The Girl With Daisies (Midtown Brotherhood #3)

by Savannah Blevins

  Callen practically danced up the steps in Madison Square Garden. He hadn’t been so excited for a game since he was a kid, playing in the city championship. The night had been great, but any night with Penny would be, he figured. He wanted all his nights to be like that, though. To fall asleep with her snuggled into his side. To wake up to her laughter against his neck. The sight of her sitting at his kitchen table, wearing nothing but his shirt, was something he’d have cemented in his mind forever. His last name sprawled across her back. And so much beautiful, perfectly bare skin. Callen pushed the door to the locker room open with the grin of a lovesick puppy taking doggy treat Prozac.

  Someone from inside the room yelled. “Hat trick!”

  Something very wet exploded on the side of his head, knocking him back a step. “What the hell?”

  His hands cupped his face, but it was only water. It ran down his neck into the collar of his suit jacket. “Hat trick,” someone else yelled, and another explosion of water hit him in the shoulder, covering his entire back with water.

  He glanced back to find all his teammates already in the locker room, each of them holding a water balloon in their hand. Henrik stood in the middle, grinning. “Hat trick!”

  Another balloon headed his way, but he managed to dodge it this time. “Oh, c’mon, Cali,” Austin said, laughing. “Take your celebration like a man.”

  Austin aimed his balloon at him. Callen held his hands up, warding off his attack. “You could at least let me change out of my suit first.”

  “And ruin the fun?” Austin threw the balloon at him, but there was no dodging it this time. Water splattered across his chest. He was soaked.

  There were at least ten more balloon-wielding teammates to go. Finally, he sighed. There would be no saving his suit from ruin. He threw his hands up in surrender. “All right. Have at it.”

  Callen moved into the middle of the room and held his arms out from his side. “Hat trick,” Henrik yelled one last time.

  Ten water balloons flew at his head. Callen closed his eyes and took the impact. Water dripped down his legs onto the floor. “I hate all of you,” he mumbled, slinging water out of his hair.

  Henrik was the first to come over and slap him on the back. “Congratulations on ending your slump. I expect another stellar performance out of you tonight.” He gave him a teasing wink.

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Callen chucked his bag into his locker, but then he spotted something. A piece of white paper pinned inside. You couldn’t see it from across the room. It was hidden well. He grabbed it, opening it up.

  The hat trick was a fluke. You’re still Detroit bound.

  Fire lit up the back of his neck as he glared as the scribbled print. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

  “What is it?” Henrik sat in his locker a couple spaces down from him.

  Callen thought about crumbling it up. He considered holding it in, letting it eat him alive like he’d always done. But he made a promise to his captain. He promised his best friend the next time the coach pulled this kind of shit, especially right before a game, he would let him know. He was tired of it. No more. He was a good player and deserved better than that. Callen held out the note to Henrik. “I think it’s time we go have that chat with Coach.”

  Henrik stood up. “What does it say?”

  Callen took him the paper. “Read it yourself.”

  Henrik read the note and crumbled it in his hand. “That’s bullshit. It’s not even his decision to make.”

  “Either way, I want him to say it to my face if that’s how he feels.”

  Henrik nodded and stood. “Let’s go.”

  They left the locker room, making their way upstairs to the coach’s office. His hands shook. The adrenaline made it hard to think straight. Henrik knocked on the door. “Come in,” Coach yelled from the other side.

  Henrik went in first, and Callen followed. “Can I help you guys?” he asked, never looking up from the game replay on his computer screen.

  “Yeah, you can explain this to me.” Henrik straightened out the paper and laid it on his desk in front of him.

  He looked at it, picking it up to see the scrawling writing across it. “What is this?”

  Henrik crossed his arms over his chest. “You tell me. Your training staff says these little pre-game encouragements to Callen come from you. I don’t appreciate it. We’re in the hunt for a top playoff spot, and you’re messing with my player’s head hours before our games start.”

  Coach’s eyes narrowed. His grey brows pulled all the way together. “I didn’t write this.”

  Callen sat in the seat in front of his desk. “Someone did, and this isn’t the first one.”

  Coach stared at the paper then he looked up at Callen, concern thick on his face. “How long has this been going on?”

  Henrik glanced at him. “Weeks? Maybe a month.”

  Coach frowned and threw the paper back across his desk. “You’re not going anywhere, Copley. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

  “What about my slump?”

  He laughed. “You got a hat trick your last game. You call that a slump?”

  “But the month before that…”

  “You’re young, Callen. It happens. I was a player. I know how these things go. Obviously, you’ve bounced back. I know your potential. I’m not letting that in the hands of a conference rival.”

  “Okay,” Henrik said, throwing his hands out. “If you’re not leaving Callen these little notes, and you’re not the one leaking stuff to the media, then who is?”

  Coach leaned back in his seat. “I don’t know, but you bet I’m going to find out.”

  Callen stood, his palms sweaty. “So, the trade deadline at the end of the week…”

  “It isn’t something you should concern yourself about,” Coach said seriously. “I want the Cup this year. You are part of the plan to get us there. I’m not going to replace a seasoned player with some rookie right before the playoffs.”

  The relief almost doubled him over. “That’s good to know.”

  Coach nodded. “Look—go get ready for your game. Let me worry about this. We’ll take care of it.”

  “Thanks.”

  Henrik opened the door, and Callen followed him out. Once outside, Henrik slugged him in the shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m going to be stuck looking at your ugly backhand for a couple more years.”

  His friend was relieved too. Callen couldn’t help but smile. “You’re just jealous you can’t get the elevation on it that I can.”

  “True. Maybe this summer we can work on that.”

  “Maybe.” Because he would still be in New York. This was still his home.

  Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get on the ice, to see his girlfriend sitting in the stands watching him play. It was going to be a night to remember…he could already tell.

  Chapter Seventeen

  PENNY’S BIG DECISION

  Penny twirled happily around her apartment, singing along to whatever played on the radio. She didn’t know the lyrics, so she made up her own. Most of them consisted of Callen, his perfect smile, and other qualities of his general amazingness. Drew would be by to pick her up for the game soon, and she had to do something to keep the butterflies out of her stomach. Spending time with Callen was one thing, but the others…she would be tempted to complete her plan. She wouldn’t, though. She’d given up on finding out her answers when she said yes to Callen. He mattered more to her than anything else. Plus, she doubted the others wanted to hear what she had to say, anyway. It would only complicate everything.

  Penny pulled the door open to find Drew standing on the other side. His blond hair perfectly in place, his blue eyes matching the argyle Rangers sweater. “Hey,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “You ready?”

  “Yeah. Come in. Just let me grab a jacket.”

  Drew came inside and shut the door. Penny ran to her bedroom to get her jacket, and when she came back out, Dr
ew stood at the table next to the door, looking at one of her photos. He picked it up off the table. “Who is this with you?”

  Penny peeked over his shoulder. It was her very favorite picture on earth. “That’s my grandmother. That was our garden behind her house.”

  He looked closer, smiling down at it. “Callen said she pretty much raised you.”

  “Yeah, my parents apparently thought their job of raising me ended at conception.”

  Drew set the picture back down. “Henrik and I moved in with our uncle when I was twelve.”

  Penny perked up. “Really?”

  “Yeah. Our father, Kris, was never really around, and our mom passed away.”

  Her hand touched her compass and clutched it. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “It’s one of the reasons we take family pretty seriously. What we have here is all we will ever have. Leila, Lucy, Austin, and Magnolia. And Callen too. I know he always thinks he doesn’t belong, but he’s as much a part of our family as anyone.” He reached out and touched her arm. “That means you too.”

  Tears welled in her eyes, and a breath caught in her throat. “Thank you. That really means a lot.”

  She looked away. Maybe she could tell them. Maybe…just maybe…she could tell Drew and he would understand. He touched her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  She took in a sharp breath. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m not used to all this family togetherness. My grandmother has been the only person in the world who has actually cared.”

  His smile grew. “Get used to it. I’ve seen Callen’s face when he looks at you. You’re not going anywhere.”

  Penny’s thumb rubbed across the front of her compass. She squeezed it again, recalling her Gran’s words.

  Follow your true north.

  “Look, I know we are running a little late, but…could I talk to you about something?”

  Drew looked around at her other pictures on the stand. “Sure. Is there something wrong?”

  “Not really. I just want to ask you a few questions.”

  Penny’s thought was interrupted by a knock. It was rapid and heavy on the door next to them. “Penny,” a voice yelled from the other side. It was her landlord, Mary. “Penny? Are you home?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said to Drew. “I need to get this.”

  Penny opened her door to find Mary in a panic. She immediately grabbed her hand.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There is a woman downstairs causing a scene. She’s knocking on every door down the hall. She keeps asking for you.”

  “No.” Not her. Not now.

  Penny almost lost her balance. Bile burned in her gut at the thought of Angel. All the anger she’d held in for so long came rushing back. Why did she have to rip away everything good in her life? Why couldn’t she let her be?

  Drew came up behind her, steadying her. “Who is it?”

  “Angel.”

  She might as well have said Devil, the sour way her name came out of her mouth. Drew cocked his head to the side, and she bit her lip to hold back the sobs. “My mother,” she said, explaining it to him. “She found me…again.”

  A commotion erupted at the end of the hallway. It was Angel. She looked worse than Penny ever remembered. The lines in her face were deeper, the circles under her eyes dark. She’d lost weight, and her hair had thinned.

  She’d been so beautiful once. Penny could recall the photographs of her mother so clearly. She hadn’t kept any of them. Gran had tried to urge her to put up one of Angel holding her as a newborn in her room once, but Penny threw it out. Yes, Angel had been beautiful, and the picture should have held a special significance. Yet the scowl on Angel’s face was too prominent to ignore. She’d never wanted to be a mother. Not now…not ever.

  “There you are,” Angel screamed at the sight of her.

  Drew stepped in front of her, his hand tight around her wrist, his stance protective. It only made her heart hurt worse. Penny started to cry. She didn’t want them to know this part of her. Here it was, though, screaming in Drew’s face.

  “Let me talk to her,” Angel said, stumbling down the hallway. Angel was intoxicated. High. Mentally ill from a chronic combination of both.

  Drew didn’t budge. “What do you want with her?”

  Angel leaned around Drew, her speech slurring with each word. She pointed a bony finger at her. “I want my money, Esa.”

  “I told you no.” Penny tried to pull Drew back away from Angel’s wrath. “You were there when they read the will. She left you nothing. It’s my money.”

  “You owe me. I need it.”

  Penny’s hand clenched in the fabric in the back of Drew’s shirt. “Someone please call the police.”

  Drew immediately pulled out his phone. Angel sneered, her eyes raking down Drew, assessing him like a threat. “Who are you?”

  Drew ignored her and dialed the number.

  Angel got in his face. “Are you one of them?”

  He grabbed Penny and pushed her back inside as he started giving the police directions to their apartment because of a violent trespasser. It only made Angel’s anger flare.

  When Drew hung up, she was in vengeance mode. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Angel eyed him. “Of course you are. You look just like him.”

  “You need to leave,” he said, pulling Mary into the apartment too. “Now.”

  “She’s using you,” Angel screamed at him. “Just like she used me to get all my money.”

  “She was my grandmother,” Penny screamed around Drew. “If you weren’t a drug addict and a drunk, she might have left you something.”

  “She only wants your money too,” Angel said, trying to push her way through the door that Drew tried to close in her face. “She doesn’t care about you! She doesn’t care about you or your brother.”

  He locked the door as she started pounding on it. Penny cupped her hands over her face as Drew looked around at her. “How does your mother know I have a brother?”

  She couldn’t tell him like this. It would ruin it. Everything. “She’s been stalking me for weeks. Calling me. Showing up at my work.”

  “Why did she call you Esa?”

  Penny opened her mouth, but a noise outside caught their attention. It was the police. Angel was too strung out to go down without a fight. She screamed. She kicked the walls. She damned the entire world to hell. Penny cried. She couldn’t believe this was how it would end. Drew’s gaze burned her skin, his questions still in the air, unanswered.

  Mary came over and held her tight. It all felt so wrong. They would hate her for this. For bringing someone like Angel into their life. For the lies. The deceit she hadn’t meant for them to see. Once the noise died down, Drew cautiously opened the door. One of the officers came in. “Are you the one who called in?”

  Drew nodded, stepping aside so the officer could see us all. “Yeah. She was causing a scene. Making threats.”

  “We’re taking her in for public intoxication, but do you want to press charges?”

  Drew looked back at her. Penny nodded. “Yes.”

  It was time she took her life back. Even if they put Angel in jail for the night, it would give her enough time to escape. It was the only thing left to do.

  The police officer nodded, motioning toward the door. “I need you to come down to my car and fill out some paperwork.”

  “Sure.”

  Drew came to her, and she took in a breath. She clutched his hand. The last time. “You should go on without me.”

  “No. I’m not leaving you here like this.”

  Pain ate at her. “I want you to go.”

  “Penny—”

  “She won’t go away. Ever. She’ll get out of jail and she’ll find me again. I won’t bring that into your lives.”

  His eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

  She could collapse if she allowed her body to do it. It would be so easy. The pain at the thought of Callen was unbearable. “I’m leaving Midtown. I
have to before they let her out.”

  “No.”

  Tears. She couldn’t hold them back. “It’s the only way.”

  “And what about Callen?”

  She shook her head. She couldn’t think of him. If she did, she couldn’t make the right choice for him. She would let her selfishness win. He deserved better than that. She’d always known it. “He doesn’t need this in his life. None of you do. I should have never—”

  She should have never found them. It was wrong. She wouldn’t just have a broken heart; it would surely die. It would cease to beat in the name of love and happiness ever again.

  The officer cleared his throat. He was obviously in a hurry. Penny hugged Drew. She would miss him too. She’d miss them all. “Go to the game, Drew. Go be with your family. Let me be with mine.”

  He shook his head. “Callen won’t let you do this.”

  She could barely breathe. Barely stand the thought of taking another breath that led to a future without them. Without Callen. “Go.”

  Drew left at a sprint. He’d tell them. She could see it on his face. He would tell him. Penny would have to leave fast. Yet she couldn’t get one single hand to move away from her heart. No pain had ever been so cruel.

  Chapter Eighteen

  CALLEN’S FIGHT

  Penny wasn’t at the game. Drew wasn’t there either. What the hell was happening to his perfect night? What could have possibly caused them to be so late? The game was almost over. Thankfully, Callen had scored another goal in the first period before he realized Penny and Drew were missing in action. Now his head was a mess. It was hard to focus on the puck when that seat in the fifth row across from his bench sat empty. She was supposed to be there.

  The game ended. Callen had one goal, one assist, and two hits. Yet his stat sheet no longer mattered to him. He wasn’t going anywhere. If the Rangers management took the recommendation of his coach, he would be back in Midtown next year. It wouldn’t be the same without Penny, though. Where was she?

  He didn’t know why, but his gut twisted. The vision of the crazy lady at the restaurant popped into his head. He should have asked her about it last night. Callen rushed to the locker room and hurried through all his interviews. By the time he showered off and started pulling on clothes, one of the trainers came in the room. “Hey, Cali.”