“That’s it. We’re moving in, Miss Louise.” Landen beams up at her, his smile contagious.
“Don’t think I wouldn’t take you, little boy.” Louise winks at him, obviously falling more in love with him every day.
There are so many questions I want to ask Daisy about Landen, but the time is never right. Today is certainly not the day to pry into her past. She’s barely speaking to me, but at least she acknowledges I’m alive as we gather around the table to eat together. I have to be careful not to upset that delicate balance. One wrong word and I’m dead to her again.
“Mr. Rod, can I ask you a question?” Landen looks up at me, his big blue eyes inquisitive.
“You can call me Rod, and yes, you can ask anything you’d like.”
“If you and my mom got married, would that make Isa my little sister?”
Daisy coughs violently, choking on the sip of iced tea that she had just taken, then stands up to step away from the table.
“Um, no, buddy. Isa is my niece, not my daughter. If your mom and I married, that would make Isa your cousin.”
“Oh. I already have lots of cousins. I want a little sister, though. Mom said I can have one when storks start dropping babies from the sky again. But I’ve never even seen a stork in Atlanta.”
Louise and I stifle a laugh, not wanting Landen to think we’re making fun of him. “Well, maybe a stork will do a fly-by one night and drop a baby off on your doorstep. Stranger things have happened.”
Daisy retakes her seat with a shake of her head. “He doesn’t need more encouragement in that area, Rod. He has wanted a little sister a long time now.”
The idea of someone else granting that wish sets me on edge. Whatever this thing we’ve found is still there, trying to convince me fate is a real being. It’s telling me Daisy and I belong together and drawing me to her with my every breath. Yet I fought that loving feeling with all I had… until I realized I have nothing without her. Now I may have succeeded in pushing her away for good.
After we finish the snacks, Daisy takes Isa and Landen to the playroom to work with them. Landen works on his second-grade homework while Isa works on more drawings and paintings. The creative process helps to get her inner feelings about her mom out on paper so Daisy can help her verbally work through them. That’s the hope and goal of the exercise, anyway.
While they’re busy with their work, I head to my office and start working on a secret project of my own. If I can’t concentrate on the work at my company, at least I can focus my attention on something I enjoy.
After a couple of hours, someone raps lightly on my door before opening it. “Rod? Are you in here?”
“Yeah, come on in. What can I do for you, Daisy?” Anything. Anything at all.
“I wanted to tell you Isabelle just talked to her mom on the phone, and she seems to be coping with everything well, for now anyway. Juliana sounds so much better tonight, and Isa could tell. Your sister is waiting for you to call her, and Isabelle is waiting for her bath. Landen and I are going home now.”
“Thank you for all your help today, bringing Isa home and spending time with her. I don’t know what we’d do without you.” I stand and walk around to the front of my desk. Daisy takes a step backward.
“As long as Jules and Isa need me, I’ll be here for them. They’re each suffering with something that’s unfair to both of them. If I can help carry some of the burden to get them over this hump, then I’m happy to help. That goes for bringing her home after school, too. Just text me to let me know if you need my help again.”
“Thank you. I may have to take you up on that occasionally, but I won’t make a habit of it. Promise.”
“Good night, Rod.”
“Sweet dreams, Daisy.”
A flashback of our time on the island flickers in her mind, but she pushes it aside before closing the door on her way out.
I hope those memories turn the tide in my favor, and away from the date she just had.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Daisy
When the kids and I walk into Rod’s mansion, the sweet aroma of hot scones baking immediately makes my stomach growl and my mouth water.
“It must be time for afternoon tea again, Princess Isa. Smells like Louise is fattening us up for the holidays.” I chuckle and ruffle her hair.
“That means I have to go change. I can’t go to tea dressed in these old rags.” She drops her book bag and takes off toward her bedroom.
“I’m not dressing up for snacks. I’m just going to eat them.” Landen rushes toward the kitchen, leaving me to pick up their belongings out of the hallway.
Rod emerges from his home office with a long face and bloodshot eyes. My heart drops to my feet.
Juliana.
“What is it, Rod? What’s happened?”
“Can you come in here and have a seat for a minute?”
“Of course.”
He closes the door behind me and absently moves around his desk to his chair, covering his mouth with his hand and largely lost in his thoughts. I drop down in the chair across from him, just in time before my knees give out. Is he about to tell me Juliana has taken a turn for the worse? Have we lost her? My mind swirls with all the possibilities and terrible scenarios while I wait for him to gather his thoughts.
“Juliana asked her oncologist to call me to talk about her treatment. We hung up not five minutes before you walked in, so I haven’t had time to digest everything he said yet. I
