Daisy hung her arm around Vi’s shoulders and squeezed. “Are you okay with what you’ve decided?”
After biting her lower lip, Vi nodded. “Yes. If I feel like I’m spiraling downward, she wants me to take a break. But that’s not always possible.”
“You can always call me. If I can’t come, Aunt Iris or Gram will.”
She watched Vi sort through the idea for a moment and frown. “I don’t want to tell Gram about any of this.”
Certainly, Daisy could understand. Her mom had a way of showing disapproval that could hurt. Still . . . “Vi, postpartum depression has been kept in the dark for so very long. The only way the sun’s going to shine on it is if you talk about it. You know Gram. She might not understand at first, but eventually we’ll make her see that you’re doing what you need to do.”
Vi turned to Daisy as her eyes filled with tears again. “Sometimes I feel like a little kid—confused, not sure what I’m doing hour to hour. Is that motherhood?”
With a gentle voice, Daisy assured her daughter, “It can be. Parenting is like any other relationship that you want to grow. Each day you’re building on it with your child. You’re getting to know him and he’s getting to know you. You’re going to make mistakes, but hopefully there are ways to correct them . . . and family and friends who will help you do that. You’ve made a good first step here, Vi. Honestly, you have.”
Turning to her mom, Vi hugged Daisy and held on tight.
Vi had just let go of Daisy and gone into the bedroom to blow her nose and check on Sammy when Daisy’s phone vibrated in her pocket. Taking it from her jeans, she saw that Rowan Vaughn was calling.
She hoped he wasn’t going to try to persuade her to look into further information about Margaret and who might have killed her. But she had the feeling he wasn’t going to let this go.
“Rowan. Hi. I—”
He cut her off. “Daisy, I’m at the police station. I’ve been here for hours. I have a lawyer but I want to talk to you.”
Daisy still hadn’t eliminated Rowan as a suspect. “Why do you want to meet with me?”
“We need to have a private conversation. If they ever let me out of here, I’ll be tied up the rest of the day with business. Can we meet tomorrow?”
What Daisy had in mind for today meant she really had to assist at the tea garden tomorrow. “If we meet tomorrow, it will have to be a short meeting over my lunch hour.”
“That’s fine. Can you come to the house? I don’t really want my business to be broadcast to the public, and anything we’d say at the tea garden could be overheard. Plus, it’s just as well if no one sees us together.”
Why ever not? Daisy wondered. But she didn’t ask it aloud. “Will Tamlyn be there?”
“Are you really worried about being alone with me?” he grumbled.
She told him the truth. “I would prefer to know someone else was there.”
After a heavy sigh, he agreed. “Fine. Yes, she’ll be there. I need someone to take care of the house, and she does a fine job of it. But she’ll be in the kitchen. I don’t want her to overhear our conversation.”
In addition to using Tamlyn as a chaperone, she would tell Iris where she was going. If she was late returning, Iris would know to contact Jonas or the authorities.
“All right, Rowan, how about one o’clock? That’s usually a good time for me to duck out of the tea garden.”
“One o’clock it is. I’ll see you then.”
When Daisy ended the call, she wondered what she’d just gotten herself into.
* * *
Daisy was on the way to Rowan’s house the following day when Tessa called her. It was Daisy’s lunch break and she wondered if something was wrong. The morning had been busy at the tea garden, and she and Tessa hadn’t had a moment to talk. That wasn’t unusual.
Daisy answered through her car’s bluetooth. “Hi, Tessa. What’s up?”
“I didn’t know if you were coming back this afternoon.”
“I am. I’m hoping this only takes about half an hour. In fact, Rowan didn’t sound as if he had much time for me, though he’s the one who asked for the meeting.”
“I wanted to let you know that Cade can’t come to Thanksgiving dinner. He has other plans. But . . .” Tessa let her voice trail into a pause.
“But?” Daisy repeated.
“Trevor Lundquist asked me out a couple of days ago. We went to dinner last night and had a really good time. Would you mind if I ask him to Thanksgiving dinner?”
Daisy considered Trevor sitting at a table with her family. He seemed to be able to fit in anywhere and could always make conversation. “Asking Trevor to Thanksgiving dinner is fine with one stipulation.”
“What’s that?”
“He can’t ask us any questions about the murder.” Tessa laughed. “I might have to muzzle him if he starts, but I’ll tell him. I’ll tell him you’re the hostess and you’re the one handing out the invitations. He has to comply.”
Daisy smiled. “Thank you. Anything else?”
“No, we’re good. I have to whip up another batch of the fall fruit salad. Do you think I should use the peach yogurt or the strawberry?”
“The peach is a hit. I’d stick with that.”
“Got it. I hope your meeting with Rowan is productive.”
After Daisy said good-bye, she considered Rowan Vaughn and what she knew about him. He was a businessman and he traveled. However, from the bits of information she’d garnered about his apartments, he wasn’t a detail person. He delegated and maybe didn’t look over what the people he hired did to execute his orders. Had he delegated something that went terribly wrong? Was he as innocent as he claimed?
Daisy would get another chance to find out.
On Rowan’s doorstep Daisy rang the bell. Moments later, Tamlyn
