Mom hadn’t brought up Daisy’s confession bomb after the panel—probably out of mercy. Daisy fielded more questions about Beck and about her and Beck, a few about her channel, and some about makeup tips. Brittany hadn’t let up her snide attacks against Daisy or her channel. By the time they signaled the end of questions, Daisy’s emotions needed first aid. She hated that Brittany could get under her skin—hated that she gave her the power to do so because it made her feelweak.
Thankfully all that was behind them for a whole year. Tonight was about celebrating theirsuccesses.
Beckett and Dad were outside at the grill. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but they seemed to get along okay. No doubt Mom had filled Dad in on the situation so at any moment he could go off too. Which made it even harder for Daisy to concentrate on making hummus—which wasn’t all that hard atall.
Vivian and Jason arrived with Jell-O salad and a package of store-boughtbrownies.
“Oh, Vivian! Mint fudge brownies are Quinton’s favorite,” Momgushed.
“I didn’t know.” Vivian practically tripped over her own words. Her broad cheekbones turned a beautiful shade ofpink.
Daisy hated watching two people who wanted to be together stay apart. There had to be a way to help them get over this hurdle—or as Beckett would say, walk aroundit.
The sliding back door opened, bringing in the smell of charred meat and roasted hot dogs. The men brought in two platters of freshly cooked food. Dad stopped to kiss Mom on the cheek. Beckett winked her direction and Quinton offered a small wave to Vivian. Jason threw himself into Quinton’s side and grinned up athim.
“Hey, how’s my new vet tech?” Quinasked.
Jason swiped at his nose. “Good.”
Dad pulled the chair out next to him and motioned for Jason to take a seat. Everyone else found a place around the table and Dad offeredgrace.
“What’s this? Did you hire a helper?” askedDad.
Quinton nodded. “He assisted in surgeryyesterday.”
“Surgery, you say?” Dad exaggerated his interest, which got Jasontalking.
“I got to touch a cat’s teeth while it was asleep. And another time Quinton cut open a dog and took stuffout.”
All eyes swiveled to stare atQuinton.
He dropped salad on his plate. “We were spayingher.”
Vivian’s lips pressed in an amused grimace. “I can’t believe you let him seethat.”
“Kids see way worse stuff on the Internet.” Dad turned back to Jason. “Did you learnsomething?”
“Yep, I learned that cats need their teeth brushed and they can get cavities, and that we should treat all animals with respect, and that puppies pee when they getexcited.”
Everyonelaughed.
Beckett took that moment to squeeze Daisy’s knee under the table. Their eyes met, and a promise passed between them. A promise that one day they’d have family dinners and listen to the gross but way cool things Uncle Quinton let their kids do. How they could say that all in such a short time was testament to the feelings growing between them. Daisy dropped her gaze, overcome with the vastness of Beckett’s silentconversation.
Since she’d spent so much time with her mom, Daisy offered to do dishes with Dad while everyone took a walk around the block to help them digest. Really, the walk was for Mom’s digestion and to wear out Jason beforebedtime.
“That Jason sure is taken with Quinton.” Dad ran warm water in the sink. Daisy would have been fine soaking pans, but he insisted on getting all the dishes washed and putaway.
“I think the feeling ismutual.”
“And hismom?”
Daisy bit her lip. “We’re working onthat.”
“Good. I likeher.”
“I do too.” They fell into an easy rhythm. He washed, and she dried and putaway.
“Beckett’s not so badeither.”
