“Lou…all the flowers…” Daisy looked to the living room where the ceremony was planned to be, now bearing no trace of the wedding that should’ve happened there.
“I didn’t want you to come back to that,” my cousin replied softly, taking Daisy’s hand and squeezing it. “Don’t worry. We spent the day repurposing them all over the inn, so they weren’t…wasted.”
Daisy’s head bobbed, her throat taking a few tries before it worked out the word, “Good.”
“Are you hungry? I have some pot pie warmed that I can bring up to your room if you want,” Lou offered and glanced to me. “You too, Max.”
“I’m fine. I should get going, but we didn’t stop for food on the way back, so Daisy should probably eat something.”
Daisy’s shoulders slumped, but she nodded. “Thank you.”
Lou went to get the food, and Harper lingered for an extra minute, looking at me strangely before following her out.
“I’ll check in with you tomorrow,” I said once they were out of earshot.
“Can I come with you?” Daisy blurted. “If you’re going on deliveries again, I mean.”
My jaw went slack.No. Not a good idea.
But the words wouldn’t come out.
My mouth opened and then shut. It wouldn’t refuse her. I couldn’t refuse her. Not when the same panic from earlier fringed her stare.Not when I felt my own guilt like acid in my lungs.
Todd was Todd. He’d always been shit at responsibility and reckless with his selfishness, but I’d been the one to prop him up like some kind of straw man for years because I’d wanted him to be better for Daisy. If I’d just let him crash and burn that first night…if I hadn’t sobered him up and told him what to say and how to apologize and make it right. If I hadn’t helped him so fucking much, Daisy wouldn’t be living this nightmare right now.
If I hadn’t tried to make him better, it wouldn’t have made his betrayal so much worse.
“Okay,” I heard my guilt agree.My dark, selfish desire to be around her, cheering me on.
“The driving, it…” she trailed off, her brow knotting.
“Calms the mind,” I finished, because she’d told me a dozen times how it settled her, helped her think straight.
Daisy nodded and hugged herself, panic subsiding from her profile. I should’ve left then, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. So much so, it felt like time stopped for a second just to let me stare.
My best friend’s fiancée stood in her wedding dress, pregnant with his baby, but wearing my suit jacket.A sign that I would take care of her nomatter who she thought she belonged to.
And I would take care of her. Whether Todd came back or not, Daisy would know there was one man who would never turn his back on her, even if her heart belonged to another.
“I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Max.” Daisy reached for my arm, her touch a thousand times worse now that her hand was warm on my bare skin.
My eyes settled on her face, and just for a second, I let them linger. The waves of her hair had softened over the course of the day, wisping gently against her skin. Her makeup was all but scrubbed off, leaving only her natural flush to her cheeks. Even after everything that happened, even in the middle of heartbreak, she still looked heart-stoppingly beautiful. She always would to me.
“Thank you. For everything today,” she said, and the blade of guilt shoved deeper in my chest.
“Don’t thank me, Daze,” I said roughly, and before I could stop it, a fragment of the truth slipped out. “You know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”A truth she already knew.
Something dark pooled in the depths of her pupils. Something I was tempted to describe as longing, though that couldn’t be right.
No, I was losing it. All day with her—wanting to take care of her, to treat her how she deserved,wanting her—I needed some fucking distance.
With a muttered good night, I turned and left before I did something even more awkward. More foolish.More unrequited.
She might know what I’d do for her as a friend, as Todd’s best friend. What she didn’t know was just how deep that promise went…and how much pain I’d cause my own heart to keep it.
Chapter 6
