TEN
DAISY
SIXTEEN YEARS OLD
“Come on,you don’t have to be shy.”
Daisy sent a little scowl to Cash’s back as he hauled her along by the hand toward his house.
Don’t be shy?
Had he met her?
Okay, fine. She was still completely mortified by the way hehad mether. Could she have done anything more embarrassing? Three days in town and she crashed her bike in front of someone who had to be the cutest boy she’d ever seen.
She thought she must have hit her head and died. Drifted off to heaven because when she opened her eyes, he was there.
This boy with the kindest hazel eyes and the softest, sweetest voice.
But her bashed-up body promised she definitely wasn’t in heaven, and humiliation had come racing in when she realized what had happened.
“You aren’t exactly graceful, but you are the grace I have in my heart.”Her mother’s tender voice flashed through her mind, the way she’d be in the kitchen whipping something in a mixing bowl, a gentle laugh rippling from her mouth after Daisy had injured herself again.
Sorrow washed through her. A tidal wave of it. The kind that threatened to drag her to the bottom of a toiling sea.
Break her on its rocks.
Keep her suspended in purgatory.
Most of the time that’s what it felt like.
Living in hell.
But she knew her mom would have wanted her to go on living.
Daisy tipped her head as they made it to the front stoop of Cash’s house.
Even though her eyes were averted, she could feel the weight of his grin as he turned toward her, tugging harder at her hand. “Come on, Little Wallflower, I promise my mom doesn’t bite.”
Without her responding, he tossed open the door, his personality so big and booming as he dragged her into a living room. “Hey, Mom! I’m back. I’ve got a friend, and I’m starving!”
“When aren’t you starving?” a voice hollered from what Daisy assumed was the kitchen through an arch on the opposite side of the room.
Warm laughter rolled from Cash. “How else am I supposed to have the energy to train? I’m a growing boy, remember?”
“A proper excuse for eating me out of house and home.” The woman’s voice was soft and adoring.
Cash led Daisy through the arch. She kept her head dipped a bit, though she was peeking out to take in the kitchen. A big, L-shaped counter sectioned it off, stools on this side. The cabinets were a yellowed oak and the countertops were a veined granite that matched.
A woman was on the other side of the bar. She had warm brown hair, the same color as Cash’s, and a bright smile on her face.
“And who do we have here?” she asked, welcome written all over her face as she dried her hands on a hand towel.
Shyness pulsed through Daisy, and she drew her shoulders to her ears.
Cash only tugged her forward.
“This is Daisy, my new friend I was telling you about. The one who lives with Ms. Lopez.”
