By the time Daisy got back with dinner, Elliana had woken up for a little while. She was still very weak, but the nurse was encouraged that she seemed to be improving slightly. Still, they were worried about her getting a bacterial infection in her blood and wanted to keep her for at least a couple of days.
She was awake long enough to do a breathing treatment, but fell asleep not long after. Daisy thought that was very telling about how tired the little girl was since breathing treatments usually made her hyper, Tristan said. But she went right to sleep, her poor little body trying to fight off whatever was attacking it.
"You haven't touched your sandwich. I thought you were hungry?"
Tristan stood and stared out the large glass window. The sun had gone down, and moonlight was all that could be seen over the ocean water across the street. The little town was not exactly a hotbed of activity, so there were no skyscrapers or lights to see off in the distance. Instead, there was only the occasional light in one of the oceanfront cottages or the flicker of a light on a passing boat.
"I guess I lost my appetite. Seeing her struggle like that, with her breathing, it always scares me. No matter how many times I've seen her have an asthma attack, it never gets any easier."
Daisy stood up. She stared out at the blackness of the ocean. "I don't have children, so I can't say that I totally understand. But you're doing a great job. Being a single parent has to be one of the most difficult things anyone can ever do."
He shrugged his shoulders. "You know, she had a great mother. I mean, we weren't together when she died, obviously, but we always stayed friendly for the sake of Elliana. I just hope that I make the right decisions for her. A little girl needs a mother, and I'm just not sure I'm doing both jobs very well."
"Don't say that. You're doing great."
He turned and faced her. "I don't think you mean that. Wasn't it you who just told me I wasn't spending enough time with my daughter?"
Her stomach churned. "Look, I wasn't trying to say anything negative. I was just pointing out how excited she seemed to get to spend some time with you."
He sighed before sitting down in the chair again. "I guess I find it kind of hard to balance everything. Even with a nanny, I have this guilt in the back of my mind all the time that I'm not doing enough for her. I want her future to be set in stone. I don't want her to ever have to struggle or worry about paying her bills or stay in a bad situation with some guy financially supporting her."
Daisy sat down and smiled. "See? That's what a good dad does. He thinks far ahead and tries to slay those dragons before they even rear their ugly faces."
He leaned forward and squeezed Elliana’s little hand as it hung off the bed. "I guess. That's why I wish she still had her mother around. Somebody to comfort her and cuddle with her and answer all of those questions that I know are coming soon. What do I know about bras and makeup and the feminine aisle at the grocery store? I mean, I'm not exactly her go-to person for those kinds of questions. Honestly, raising a daughter alone is a lot scarier than running a billion dollar business."
She couldn't believe he was opening up like this. It was a whole different side of him. It was also unbelievably attractive.
Maybe if she just told him the truth right now, that she was there to thwart his mall deal, he would understand. He was obviously a lot more sensitive than she had given him credit for.
"So how will you handle your business while Elliana is sick? I mean, is there somebody who can take over for you?"
"I have an assistant, but he can't make the big decisions. I'm sure he'll be texting me updates about a deal we're working on."
"What kind of deal?" she asked, nonchalantly.
"It's that mall that we’re building in a small town. There's a little group of people that are getting louder and louder in opposition. I really don't understand it."
Now was her chance. Find out exactly what he was thinking about this deal and why it was so important to him.
"Why are they upset?"
“I’m not really sure. I think, you know, it's just a little country town and they are used to things staying the same. But things can’t always stay the same. You have to have progress, and that's what I'm trying to do for this town. They'll make money, I'll make money, hundreds of jobs will be provided. As far as I can tell, it's a win/win situation."
"Well, maybe progress isn't always necessary. I mean, if every place in the world had development, we wouldn't have the Eiffel Tower or the Sphinx. There’d be some strip mall there with pawn shops and check-cashing places."
Tristan laughed. "I think that might be a little bit dramatic. But I get your point."
Before she could get more in depth in the conversation, the doctor came in to give an update. Everything was pretty much the same, but they were happy with Elliana's progress and that she was stable at the moment. They also told Tristan that the specialist should be arriving soon, and they wanted him to meet with Tristan in another room so that Elliana couldn't hear their discussion.
Tristan agreed. He didn't want Elliana to worry any more than she needed to. And who knew what the little girl could possibly hear or understand while they were discussing things in her room.
“I’ll stay here with her, just in case she wakes up. You go ahead."
Tristan followed the doctor out of the room to go meet with the specialist. Daisy assumed they would come back with the new doctor and allow him to assess Elliana at some point. But for now, she had the quiet, darkened room to enjoy all to herself.
She leaned back on the sofa and tried to relax. She hadn't gotten any sleep in so many hours, and she was pretty exhausted. Just as she was dozing off, she felt a vibration. She shifted her weight only to realize that Tristan's phone was under her shoulder. It must've fallen out of his pocket.
She knew she shouldn't have done it. She tried to keep herself from looking, but the thought of his assistant sending him a message about the mall project was just too enticing.
When she looked down, she saw someone's name and a text that said “The mall deal is up in the air. They've had a better offer from the Dempsey Corporation out in California. Something about saving the land for conservation. These stupid environmental groups are such a pain! They are giving you a deadline of tonight at midnight to sign off on the final paperwork without changes. If you don't sign, the other contract from Dempsey will automatically be accepted. Let me know what to do, boss.”
Daisy sat there, her hand shaking as she kept checking the door. What should she do? If she deleted the text, there was a good chance that he would lose the deal and never know she had anything to do with it. Just a text lost in the digital cloud everyone was always talking about.
She looked over and checked that Elliana was still fast asleep, and she was. The light snoring from her bed was a constant sound in the room, like some kind of ambient noise machine.
She quickly dialed Megan's number and stood in the corner of the room. Hopefully, Tristan wouldn't walk in and wonder why she was chatting with a friend in his daughter's hospital room, but she couldn't leave the little girl there alone.
“Megan? Can you hear me?" she asked, whispering softly into the phone. She turned herself so that she could see the door in case Tristan and the doctors came back.
"Yeah. What's going on? Did something happen to Elliana?"
"No, she's about the same. Tristan is meeting with the specialist now. But listen, I need some advice. I have an opportunity to stop this deal, but I feel so guilty doing it while Elliana is in the hospital. I need you to talk me down off the ledge."
"Oh goodness. What's happening?"
"He left his phone in here. I think it must've fallen out of his pocket. Anyway, he has this message from his assistant saying they have until midnight tonight to finalize this deal. If he doesn't hear from him, it's going to someone else and the whole thing will be over. They will make it conservation land from some environmental company out in California. That's the best case scenario. If I just delete this text…"
"Are you kidding? Are you really thinking about doing that while his daughter is in the hospital?"
"I know it makes me a terrible person, but I might not get another chance like this. I don't think I'm hurting anyone. I'm still here for Elliana, I'm still helping him. He's a billionaire. He's never going to miss the money, but my town will never be the same if they build this stupid mall there. All I have to do is hit delete and this whole thing will be over. Then I can just enjoy the rest of the summer doing my job."
"The fact that you're calling me and asking my opinion means that you don't feel sure about what you're doing. This is a big deal, Daisy. You're ruining part of his business. I'm not sure that's the right thing for you to be doing…"
“Why did I call you? You always have to try to be the voice of reason. Oh crap, I hear them coming. I have to go."
She quickly ended her phone call as she heard Tristan and the doctors’ voices just outside of the door. She had to make a decision right now. Quick thinking had never worked to her benefit, and this was probably going to end up biting her in the butt before it was over with.
She looked down and hit the delete button and immediately regretted every decision she’d made in the last few weeks.
Daisy couldn't believe what she had just done. It was awful. Terrible. Juvenile, even. And yet she felt slightly relieved. Barring his assistant calling him near the deadline, there was a good chance that this whole deal was dead.
As the doctors walked into the room with Tristan to examine Elliana, Daisy smiled. She didn't want him to know she had anything to do with it. But she was still holding his phone behind her back, and she hoped that he didn't notice it was missing. She quickly pushed the button on the side to turn it completely off, lessening the chance that his assistant would be able to get in touch with him before midnight.
When did she become such a super spy?
She was a horrible, horrible person. This was definitely going on her permanent record. God was going to have some serious questions about this whole thing.
But the mall would not be built in her town. The land would be saved. Woodland creatures would keep their homes. And while she felt relief, she also felt sad. Why didn't it feel so good to think she would go back there and live out her life without the mall? She didn't feel nearly as happy about that as she thought she would.
"Daisy? Are you okay?”
"Oh. Yes. Sorry. I dozed off for a minute, and then my friend called me which woke me up and startled me a bit."
Now, she was just rambling. He was going to find her out if she didn't calm herself down.
"This is Dr. Morales. He's the one who just came in from Savannah."
"Nice to meet you," Daisy said, shaking the young doctor’s hand.
"He's going to do a quick examination of Elliana. Do you want to walk and grab a cup of coffee with me?"
"Sure. Let me just get my bag from over here." As she walked over to the sofa, she carefully slipped his phone back where it was and picked up her purse, for no particular reason. She really didn't need it, but she needed a ploy to walk to the sofa.
They left the room while the doctors did their work. At the end of a long hallway was a small coffee station. It wasn't the best, but it was all they had right now.
"So, what did the doctors have to say in your meeting?"
"Well, they are very optimistic that her body is responding to the antibiotics. The latest bloodwork gives them less worry about sepsis, which is good. They just have to get her through this pneumonia so we can take her back to the beach house. Hopefully that will be in the next day or so. But I want Dr. Morales to do a full examination, just to be sure he concurs."
"That's good news. I know she's going to be fine. She's a spunky, strong little girl."
They stopped at the coffee station. He poured a cup of black coffee, as expected, and she did what she always did around coffee. She loaded it with cream and sugar until it was more white than dark brown. Her grandfather used to say that her coffee could stand up in the corner by itself because it was so full of sugar.
"I want to say thanks for staying here and supporting us. I know it would've been a lot easier for you to go back to the beach house, but I really appreciate the company."
Now she really felt bad. This man trusted her, and she just let him down. But there was no going back now. Nothing she could say would make it right. She would just have to deal with the guilt and hope that everything worked out okay.
"I've enjoyed being here. I mean, I'm not enjoying Elliana being in the hospital, don't get me wrong. But it's been nice to get to know you better.”
"I think I might have misjudged you at the beginning. I'm just so protective of my daughter, and that makes me a little prickly at times. I'm sorry about that. I hope we can be friends."
Friends. Why did that word hit her in a negative way? She suddenly felt like a girl in high school who had been jilted by the boy she had a crush on. Dear Lord, did she have a crush on this guy?
“There's nothing to forgive. If I had a little girl as sweet as Elliana, I would do everything to protect her, too."
"So do you think you'll ever have kids?"
That was an unexpected question. "I don't know. Maybe if I find the right person, but so far that hasn't happened."
Tristan smiled. "I find that very hard to believe."
"Why is that?"
“Well, pardon me for saying so, but you're a very attractive woman. You're smart, very funny, quite the Monopoly player…"
"And Scrabble. Don't forget Scrabble."
"Right. You're quite the Scrabble player. I guess I would've thought guys had been flocking all around you back home. By the way, where do you come from?"
"Excuse me, Mr. Spencer? We've finished our examination and I wanted to go over some of the details. Would you mind joining us over here?"
"To be continued," he said with a wink. Wow, how could a wink make her stomach fill up with butterflies so quickly?
Daisy hurriedly walked back to the room and sat down to catch her breath. What was she supposed to say when he asked her where she was from? This was a question that she needed to come up with an answer to, and quick. It was the second time he’d asked, and the third time was evidently right around the corner.