“Daisy.” Vivian’s protest was weak at best.
“Hear me out. If money didn’t exist in the world at all and there was no such thing as debt, would you want him?”
The tears poured out the corners of Vivian’s eyes, dousing her cheeks. She nodded silently.
“Don’t let fear win.”
Vivian nodded again. Daisy couldn’t tell if she nodded because she agreed and would go for it or if she was just saying that fear was a factor.
Her phone lit up and she saw Teri’s name on the screen. Her fingers tingled with anticipation over taking the call from KPaka. “I have to take this. Here.” She snatched a box of tissues off the nightstand. “You take these and apply liberally.”
Vivian laughed even as she continued to cry. Daisy made her way into the hallway, where there were less sniffs and nose-blowing to hear over. She answered the phone and they exchanged pleasantries; all the while, Daisy held her free hand in a fist and pressed it to her chest. This was the phone call she’d been waiting for—she could just feel it.
Teri got straight to the point. “We want to thank you for all the time you’ve put into working with us and for being patient as we considered our options, but we’ve decided to pass on theEveryDayGlam!cosmetics line.”
Daisy fell back against the wall. “I’m sorry, did you saypass?”
“Yes. We have decided to pursue another area of the market at this time. But thank you so much for everything.”
“I—you’re welcome?” Daisy pulled the phone away and stared at it. This felt like the wrong number or a crank call. This wasn’t her life. In her life, she had the deal in the cute little pink bag with a big bow on top. Where was her bow? She didn’t remember saying goodbye or hanging up, but her screen went dark. She stared at it, willing it to ring again and for Teri to say she’d been mistaken, or kidding, or had called the wrong girl.
A while later, Vivian nearly tripped over her in the hallway. “What happened?” She hooked Daisy under the arm and hauled her to her feet.
“I didn’t get it?”
“Didn’t get what?”
“KPaka. They decided to go another direction?” She couldn’t help but phrase everything in the form of a question—the whole situation was a question mark followed by an exclamation point.
Vivian’s mouth fell open. “Did she say why?”
Daisy shook her head. “I didn’t even think to ask.” She couldn’t think about anything right now. This was her dream. She’d envisioned it from the time she was fifteen years old, and now it was gone. Just gone.
“I’m going to go lie down.” She headed towards the couch, where Beckett’s smell was on the pillow. Hugging it to her stomach, she lay down and stared at the grain on the coffee table. Somehow life would go on. It had to. She just had no idea what to do with it. All she’d ever seen was this goal. Once she achieved that point, she had a goal to hit after that. But she’d never planned tonotget there. She needed some time to figure that out.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Beckett put the puppy back in his cage. He’d written a new online ad for the little guy and posted pictures. “That should get you a home.” He rubbed the dog’s ear through the bars before standing up.
His phone played “Hail to the Chief.” He smiled. “Hey, Kelly. Daisy isn’t here.”
“Beckett. I know. You’re looking good.”
He laughed. She said that every time they talked now. “I feel good.”
“Great. Do you feel ready to get on a plane?”
No.“Why?”
“Because we just got the permits for Columbia.”
“How did that happen so fast?”
“I’m not gonna lie—we bribed a couple politicians.”
“O-kay. How soon?” He could spend a couple more days with Daisy, make sure the puppy had a home, play basketball with Jason, and say a proper farewell to Quin.
“Five hours.”
