I stood up, threw a twenty on the table—we hadn’t ordered yet, so that seemed sufficient—and took Daisy’s hand. For all of Cape Carolina to see.
She stood and whispered, as all eyes in the restaurant fell on us, “Are you trying to get me on the front page of the newspaper?”
I nodded seriously and walked with purpose toward the door, ignoring the call of “Coach!” that came from behind me. “Yes,” I said as we stepped out into the warm, fragrant night. “I miss my glory days and thought being seen with you could help me land some coverage.”
We were in walking distance of home, and I dropped Daisy’s hand for just a second and pulled out my phone to send a text. Then I took her hand again because I liked holding it. I liked the way she smiled when I wrapped my fingers in hers, the way she smelled like jasmine, and the way her blond hair fell in waves around her face. Who even was I? I hadnoticedall these things about her.
“Well,” she said. “We tried. I guess dating as a celeb is too much.”
I stopped and put my hand to her heart. “Daisy, when I ask a lady on a date, I very much intend to follow through on said date.”
“So you aren’t taking me home?”
“Not to your house,” I said, sort of testing the waters. Many a woman had come back to my house with no promise of dinner or a future. But I got the feeling Daisy wasn’t that kind of girl. I also got the feeling that I didn’t want her to be.
“Ohhhh!” she said, laughing. “Well, aren’t we cocky.” Still walking, she peered at me. “I got to hear all about your conquests at the game.”
Damn it. I knew when I saw Carmen that that wouldn’t end well. “The principal’s wife is an unreliable narrator.”
“Is she?”
We reached the entrance to Dogwood.
“Look,” I said, trying to be sincere, “I can’t change my past any more than I can rearrange the stars.”
“Rearrange the stars?” she asked.
Okay, so, yes. It was cheesy. But it had just popped out. What can I say? I had a romantic streak.
Daisy dropped my hand and, in a move that shocked me, lay down in the soft, tall grass. She was quiet as I did the only thing that possibly made sense. I lay down beside her. I looked up at the sky, which had recently become dark, all at once, like a shutter flash.
“But see,” Daisy said, looking up at the sky, “I think the stars are doing a pretty good job.”
I knew from travel and experience that the stars didn’t shine other places the way they did here.
“No, no,” I said. “They could really do better.” I held her index finger in my hand and pointed up. “See that cluster right there?”
“Sure,” she said, “I think so.”
I moved her finger. “If they tried harder, they could look just like a daisy. You could have your own constellation.”
She rolled onto her side and looked at me. I followed suit. “I should know better than this,” she said.
“Better than what?”
“Now that I know about your past, I know I’m not special. But see, here’s the problem: I like you anyway.”
I laughed, looking into her eyes, and rubbed my thumb on her cheek. “Well, I should know better too.”
“Better than what?”
“I should know better than to chase after you, to think about you all day long. Because I know that you’re far too good for me, and you can only break my heart.”
She smiled and rolled over on her back. “Yeah. You’re probably right,” she said. “I’m pretty great. Probably better to just call it a day now since we know it won’t work.”
I knew she was teasing, but my heart palpitated uneasily at the thought of this being over before it even started. I rolled over on my forearms, close to her face. “But, well, what if we just gave it a shot anyway, even though we know better? What if this thing between us was real and worked out?”
Her eyes searched my face, and I was close enough to feel her breath on my lips as she said, “You mean, what if it was written in the stars?”
