We were back in my truck, and I’d glanced over to confirm her seatbelt was on before driving away, and I watched her whole demeanor change. She looked just like she had on the way to the hotel this morning, an expression of quiet panic paling her face.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” She tried to smile, and that made the lie even worse.
For the last six hours, Daisy had been able to avoid the reality I was returning her to. And as I drove toward the inn, I couldn’t help but feel like I was bringing her back to the scene of a crime. One still covered in blood and laced up with caution tape. One where she was supposed to get married, but instead had been betrayed by the man she planned on spending forever with.
But what choice did I have? Take her home with me?
No.I almost laughed out loud at the stupidity of that thought.Not a chance.
Not a fucking option.
We rode in silence for the next fifteen minutes. Even though we were squarely in the beginning of the fall months, the longer daylight of summer still clung to the edges of the sky, dipping them in a bright orange-red.Red sky at night is a sailor’s delight.I glanced at Daisy, wondering if she was thinking how wrong the proverb was this time.
“What happens tomorrow?” she asked, her voice sounding just as she looked—impossibly small in a shroud of darkness.
Tomorrow, I would upturn every stone looking for Todd.
“I mean for the deliveries,” she clarified, and my sudden anger drained.
“Not sure yet,” I answered honestly. “I’m going to touch base with Erica after I drop you off and see what we can figure out.”
It might involve me driving another day or two until we could split up the deliveries to other routes or until we found a replacement, but if that’s what it took, then I’d do it. My businesswas my baby. There was no position or job in it that I hadn’t done myself and wouldn’t do again if needed.
“Todd’s not coming back,” she said softly when we crossed into Friendship, the old-world lampposts welcoming with their nostalgic glow.
She was so sure when she said it, my knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “He will, Daisy. He’d never…completely leave you. The both of you,” I said, like I could make it true, like I would make it true.
He would come back. Eventually. And when he did, I would make sure he made this right, no matter what it cost—no matter what bridges it burned.
Daisy’s head dipped, and then her eyes closed, and she yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand bundled in my sleeve.
“I just want to go to sleep and forget this day ever happened.”
I pressed gently on the brake, wanting to slow these last moments until I could find the right words to say.
“Let’s just give it a few days. You know how he is. Sometimes, he just needs a little time to get his head right,” I said hoarsely. “I already talked to Lou. The room at the inn is still yours for the week.”
Whether she agreed or was too drained to argue, I couldn’t tell, but she curled deeper into the seat, almost disappearing underneath my jacket.
The candles in the front windows of the inn flickered as I parked out front, and Daisy was half asleep by the time I opened the passenger door. Still, as soon as she got out, she surprised me by starting to take off my jacket.
“Keep it,” I ordered roughly. To have it back…to have the memory of her in it…No, it was hers now.
Inside, the inn was quiet. Lou had blocked off all the rooms for the wedding. Now, the privacy felt more like the solitude of a grave.
Hearing us enter, Lou appeared from the kitchen in the back, her smile tentative and her eyes luminous with empathy. Harper trailed behind her, probably covering the overnight shift at the reception desk. Before opening her apiary, Harper worked odd jobs for our whole family. Now, she helped out at the inn every once in a while for some extra money and just on the overnight shift, so she didn’t lose any time on her farm during the day.
“Lou…” Daisy stopped and slowly looked around.
All the flowers and decor were taken down, leaving no trace of the wedding that was supposed to happen earlier today.Just like I’d asked her to do earlier.
“Hi, Daisy,” Harper greeted Daisy with a hug.
“Hey, Harp.”
My sister didn’t say anything else. She didn’t need to. There were no words for this kind of situation, especially something as insufficient asI’m sorry.
