“I’ll get it.”
“It’s after hours, Daisy. They can call?—”
“After hours by only fifteen minutes. Let me just see if there is anything I can help them with,” she insisted, already waddling toward the door.
I bit back the threat to tie her down to stop her from working because that threat was more dangerous to me than it was to her. Quickly setting the bags on the step, I strode after her. Five seconds or fifteen minutes didn’t change that I didn’t want her opening the door alone. Sure, Stonebar was safe, and this was a flower shop, but I wasn’t rational when it came to protecting Daisy or our baby…herbaby.
“Mrs. McCormick?”
My blood turned to ice hearing Daisy’s shock.
“Miss Turner?—”
“What are you doing here?”
Red fringed my vision as I homed in on Daisy standing wedged in the opening of the doorway, facing her almost mother-in-law on her own.
“I’m here because you never returned my voicemail and aren’t answering my calls.”
“Because I don’t want to talk to you,” Daisy blurted out, her voice choked with disbelief.
I reached for the doorknob, my hand settling over Daisy’s letting her know I was here. The last thing I wanted was to scare her when I unceremoniously ripped the door open to tell Mary McCormick to go fuck herself. Politely, of course.
As soon as Daisy felt my fingers, she lifted her hand and pushed, and then waved me away. Her message was clear.She was handling this.
“Don’t be a child, Miss Turner. You’re carrying my granddaughter. You canceled your last doctor’s appointment. You’re living above a…shop. You don’t have a choice not to talk to me. I have a right to ensure you aren’t harming the welfare of the child because of Todd’s decision.”
There were few things that angered me to the point of rage like Mary’s words did in that moment. After everything she and her son had put Daisy through, to come here and insinuate Daisy wasn’t taking care of her child…I’d never felt the urge to physically harm someone until that moment.
How fucking dare she?
“You don’t have a right to anything,” Daisy charged right back, and as much as I wanted to step in andsavethe day, it was surprisingly even more satisfying to hear Daisy put Mary McCormick in her place. “This is my baby, and I’m taking careof her—taking care of us, which is more than I can say for your son.”
“My son will be back to handle his responsibilities and his legacy. He knows this isn’t acceptable, no matter how extenuating the circumstances. He played right into your hand, and now he has to accept the consequences. He’s always been childish—foolish—when it came to sticking to this path, but eventually he will heel,” she rattled like her son was nothing more than a poorly trained pet. “He knows he’s expected to come back and marry you and secure our legacy. He knows there’s no other option for him.”
Daisy went stiff. “For him?—”
“In the meantime, Miss Turner, we would like to make sure his daughter is being properly taken care of?—”
“Have you talked to Todd?”
The shock in her voice was as heavy as the kind that sat in my chest. He wouldn’t have…
Mary paused and then scoffed. “Of course Todd called me. I’m his mother. When I tell him to call me, he listens.”
Goddammit, Todd.
I went to reach for Daisy again, but stopped myself, my fingers curling instead into a fist and falling like a hammer to my side. I wished I could at least see her face, look at her eyes. Then I would know what she was feeling right now. Was it more betrayal? Was it anger? Was it heartbreak?
Maybe it was better I couldn’t see. The fact that she still wore his ring told me enough.
“Now, let me inside, Miss Turner, so we can discuss this like adults. I will not stand on this…stoop while I lay out how my granddaughter’s future is going to proceed.”
Jarred into action, Daisy lifted her head. “No. And I’d like you to leave.”
“You don’t get to tell meno,” sneered the other woman’s voice, and I caught the door drifting in like she’d pushed on it. Instantly, I flattened my hand to the back.Like hell I was letting her in here.“Let me in, or I’ll call the police. Is that what you want? To not only destroy my son and granddaughter’s lives, but also your friend, Max? I’m sure he’ll regret helping you…”
Oh, hell no.
