“How are things?”
“Good. I’m on track with the cosmetics line. We had a banner month introducing the coconut-flavored lip balm. And my subscriber list is still growing.”
“Yes. Yes. But how is my girl? Are you getting enough sleep?” There was a rustling in the background. “It’s too early for you to be up.”
Daisy smiled. She wouldn’t tell her mom she’d been up for over almost two hours already. Mom would just worry. “It’s the perfect time to meditate at sunrise,” she said. Which she planned to do as soon as the sun decided to come up. She settled onto the east-facing front porch swing and tucked her legs up underneath her. The huge hoodie easily cocooned her legs and feet.
She really needed to talk to Beckett about buying clothes that fit. Though the jacket had a clean scent that mingled with mint shampoo and something specific to Beckett, it wouldn’t do for him to wear jumbo-sized clothing—especially if people thought she had dressed him.
Which brought her to the real reason for her call. “Hey, Mom, do you still have those scrapbooks?”
“I sure do.” Mom was the queen of MyHeartChannel scrapbooking. Back when Quinton was in high school, she showcased her award-winning designs and gave tutorials on how to use everything from chalk to glue dots. She still made money off ads and she hadn’t posted in eight years. It was unlikely that anyone knew the scrapbook queen was Daisy’s mother, despite the fact that pictures of Daisy in her prom dress, graduation gown, and an inner tube on the lake were all over that channel.
“Can you find some fun pictures of Beckett?”
“Beckett?”
“Yeah, I’m doing a fundraiser for FreeWater. If we raise $5000, I get to give Beckett a makeover.”
“Beckett’s there?” Her mother’s pitch elevated.
Daisy nodded even though her mom couldn’t see her. There was a fine line between lying and withholding information. “It was just supposed to be for a couple days, but then there was a revolution and he was grounded.”
Mom laughed. “Beckett started a revolution and got grounded?”
It was Daisy’s turn to laugh. “Okay, that came out wrong. Long story short, he’s stuck here for a while, so we’re collaborating to raise money for FreeWater.”
Mom was quiet. The sound of waves crashed in the background, letting Daisy know she hadn’t dropped the call. The longer the silence stretched out, the antsier Daisy became. “FreeWater’s purpose and mission statement go hand in hand with my commitment to beautifying inside and out. This will provide my subscribers with an opportunity to do something for a person they’ve never met before. A random act of kindness a day is in my pledge.”
“You’re right about that.”
“But …?”
“But you don’t want to commit to a cause and then remove your support later. I’ve seen that ruin too many channel owners. They give while they’re making good money and pledge to continue, only to have to pull their support when they lose a big sponsor and their income drops. Then the trolls swoop in and paint them as a monster who refuses to help orphans.”
Daisy chewed her lip. “This is a one-off with a $5000 cap. I haven’t promised proceeds from sales or anything like that.”
“So you’re only getting one episode out of this?”
“No, I’m working out how to set up four—it’ll run through the end of the month, which is all the time Beckett could freely commit.”
“Tell me the plan.”
Daisy leaned back into the coral cushions, making the swing rock gently. “The first segment will be after we raise $1000. I don’t anticipate that taking long, so it should air this Friday. I’ll go over …” She glanced down. “How to buy a shirt that fits. Soooo many men are walking around in the wrong-sized shirt.”
“A little investment and a little payoff. I like it. What’s after that?”
“A full wardrobe at $2500. For Beckett that’s like two pairs of cargo shorts and a few shirts, but I’ll need to get him dressed up too. He has these amazing shoulders and a flat stomach that would look fantastic in one of those untucked fitted dress shirts. I’ll post that one the following Wednesday.”
“You’ll have a weekend to collect funds and for the movement to gather momentum.”
“Exactly. The next Wednesday we’ll shave the beard for $4000. And a week later the man bun will disappear for the full $5000.”
“Man bun? Beckett? Are you kidding me?”
Daisy pressed her palm to her forehead. “It’s so bad, Mom. I mean, I saw him with his hair loose—it’s got a little wave to it and these natural highlights that look so good.” She saidso goodlike she was talking about a black forest cake fromSweet Home Vermont’s cake extravaganza episode. “But he pulls it back into this elastic and it just kills his bad-boy charm. He’s going to look so hot when I get done with him. It’s a good thing he’s leaving the country, because my subscribers will be all over him.” She adjusted in her seat, warming to the topic. “I can already read the comments section—especially once we take off his beard. He has these blue eyes that just pop. You know, maybe we should just shorten and shape the beard. Facial hair is in right now, and with his eyes, a defined jawbone would be absolutely amazing.”
“Honey?”
