Shortly after Mason and Cassie left, everyone else started to filter out. Matt had to get to the station, Kate needed to get to her studio, and Caleb needed to get to his bike shop. Hadley had to check on her dogs, Lady and Marshmallow, who she did not like to be away from for too long, and Sam had to get to the fire station.
They all had lives, and Daisy was the only one who didn’t have anywhere else to be. She sat down on the window sill as her parents said their goodbyes.
Tommy pulled himself up beside her after she gave him a little boost. Cooper and Sarah weren’t married yet, but Daisy didn’t need the piece of paper to look at Tommy as her nephew.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” she asked, wrapping an arm around him and giving him a hug.
“It’s President’s Day. I have the day off.”
“Aren’t you lucky.”
“Cooper’s bringing me to the movies later to get out of Mom’s hair.”
Daisy laughed. She was sure he was using Cooper’s words. It was weird to know that Cooper was a father not to just Tommy but to little Theo, too. It was only a short time ago when Cooper was travelling the world.
He was the one who understood her need to get away. They didn’t have that in common any more. He still travelled—he had to since he’d made a career out of it—but he had a permanent home, and his trips were never longer than a couple of weeks. Sarah had captured Cooper’s heart and he’d never looked back. It was a romantic tale, and Daisy loved when Cooper told it since he was a master story teller, but the current pessimist that she was couldn’t help but wonder if loving Sarah would always be enough for him.
When it came to her own personal experience, she had always thought loving Nick would be enough… until it wasn’t. His words from earlier in the truck popped back into her head again. It seems you finally found the happiness I couldn’t give you. If he only knew the truth. She could count on one hand the amount of times she was genuinely happy in New York, but with him, there weren’t enough hands in the world. But it had nothing to do with happiness.
Maybe she was broken and destined to always be chasing an impossible dream.
“Mom said you’ve been on Broadway.” Tommy’s big brown eyes looked up, full of excitement.
“I have.” Technically, she’d stood on the stage for all of ten seconds and handed the lead an apple as she danced by. Not the dream she had envisioned for herself but it was still a Broadway stage.
“That’s so cool,” Tommy exclaimed.
The way he stared up at her, in awe, made that ten seconds more important than it was but she couldn’t ignore the sense of pride that swelled inside her.
She nudged his shoulder with hers. “It kind of is, isn’t it?”
“I’m going to be in a play at school.”
Daisy let her mouth fall open in surprise. “Are you? What play?”
Tommy’s chest puffed out a little as he sat a little straighter on the window sill. “Peter Pan!”
“That’s one of my favorites,” Daisy said, and she watched her nephew’s eyes get even bigger.
“Really?”
“Really. Who are you playing?”
He flung his arm up like he was wielding a sword. “Captain Hook! I wanted to be Peter Pan, but Frankie Peters got that part.” His excitement slipped into a disappointed frown that tugged at her heart.
“I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” Daisy said, leaning closer to Tommy as if to make it so no one else could hear. She held her hand up, blocking the one side of her mouth that was facing the others, for dramatic effect. “The villains are always the best characters,” she whispered.
Tommy didn’t just roll his eyes but practically his entire body. “You’re just saying that.”
“Nu-uh. They are. You want to know why?”
He nodded enthusiastically.
“Because they challenge the hero. Without the villain, the hero wouldn’t be a hero at all. The villain makes the hero special, and that makes the villain the most important character.”
“Wait till I tell Frankie that I’m better than him.”
Sarah glanced at Daisy and Daisy stifled a laugh. Her lesson was taking a turn for the worst and she needed to rope him back in. She put a finger over her lips and shushed him. “I told you it was a secret which means it has to stay between us. Okay?”
He deflated a little. “I guess so.”
Daisy held up her pinky. “Pinky swear?”
Tommy reluctantly looped his pinky around hers. “Pinky swear. But it would be more fun if I could tell him.”
“Some things are better left unsaid.” She pointed at his chest. “And what’s most important is that now you know the true secret.”
“That’s true. I know and he doesn’t.”
“Exactly and that makes you special.” She messed up his hair and pulled him in for a sideways hug. He squirmed beneath her and when she let go he smiled.
He fidgeted with his hands then looked at her with an over exaggerated smile that she assumed worked really well on her mother and grandmother.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Would you help me practice? Mom said not to bother you, but Cooper said you wouldn’t mind.”
Daisy flashed a smile in Sarah’s direction thankful for the buffer, but spending time with her nephew, rehearsing lines, and helping him learn the art of delivering a performance, she couldn’t imagine a better use of her time. “I would absolutely love to help you.”
Tommy cheered and jumped off the window sill. He ran over to Sarah and tugged on her fitted blazer. “Mom. Mom. Mom.”
“Yes, Tommy?”
“Daisy said she would help me! I told you she would.”
Sarah rested a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, probably to calm him down and looked over to Daisy. “If it’s not too much.”
“Don’t be silly,” Daisy said.
“Thank you.”
“I’m happy to help.”
“We should get going,” Cooper said. “The movie is in less than an hour. Daze, do you need a ride?”
She’d been so caught up in her family that she hadn’t thought about how she would get home.
“A ride would be great.”
Betty waved for her to come over to the bed and took Daisy’s hand as she got close. “Daisy, sweetie, where are you staying?”
“I assume Mom and Dad’s.” It’s where she always stayed when she came home. Her room while no longer hers still had a bed and a dresser—more than she needed to get by for the next few weeks.
“Do me a favor and stay at my house? Keep an eye on your grandfather.”
“I don’t need a damn babysitter,” Harold grunted.
“Are you sure about that?” Betty gave him a look, her eyebrow arched in disbelief. “Do you even know how to turn the washer on?”
“It’s not rocket science. I’m sure I could figure it out.”
“You mean to tell me I’ve been washing your drawers for sixty years and this whole time you could have been doing it yourself?”
“Don’t get smart with me now. I’m just saying I don’t need no stinking babysitter. I can take care of myself.”
“Daisy,” her grandmother said, ignoring her husband’s glare, “stay with your grandfather.”
Daisy looked at her grandfather, his stubborn chin high in defiance and her grandmother rolled her eyes at his antics. Daisy wanted to laugh. Was that what sixty years together really looked like?
“I’ll stay,” and when Harold grumbled she added, “but not to babysit you. I like spending time with you.”
“Tell it to someone who actually believes that nonsense.”
Daisy laughed. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“I’m saying you’re full of it.”
“Fine,” Daisy said with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. “Then I’ll go stay with Mom and Dad and you can deal with the Hayes’ worry wagon stopping by every five minutes.”
He grumbled some more then let out a sigh. “Fine you can stay, but only to keep the rest of them the hell away from me.”
Daisy knew he loved his family dearly but if there was one thing her grandfather hated it was admitting he needed help.
“Deal,” she said.
She gave Betty a careful hug goodbye then pulled back. She turned to her grandfather who was still holding camp in the same chair next to the hospital bed. “Grandpa, you coming?”
“I’m going to stay here for a while. Make sure your grandma isn’t flirting with any male nurses.”
“He’s no fun.” Betty said.
Daisy shook her head. “And you love it.”
“Shh, he can hear you.”
“I’ll see you at home, then,” Daisy said to Harold as she kissed his cheek.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Cooper, Sarah, and Tommy said their goodbyes, and she followed them out to their car. “Where are your bags?” Cooper asked as he opened the back door for Tommy to climb in.
“Shoot,” she said. “Nick has them. Let me send Mason a text.”
“We can stop by Nick’s on the way. He lives at his parents’ house.”
“With his Mom?” Not that there was anything wrong with that, Daisy just assumed that Nick would have had a house of his own by now complete with a white picket fence. It was what he always wanted.
Cooper placed the baby bag in the trunk then walked around to the driver side. “His mom is staying with her sister in South Carolina to get away for a little bit”
“How do you know all this?” Daisy asked.
“Poker night,” he said as if it should be obvious.
“Since when do you have poker night?”
Sarah laughed. “Since he had two kids and needs to remember what it’s like to be an adult.”
“Funny. I don’t think Cooper’s ever been an adult,” Daisy said, leaning into the car and helping Sarah get Theo in the car seat.
Cooper caught her eyes in the rearview mirror as he slid into the driver seat. “I could leave you on the side of the road.”
Daisy gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Only because Sarah would never let me hear the end of it,” Cooper said and Sarah gave a nod in his direction.
“So, stopping at Nick’s or not?” he asked.
“I don’t want you and Tommy to be late for your movie. Just drop me off at Mom and Dad’s so I can get the Jeep and then I’ll figure it out.”
Daisy finished helping Sarah get the kids buckled in and plopped down next to the car seat.
“Daisy, can you come over tonight to practice with me?” Tommy asked.
Sarah looked over her shoulder from the passenger seat. “Tommy, Daisy just got here. Let’s give her some time to settle in first, okay?”
“What about I pick you up from school tomorrow?” Daisy suggested.
“Did you forgot you just accepted a job at the brewery?” Cooper asked.
Crap. How could she have forgotten already? “Then, I will stop by tomorrow after my shift. Sound good?”
“Yes!” Tommy exclaimed. “Then maybe we can go get ice cream?”
Daisy looked at Tommy like the kid lost his mind. “It’s twenty-two degrees outside.”
Cooper laughed. “If you think that’ll persuade him then you are in for a surprise.”
Daisy would love to bring Tommy for ice cream, but as pathetic as it was she simply couldn’t afford it. She didn’t want to disappoint him, though, which was exactly what she would do if she told him no. She’d just have to find a way to make it happen.
“Sure.”
“Awesome!” Tommy cheered, and she knew whatever she had to do to make it happen would be worth it.
***
Nick stopped at the grocery store before going home. He was down to a half stick of butter and two cans of beer in his fridge. He was on the road so much lately food sort of became an afterthought.
He walked in the door and tossed his keys next to the mail on the table in the foyer. The table had been there for as long as he’d been alive, and if he closed his eyes he could hear his dad’s keys hitting the wood after a long day at work.
It was when he opened his eyes that reality set in. He’d never hear his dad come in the house again. He was gone for good. A concept that even after he had months to get used to, he couldn’t.
His dad was more to him than just a father; he was his best friend. After Daisy left it was his dad who encouraged him to go to school and put his disappointment and anger into something useful. If it wasn’t for him, Nick wouldn’t have accomplished half the things he had.
Whenever he was down on himself and wanted to give up, thoughts of his dad and the confidence he’d had in him helped Nick push his way through his slump. The idea of disappointing or letting his father down did not sit well with him, so he quickly learned to suck it up and keep moving forward.
Nick liked to think he was still watching over him, but it wasn’t the same as calling him and hearing the pride in his voice. Experience the excitement they both did when Nick had told him he’d earned the coveted position at Hershel’s, beating out people twice his age.
Once the groceries were put away he was about to pour himself a bowl of cereal when the phone rang. When he saw the picture flash on the screen he didn’t hesitate to answer. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, Nicholas. How is my oldest son?”
“Busy, but good.” He positioned the phone between his ear and his shoulder. “How’s South Carolina treating you?”
“Wonderfully. Your aunt and I took a trip to Charleston and went on a two-hour walking tour which was fabulous. We had lunch at this amazing waterfront Grille. I had shrimp and grits and oh they were so good.”
“Sounds like you had a great time.”
She sounded happy, too. After his dad passed away he wasn’t sure if he’d ever hear a smile in her voice again. His dad’s death took a toll on the whole family, but his mom especially. His parents had been high school sweethearts, never apart for more than a couple days in the thirty years they’d been together.
Losing him nearly broke her. Nick was happy he’d come home and helped her weather the storm. Not that the storm ever really passed. His dad’s death was an unbreakable cloud that hung above them, a constant reminder that their lives would never be the same.
Going to South Carolina helped her get away from everything that reminded her of those last few months of his dad’s life. Knowing she was having a good time, hearing it firsthand in her voice, it meant the world to him.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about,” she said, and any trace of this newfound happiness was gone. The tone in her voice reminded him of childhood when she would sit him down to talk about something important.
“That doesn’t sound good,” he said, bracing for the worst.
Through life’s ups and downs, especially the past few months, he’d learned that sometimes no matter how much he’d prepared himself, it was never enough.
Once upon a time he had thought Daisy skipping out on him was the worst thing that could ever happen to him but then he lost his dad. Watching his dad die was the worst moment in his life, and if that didn’t break him, nothing would.
He took a deep breath. “What is it?” he asked, not wanting to drag the suspense out any longer than necessary.
“I know I’m supposed to come home in March, but I’ve decided to stay.”
He let out his breath and almost laughed. By her tone, he’d been certain she was about to say something much worse. Wanting to spend more time with her sister was a good thing. “For how much longer?” he asked.
She was silent on the other end and the short moment of relief began to slip away. His stomach knotted with her unspoken words until she finally said what he was dreading, “For good actually.”
He leaned against the counter, unsure he could rely on his legs to hold him up. “Oh.”
First Daisy, then his dad and now his mom. Everyone left him.
“I know this is unexpected, and I had every intention of coming home, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I’m just going back to things I’d rather not remember.”
“Not all the memories are bad,” he snapped then instantly felt guilty.
“I know that. Red Maple Falls will always be home to me, and I’ll cherish every memory I made there with you, your father, and your brother, my friends… but so much of Red Maple Falls is your father.”
“Which is exactly why you should come home.”
“It doesn’t seem right without him. I’m happy here. I smile and I laugh. I still cry, but I don’t get lost in the sadness anymore.”
Nick felt like he had to say something, but he didn’t know what. This was the most open his mom had been with him since his dad had died. He closed his eyes, allowing the tension in his neck to ease.
“You of all people should understand. You never wanted to leave Red Maple Falls, but after Daisy left, it was easier to put everything behind you and move on.”
Except he never really did move on. He might’ve left Red Maple Falls but that didn’t mean he left Daisy behind. She stayed with him through every lecture, every late-night study session and every exam. He held on to the regrets, the disappointment and the anger, and used his battling emotions as fuel to succeed at a future he knew he could control.
Running away from grief was a recipe for disaster which was exactly why he wouldn’t do it again. Living in his parent’s house, facing the sad memories was all part of accepting the things he couldn’t change. It was also the only thing he had left to hold onto.
If his mom didn’t come home, he would truly be alone and that had always been his biggest fear.
“Do you really think this is the best answer?” he asked, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.
“I do. I’m going to look at condos tomorrow. I don’t want to impose on your aunt much longer”
“But what about the house?”
Nick looked around at the place that held all of his childhood memories. He could look at a scratch on the floor or a chip in the paint on the wall and suddenly be brought back to a moment in his past. He could remember his dad exactly as he was before he’d gotten sick. The house was all he had left of him.
“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.”
Nick sat down at the kitchen table and took a deep breath. He didn’t even bother bracing himself, his mother had already knocked him down. It couldn’t possible get any worse.
“I was lucky,” she said. “Your father had a great insurance policy and we had money in savings. We paid the house off when you were in high school. I don’t need the money in other words, so I’m giving the house to you to do as you see fit.”
“What?”
“You can keep it, remodel it if you want, or you can sell it and take the money. If you sell it, I ask that you give your brother part of the profit.”
Nick’s thoughts were a jumbled mess in his mind. He ran a hand through his hair, trying to grasp his mother’s words. Sell the house? Was she out of her mind? If she gave him the option there was no way in hell he was selling the house.
“I don’t expect you to give me an answer now, obviously. You don’t even have to tell me what you plan on doing. I wanted you to know that the choice is yours.”
“Why?” he asked not understanding why she was dumping this all on him.
“Honestly… I wanted to sell the house. Like I said too much sadness, but I couldn’t do that to you. Not after everything you did for your dad and me while he was sick. So I’m giving you the choice.”
“I can’t sell the house, Mom.”
“I figured that’s what you’d say and that’s okay, but I also don’t want you getting stuck in the past.”
“I won’t.”
“Saying and doing are two different things. Don’t tell me, show me.”
“Like you’re showing me?” he asked with a little too much bite to his tone.
“I guess so. I’ll never get over your father, but I know he’d want me to let go of the past as much as I can.”
He heard the crack in his mom’s voice, and it killed him that he couldn’t reach through the phone and comfort her. He hated being so far away, but maybe she was right. She wasn’t him and maybe she needed to stay where she wasn’t consumed by the sadness.
She cleared her throat, and he imagined her forcing a smile on her face. “All we can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other.”
Heat climbed Nick’s throat, spreading up his cheeks and into his eyes. He took a deep breath, fighting back the emotions trying to overtake him. “Dad would be proud of you,” he said and not because he thought it was the right thing to say but because he honestly believed it.
“I like to think so,” she said softly. “So now that’s out of the way. What’s new with you?”
Daisy’s blonde curls popped into his mind, but he wasn’t going to tell his Mom about that. His muscles were tense enough.
“Nothing much. Closed a few new accounts this weekend.”
“That’s fantastic.”
His call waiting beeped, and he felt like he was being saved by the bell. “I have another call. Can you hold on a second?”
“No, no go answer it. I was about to go make a pitcher of lemonade and take it outside to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day anyway.”
“Okay then. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom.” Nick hung up, his shoulders deflating as the tension eased. He transferred to the other call. “Hello?”
“Hey Nick,” Mason’s voice came through the phone, and all the emotion that had been clogging his throat dissipated. “Daisy told me you have her suitcases. I can swing by tonight after I get out of here and grab them if that’s okay.”
Nick doubted Mason actually had time for that. The brewery was open for another few hours and then he’d have to clean and close everything up. By the time he got to Nick’s it’d be well into the night. He had no desire to see Daisy again, but he found himself saying, “I can bring them to her. Where’s she staying?”
“I can’t do that to you. I already let you pick her up at the train station when I should have fought you on that.”
“But you didn’t because you have too much shit on your plate. So just tell me where she’s staying.”
“My grandparent’s house. Betty thinks my grandpa needs a babysitter.”
Nick laughed. “Probably because he does.”
“I don’t know if Daisy is the right choice for that. Not even sure the girl knows how to turn a stove on.”
Daisy was the only person Nick knew that could set a smoke detector off by boiling water. “Hopefully she learned some of those skills in New York.”
“I doubt it,” Mason said.
Me too, Nick thought.
“Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. You’ve really helped me out today.”
If only Mason realized how much he’d helped him over the past year. “Figured it was my turn.”
“No need to keep score.” There were faint voices on the other end and Nick listened as Mason replied. “Look I have to go. We have a lot to catch up on though.”
“You bet.”
“We’ll talk soon then.”
“By the way, before you go, we’re in Merrimack.”
“You son of a bitch. You did it again.”
“I told you I’d be worth it.”
“I never doubted as much.”
A smile tugged at the edges of Nick’s mouth. The fact that Mason believed in him from the start meant more than he could ever know and in moments like these, he wished his dad was around so he could see Nick continue to succeed. Nick looked up, knowing somewhere his dad could see him.
“I’ll see you later.” Nick hung up the phone and slid it into his pocket, gathering the strength to walk out the door and see Daisy again.
It was a favor for Mason nothing more. Once he did this he could put Daisy back where she belonged, out of his mind.
He headed for the door and when he swiped his keys off the table, Tyler’s words from earlier popped back into his head.
As long as that favor doesn’t wind up in your bed.