“Maybe I’ll get flowers one day,” I say with a smile.
“Zep might give you flowers.”
Yeah, if I screwed his brains out, maybe. But they’d likely be ripped from a neighbor’s garden. “I don’t think Zep’s the boyfriend type.”
“Really?”
“I know men like him, and he’s more of a friend. At best.”
“What’s your favorite type of flower?”
Smiling, I tap her nose. “What’s your middle name?”
“Daisy!”
“I do love daisies. They were on the wallpaper in the hospital room where I delivered you. I remember thinking they were so pretty, but I wanted to name you something that would have a nickname. And didn’t make people assume you were fragile and delicate.”
Bernie giggles and splashes milk on the counter as she dunks her cookie into it. “I’m not fragile!”
“No, you’re not.”
Maybe I should put up some daisy wallpaper round here. Brighten things up a bit. Grandma’s house hasn’t been updated since the 90s, at least.
“I should look into whether I can plant daisies outside,” I muse. “We can pick our own flowers that way.”
“It’s not the same,” she says with her mouth full. “You need to be given flowers by a boy.”
Tickling Bernie, I scrunch up my nose. “You can get yourself flowers, baby. Never think you need a man for something you want or desire.”
“But it’s nice to get something from a boy.”
She’s eight. Where the hell is she getting this from? “Sometimes. But there’s something empowering about getting something for yourself.”
“Can we invite Zep over for dinner one night?”
There’s a very little chance she’s going to let this go. “Maybe.”
“How about this? We’ll have Carly over for dinner after you ask Zep to come over?”
This girl is going into sales, I swear. “We’ll see.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.”
Chapter Eight
Zeppelin
“Why?”
“Why what?” Chanel asks as she lies in my arms.
Our bodies fit so well together, and it should always be like this. The two of us forever.
Even though it’s been almost a month since she last stayed in my bed, it’s like we were just together yesterday. There’s an ease when we’re around each other.
“Why did we break up?”
Sighing, she shifts to her side to face me. “Come on.”
