‘We just love to be together,’ Daisy said, gazing up at Elliot and nudging her elbow into his side.
He blinked. ‘Uh… yes, we um… can’t seem to get enough.’
‘Wow,’ Kaori said, from her perch on a stool by the window. ‘We didn’t realize things were so serious between you two.’
‘Very serious,’ Daisy said.
‘It’s nice to see you so happy,’ Nancy said, her shrewd gaze still flicking back and forth between them.
‘Is it?’
‘Of course, dear. That’s what we all want for you.’
Daisy forced a smile. She held back the words bubbling up in her throat. If Nancy really wanted her to be happy, she would have referred The Daisy Chain Flower Shop to her niece, whom Daisy happened to know was getting married in six months.
‘Well, we areveryhappy.’ She didn’t realize how hard she was squeezing Elliot’s fingers until he gave a gentle squeeze back. She loosened her grip and peeked up at him. He winked at her, and she couldn’t help the way her forced smile turned real.
‘Is the shop open today?’ Mac asked, pulling Daisy’s attention back to the group.
‘Yeah, Lu is there all day.’
‘Why, Mac? Buying flowers for Annie?’ Jacob teased.
Mac just grinned like he couldn’t be happier to buy his girlfriend flowers. Maybe if the town was filled with a couple hundred Macs, then Daisy’s store would survive. ‘Of course.’
‘What’d ya do?’
Mac scoffed. ‘I didn’tdoanything. Can’t I just buy my girl some flowers?’
Jacob crossed his arms over his chest, staring Mac down until the other man confessed. ‘Okay, I may have beat her at cards last night.’
‘Ha! She really hates to lose, doesn’t she?’
‘She really, really does.’
The book club descended into a conversation about whether or not Mac should always let Annie win for the rest of forever, but Daisy was tuning them out. She’d take any business she could get at this point, even if it was due to Mac’s poor decision-making and Annie’s inability to lose gracefully.
‘Should we go?’ Elliot’s words tickled her ear as he leaned down to whisper to her.
‘Yeah, let’s get out of here.’
They’d done what they needed to do. At the very least, they’d been seen looking like perverts who maul each other between the bookshelves. That seemed like as good a place to start as any.
Before they could sneak out the door, though, Jeanie called them back.
‘Wait! Estelle and Henry really want to help with your town research. Are you going to come up to the farm?’
Daisy hesitated. She was definitely still curious about her great-aunt, but she didn’t want to force Elliot into doing even more for her than he already was.
‘Definitely,’ Elliot answered before she could say anything. ‘I mean… I’d love to… we just uh… haven’t discussed our um… schedules yet.’ He looked at Daisy with a slight panic in his eyes like he’d somehow just blown their cover. She squeezed his hand, and he blew out a breath.
‘We’ll figure it out and get back to you,’ she told Jeanie before attempting to steer Elliot toward the door again.
‘You two are leaving already?’ Jacob asked with a little pout. ‘You should stay.’
‘We didn’t read the book,’ Elliot told him, as though that would get the book club off their back.
‘It’s okay,’ Jeanie said. ‘You’re still welcome.’
