by Giselle Fox
They stood in the doorway, propped between the open screen door and the cabin’s front door. Keira’s eyes landed on the interior and stopped briefly on the open book on the kitchen table. Touchdown, Daisy thought.
Keira’s eyes darted back to hers. “Uh, well, I figured dinner for around five-thirty, maybe? But come over anytime. We’re just there… hanging out.”
“Great. I’ll just get a few more things organized and then I’ll pop over. I’m dying to see your house. It looks so amazing from over here.”
Keira’s smile brightened. “I can’t wait to show it to you.”
Nice teeth, cute smile, Daisy caught herself thinking. Gorgeous eyes, too.
Keira’s eyes dropped to the phone in her hand. “Um, you’re not going to have much luck with that up here, I’m afraid. Reception is pretty bad inside the cove.”
“Kirby said the dock sometimes works. Is that true?”
“Maybe, but… I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on that dock, if I were you,” Keira replied. “But if you need internet, just use mine. The password is Noah.”
Charming, generous, welcoming. Definitely not characteristics of any recluse Daisy had met—and she’d met a few. “Thank you,” she said, taking a lean against the door frame. Keira smiled back at her again. There was something very endearing behind it. Very gentle. Who was Noah? she wondered. A pet? So far she hadn’t seen any pets. “I bet dogs love it out here.”
“Yeah. I thought about getting a dog but, I used to travel a lot.”
“What about now? Do you still travel?”
Keira’s eyes dropped to the deck. “Um, no. Not much in the last while, I guess.”
A friction point, Daisy deduced from the shift in Keira’s tone. Something sad. Noah wasn’t a pet, he was a person. But Keira brightened again. “Anyway, I should head back. Let you get back to it.”
“I was just about to put on some water for tea.”
“Oh,” Keira said, looking inside again. “Does everything seem to work so far?”
“It seems to. Why?”
“The water is finicky sometimes. Could I…?” She gestured inside.
“Please.” She let Keira pass and watched as she went directly to the kitchen faucet. Sure enough, when she turned on the tap, nothing came out but a few agonizing groans from the pipes. Keira let it run while more explosive gushes blasted through the faucet before stopping altogether.
“Give it a minute. It’ll come,” Keira said, looking pretty sure.
“It sounds… painful.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s the best pump ever made.”
“You’ve done this before?”
Keira shook her head. “Oh, yeah. Many times.”
Interesting, Daisy thought, but a topic best left for dinner since the moaning and groaning was a little distracting. Eventually, it calmed and water flowed freely. “Let it run for a few minutes before you fill your kettle.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Keira smiled at her again. “Okay. I should get back. Make sure Jane hasn’t drunk all the wine.”
Daisy walked her to the door and then outside onto the balcony. “Thanks for fixing my tap and letting me use your internet.”
“See you soon,” Keira said and then walked down the stairs. At the bottom, she gave the railing a test. It swayed in her hand. “Careful down here, this needs a few new screws,” she said, looking back up at her again.
“Thank you, Keira.”
Daisy watched her walk back along the path for the second time. What a nice person, she thought. She has no idea who I am, but she’s already gone out of her way to help me. She knew her brother would be happy, if she was able to call him. Imagining his gleeful little laugh made her smile. She logged into Keira’s WIFI and sent him a text.
At the Brock cabin. Keira Maitland has invited me for dinner. I like her, so far.
A few seconds later, she got the reply. That was fast.
No sense staying here any longer than necessary. This place is disgusting, she replied.
Maybe she’ll invite you to stay there instead.
Daisy knew he was joking, but the suggestion made her smile. I’ll text you after dinner.
She stepped closer to the window, wondering if Keira and Jane were talking about her. They were probably mulling over an idea for dinner; something impressive but not too fussy. If it was up to her, she would have chosen something sensual and exotic, something that required the use of hands and fingers. She imagined Jane as a backseat chef, offering to help but just getting in the way while waving her wine glass around in grand sweeps. Then she spotted Jane in the big window doing exactly that. It made her laugh. “I’m too good at this.”
She flipped through the clothes she’d hung in her closet and selected a blouse with a deep neckline. “Am I actually going to flirt with her?” she asked the blouse as if it might offer guidance. At what point was queer-baiting acceptable? It seemed a little tawdry. If Jane hadn’t practically thrown Keira in her direction, she might have never considered it. Or would she have? She did bring the book after all.
She paused with the blouse still dangling from her fingers and thought about it. Where was the harm? They were both single. It had been years since Daisy had been physically intimate with a woman, but she was never one to close a door on a good thing. Keira had great taste in design, an attribute that had gotten Daisy into trouble on more than one occasion. She hoped Keira’s taste in interiors was just as attractive.
Keira seemed like a gentle soul, and the shyness she’d displayed at Jane’s match-making attempts had been pretty cute. There was something sweet about her smile, something provocative, too. She carried a different kind of confidence; the sexual kind. Daisy appreciated the natural way Keira had looked her in the eye. It took deep inner strength to engage with another person like that. She decided to use eye contact again with Keira. And the blouse.
How eye contact and a low-cut top would inspire Keira to sell Hummingbird Cove, Daisy wasn’t yet sure, but if her hunch was right—that Keira had reached the tipping point where even her best friend was advising her to move on—then maybe just showing her how fun a little female interaction could be was a good place to start. If, in the end, Daisy had a little fun, too, well… she knew as well as anyone that it was high time she did.
Not long later, she stood in her small kitchen, arranging rustic broken wedges of dark chocolate on the least offensive dish she could find; a powder pink dinner plate with a charming scalloped edge—otherwise perfect if it there hadn’t been two stained chips on the side. She laid out a circle of fresh strawberries around the chocolate. It was all she had to offer, but who could resist chocolate and strawberries? It had a whimsical, romantic feel of which her motive approved.
She checked herself in the mirror one last time before putting on her coat. “Okay, Daze. You’re going to smile, laugh, and be charming. You’re going to watch and listen and otherwise seem like the perfect friend. And maybe then, she’ll invite you again.” She slid on another application of gloss, then patted her lips lightly with her finger. “Good. Now go.” She eyed the flashlight on the counter and decided to leave it behind. A simple mistake for a new arrival unaccustomed to the ways of the woods. She smiled. “Keira will have to walk me home in the dark.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Daisy knocked and then stood waiting at Keira’s side door. She eyed her reflection in the window and fixed a lock of brown hair that had blown out of place. Through the glass, she saw Jane shuffling to greet her. She gave Daisy a welcoming smile, her eyes dropped to plate in her hands. “Look at that! Never mind dinner. Here, let me take it for you while you get your boots off.”
Daisy stepped in and was instantly taken by a sultry Mediterranean aroma. “Mmm, it smells great in here.”
“Keira’s making pesto, hence the noise from the kitchen.”
A high-speed blender whined somewhere further in. Daisy pulled off her coat and hung it on the rack. The view through the living room and ov
er the cove was breathtaking. “This place is even better inside.”
“Isn’t it fabulous? Keira did all the interior design. There’s nothing she can’t do.”
And just then, Keira emerged wearing a denim apron and holding a spatula in her hand. She gave Daisy a warm smile. “Welcome. Please, come in.”
“I was just saying to Jane how fantastic it smells in here.”
Keira smiled again. “Do you like basil?”
“I love basil,” Daisy replied. “Your home is incredible. I love everything you’ve done.”
“Thank you,” Keira said brightly.
Jane held up the dessert plate. “Look what she brought. Think we could indulge a little before dinner?”
Keira eyed it appreciatively and gave Daisy another smile. “That’s up to our guest.”
“Why not? We’re adults,” Daisy said, lifting a strawberry to her mouth. Keira’s eyes lingered on her lips as she bit into the fleshy pink fruit. “Is there anything I can do to help in the kitchen?”
Keira smiled again. “What you like to drink? I have wine or non-alcoholic drinks, too.”
“I would love a glass of wine,” Daisy said, following behind as she led her through to the kitchen. “Oh, my gosh, look at this view!” She’d known about the view already from the pictures her brother had showed her, but it bore more gushing for Keira’s sake.
Jane took a seat on one of the bar stools beside her. “The place would be perfect if it wasn’t so isolated.”
“Isolation makes it special,” Keira replied. She smiled at Daisy. “But it’s also nice to have a neighbor.” She poured Daisy a glass of red wine and then topped Jane’s up. “Are you all settled in?”
“Yes,” Daisy replied and took a sip. “Mmm, this is nice.”
Jane clinked her glass. “From Keira’s wine cellar. The bottle I bought at the airport didn’t make the cut.”
“It’s fine, just a little sweet for what we’re having tonight,” Keira said. Her eyes flashed over to Daisy again.
“I won’t argue. I like anything red.” And over twenty dollars, which Keira’s bottle most definitely was.
Keira smiled back at her and then appeared to forget what she was in the middle of. “Right. Pesto.” She snapped her fingers and then grabbed a dish from under the counter.
“Could I try a little?” Daisy asked.
“Sure. Tell me what it needs.” She passed her a small spoon across the island.
Daisy took it and popped it into her mouth. “Mmm, oh my gosh. It doesn’t need a thing.”
“She’s going to rub it all over chicken breasts,” Jane said with a lascivious grin.
Keira looked over at her. “I never asked if you were a vegetarian. I can make pasta if you’d prefer.”
“No, I eat everything,” Daisy replied. She allowed herself to linger this time, focusing in on Keira’s brown eyes and the tousled mahogany waves that flicked her cheekbones. Her lips seemed more voluptuous with a little glossy shade. The top two buttons of her collarless shirt were open behind the snug bib of her apron. Her sleeves were rolled just below her elbows. The skin on her forearms, hands, and chest looked soft and bore a faded tan.
Daisy looked up, suddenly aware that she’d been staring. There were Keira’s eyes again—deep and infinitely brown; a knowing smile spreading the corners of her mouth. Keira Maitland wasn’t just attractive, Daisy realized, she was sexy as fuck.
~~~
“She’s adorable,” Jane whispered.
“Shhh, she might hear you.”
“She won’t hear me. The bathroom is way down the hall.”
True, but Keira still didn’t want to risk it. “Do you think she’s having a good time?”
“I think she’s having a great time. She’s been smiling at you all night.”
That was also true. “Do I have anything in my teeth?”
“No, you’re a babe. Now go show her your book collection.”
They stepped apart when they heard the bathroom door open. Daisy reappeared a few seconds later. “I still can’t get over the views from this place. Even the bathroom is breathtaking.”
“It’s nice in there when it’s warm outside. Those doors open right up.”
“Do you sit there in the bath and just... look out?”
Keira smiled. “I do.”
“She also swims in that water out there,” Jane said waving her finger in the cove’s direction.
“I’m sure it’s not that bad in the summer,” Daisy said.
“No, no. She does it all year round. Tell her.” Jane nudged Keira’s arm.
“Every day, rain or shine.”
Daisy’s mouth dropped. “Okay, this I have got to see.”
Gladly, Keira thought. “I’ll be out there tomorrow morning.”
“She’s trying to get me to go in with her,” Jane said and then laughed.
Keira knew there was no chance of getting Jane in the water. “It’s really not that cold. We get some very mild currents through here. It’s not like-”
“It’s positively arctic, come on,” Jane protested.
Keira shook her head. “Try it. It might surprise you.”
“Enough to have a heart attack. I don’t do ice water.” She looked over at Daisy. “How about you?”
“Me? Um, I don’t think so, but I’m happy to offer life support should the need arise.”
“Good enough…” Keira said, chuckling. Daisy was watching her again with her beautiful shade of blue-green eyes. They smiled at each other again. Keira got distracted until Jane discretely nudged her leg and she remembered what she’d been about to do. “Would you like to see the library?”
“Would I?” Daisy exclaimed. “Yes!”
“And I’m going to make sure my husband is surviving without me. You two go ahead,” Jane said, giving Keira a wink.
She led Daisy through the open living room. The sun was hanging low over the trees across the cove, casting the room in a yellow glow. She slid open the tall barn doors to the library and stepped in. The entire expanse of walls right up to the ceiling held books. Hundreds and hundreds of books.
Daisy stopped right where she was. “Oh... wow,” she breathed.
Keira looked up at the giant collection—mystery, thrillers, romance, non-fiction, an entire section of children’s books. Books were life—another life, but a life that had been so worth living. Just standing in front of all that greatness and beauty, made her want to bow in front of it. “Yeah, it never gets old.”
Daisy went straight to the shelves and ran her finger appreciatively along a row of spines, her eyes wide. “There are so many.”
“Turn around,” Keira said.
Daisy did and stopped again. Her eyes drifted slowly up to the ceiling. “This is better than any library I’ve been to. It’s like... church.”
“You like to read?”
Daisy’s eyes shot back to her. “Do I like to read? Oh my gosh, books are… I don’t even know what I would do without books.” She looked up the tall expanse of shelves again. “I would never leave this room.”
“This is my office,” Keira said. “I mean, I read in here too, hence…” she pointed to the sunken pit of custom-made connecting cushions that acted as a lounge area. It was where she and Noah had read and made up countless stories together.
“This room is magical,” Daisy said. “Every time I think I’ve found my favorite part of this house, there’s something else.”
“The bedroom is nice, too,” Keira said, without meaning for it to sound as suggestive as it did. Or maybe she had. It didn’t seem to matter anymore.
Daisy’s eyes flashed at her, her eyebrow arched. “Oh, really?”
Keira laughed and slid her hand through her hair. “I should go check on things in the kitchen. Take your time. Find something you want to read, if you like. Anything you want.”
“Okay,” Daisy said and smiled. “I’ll do that.”
Keira left her and walked back through the living roo
m and into the kitchen. Jane was still talking on the phone to her husband. She could hear the kids in the background.
“Keira’s here. Say hi,” Jane said and put them all on speaker phone.
“Hi, auntie Keira,” came her nephew’s deep voice. It was crazy how fast he’d grown up.
“Hey, Kielan, how’s it going?”
“It’s good. My mom told me to ask you when you were coming back to New York.”
Keira glanced at Jane. Jane shrugged. “You’ve never said no to him before, so I figured he should try.”
“Maybe one day, buddy, you never know. Why don’t you come out here and visit me in the meantime?”
“Okay. When?”
“Any time. How about summer?”
“Okay, sure. Work on my mom.”
Jane laughed. “This is not how I planned that conversation to go.”
~~~
Keira not only had the world’s most impressive book collection, but they were organized, too—alphabetically and by genre. Daisy got stuck in literary fiction and then lost amongst the vintage & rarities. She discovered a long line of bestsellers; titles she recognized and many she’d read. Then, she saw something altogether unexpected; an entire two shelves dedicated to an author she knew of but had never read—Kay Ember. The name was as ubiquitous to romance novels as paper was to paperbacks. Seeing so many in Keira’s collection struck her as… odd. “Huh,” she said out loud and took a seat in front of them. She knew little about the author, only that she was notoriously private.
Leading off the long collection were three other books by a different author. As soon as she saw the name, she lifted one from the shelf. “K. D. Maitland,” she whispered, her heart pounding. She turned the book over and opened the cover, but there was no photo of the author anywhere. She flipped quickly through the pages and landed on a scene that immediately caught her attention. “Hello, lesbian sex.”
She carried the book back into the kitchen where Keira and Jane were laughing over a conversation happening on speaker phone. Keira turned and smiled. Her eyes dropped to the book in Daisy’s hand. She stopped speaking, mid-sentence. Jane stopped suddenly, too. Both women looked at each other, eyes wide as though they’d just been caught in the middle of doing something they shouldn’t. Jane abruptly ended her side of the conversation—leaving Keira to say the goodbyes—and practically launched to Daisy’s side with an anxious smile on her face.