you, Betty.”

  “At least somebody appreciates me. Anyway, I want you all to promise me, no matter what happens, you will remember to smile when times are tough, laugh even if you don’t think you should, and cry only when there’s no wine left in the fridge.”

  “I think we can do that,” Shay said.

  “Good, and with that out of the way, Daisy, tell us more about your trip.”

  Betty didn’t want to hear about her trip; she only wanted to hear about Nick, and Daisy was not falling into that trap. “Not much more to tell.”

  “I wish we could stay, but we have to go,” Cassie said, giving Daisy a hug.

  “Thanks for the save,” Daisy said so only Cassie could hear then pulled back and added louder, “Already? I just got here.”

  “My new hire fell through,” Mason said. “Nick offered to fill in but he was working all weekend so I need to give him a break. You should stop by. I think you’ve been there maybe twice and once was when these two got married.” Mason hitched his thumb over his shoulder toward Sam and Hadley whose Christmas wedding a few months ago was held at the brewery after their original venue was demolished.

  A light bulb sparked to life in Daisy’s mind. She desperately needed money. She had to take every opportunity she could get to help her get back on her feet and back to New York.

  “If you need help down at the tasting room I’d be happy to help.” Mason turned a raised eyebrow on her and she quickly added. “For now, I mean. I’m in between plays, and I want to stay for Grandma as long as I can.”