That earned me a weak smile and finally, a white flag of surrender. “Everything’s wrong, Max,” she said defeatedly. “Everything but you.”
My heart rocketed into my ribs. “What?”
“I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to help, and I keep being horrible about it.”
“Daisy,” I groaned, the sound coming straight from my heart, cracking. I tried to turn her toward me, but she refused to budge. “You’re not being horrible.” She shot me a sideways stare. “All right, maybe just a little stubborn.”
She blew out a shaky breath, but it didn’t seem to lessen any of the tension in her body.
“What’s going on, Daze?” I asked, keeping my voice soft and low. “Is this about the insurance? Because we’ll figure it out…” I trailed off when she started to shake her head, her balled fist resting in front of her mouth. “Then what is it?” Tightening mygrip, I tried to turn her again, and this time she let me. “You can talk to me.”
I wasn’t going to let her get away with pushing me away again. I let it happen earlier, and it clearly hadn’t helped.
“Can I?” she murmured, her eyes welling up with tears again.
“Of course you can?—”
“Do you think I trapped Todd into marrying me?” She blurted out.
“What? What are you talking about?” I couldn’t decide if I was more shocked or hurt or angry at her question. “Why the hell would you think?—”
“Because you’ve been MIA for the past six months, and Todd said it was because of work, but I can’t help but think it was because you knew we were having problems, and then I got pregnant, and you thought it was to force Todd to stay with me, which I never would’ve done?—”
“Daisy,” I growled and stepped closer, holding her arms with both hands now. Her bottom lip trembled as she tipped her head to look at me. I groaned, the urge to kiss her hitting me like a freight train. “I don’t think you trapped Todd into marrying you.”
I think you were trapped into marrying himwas what I wanted to say—was what I felt.
“Promise?” Her lashes fluttered, but not quickly enough to catch every tear.
“I promise,” I murmured and lifted my hand to swipe away the droplet with my thumb, a trail of pink dusting her skin in its wake. Her gaze dipped like she had a hard time believing me, and I realized this had to be coming from somewhere else. “Why would I think that, Daze? Why would anyone think that?”
Her throat bobbed, but when she tried to look away, I wouldn’t let her.
“Because apparently that’s what Todd’s parents think.”
“What?” I demanded with enough of a snarl to make her eyes widen. “Did you talk to them?”
“No, but Mrs. McCormick left me a voicemail.” She shuddered. “I was running the bath when I realized I’d missed her call. I thought maybe she’d heard from Todd, but when I listened…”
Now all the pieces clicked together. The broken phone. Her crying eyes. The root of her question.
“She called to accuse you of trapping Todd into marriage?”Why now?Todd had been gone for two weeks.Why wait to be a heartless bitch?
“She called to yell at me for canceling the doctor’s appointment, saying I was trying to bully Todd to come back by harming his baby and that this was just what she should’ve expected from me since I trapped her son into marriage.”
A kind of fury I’d never felt before knifed through me. I’d never been disrespectful to Todd’s mom before. Not when she’d leave Todd depressed after every phone call and visit while we were in college. Not when she gave him so much shit for starting MaineStems with me. And not even when she spoke to me with the chill of arrogance in her tone, her displeasure seeming to increase with my success.Like she’d wanted me to fail to prove to Todd that I hadn’t been worth his time.Not even then did I break and insult her.
But this…
“She’s wrong, Daze. She couldn’t be more wrong,” I managed to say steadily. “In fact, the only thing she knows how to be is a giant, cold-hearted bitch.”
Her blue eyes turned to saucers, and her mouth opened and then shut. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call someone a bitch before, Max.”
“Because I’ve never seen someone hurt you like this before.” The reply was out before I could stop it, along with the hoarse ache in my tone.
The flush in Daisy’s cheeks deepened, and I swore I felt her body sway toward mine, quaking the invisible wall between us.
“Todd always made excuses for her. For the way she acted. Treated him. Treated me.”
