“Well, it is his life too.”
“Not if you don’t choose to make it his life.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It’s always simple, child. We just make it difficult.”
Daisy smiles and gives me a hug. I love it when she does that.
“But I’ve made his business, my business.”
“I don’t quite follow you.”
She proceeds to tell me everything, and I must say this is quite a doozy.
“Well, you certainly have gotten yourself pretty thick into the briar patch this time.”
She smiles. “I sure have.”
“But just like each and every time before, you’ll manage to work your way out. You always do, and you always will.”
“But this time, I really don’t know.”
“Well I certainly know something.”
“What’s that, grandma?”
“I know I aught to go over there and bend your father over my knee and remind him that he needs to mind his own business. He’s not too old for a good spankin’ and neither am I…to give him one I mean. I can still whack him across his fanny, and if my hand gets tired, well, I’ve got a ruler that can pick up right where I left off.”
Daisy’s laughing, but it’s not a joke. “I may be five foot four, and he may be six foot four, but the most important foot is the one right here,” I say, pointing at my orthopedic shoe. “I can still put it right up his backside if that’s what he needs!”
“I love you, grandma,” Daisy says, hugging me again.
“I love you too, my Daisy flower. But if you truly love that boy, you’ve got to tell him.”
“He’s not a boy. He’s dad’s age, remember?”
“Your father is still a boy. You’ll see one day…when you’re my age.”
“Sometimes I wish I was. No more guy troubles that way.”
“Speak for yourself! I got my behind pinched last night at Bingo. You can sure as heck bet your last silver dollar that that whippersnapper got my whip snapped right across his forehead.”
“You’re joking me?”
“No I am not. I’m dating Gerald. All this goodness is his and his alone. Ain’t no other man can lay his paws on me. And it goes both ways. Believe you me, any woman crazy enough to try and touch my Gerald is going to be yelling something a lot different than Bingo!”
We enjoy an afternoon tea, and I’m glad to see my granddaughter’s feeling better. She certainly looks more relaxed. That’s the thing. Kids these days go and make a big fuss outta’ nuthin’. This will all blow over soon enough, and if it doesn’t, well then…I may just have to step in and set things straight my darn self.
CHAPTER 14
Daisy
The next morning
I wipe the sleep from my eye and get out of bed, making my way to the window. It’s barely sunrise and I hear voices on the front lawn.
Oh my, god! It’s Duke and dad. They’re arguing. My dad’s got a baseball bat and Duke’s refusing to leave. I slide the window open so I can hear.
“I’m not leaving here without her, Tim.”
“You’re leaving right now!”
“We may be through, but Daisy and I are just getting started. She wants to be with me and I sure want to be with her. This is real.”
“Shut up with that bullshit! She’s my daughter.”
“Call the cops then. But they better bring backup.”
“I’ll take you by myself.”
Next thing I know they’re wrestling on the front lawn and I’m running down the stairs as fast as I can. This has gone from bad to worse, and has to stop.
I run down the stairs and out the front door as fast as I can. “Stop!” I yell, tears falling from my eyes.
I’m standing on the front lawn watching my father, and his best friend, who also happens to be the only guy I’ve ever truly loved rolling around like two boys duking it out for me.
Honk! Honk!
What in the world?
I turn and look down the street. Speeding along at about fifteen miles an hour is a yellow Buick about as long as a boat. Honk! Honk!
I can’t see the driver, but I already know who it is. I’m amazed she can see over the dashboard. I haven’t seen that car in at least the last five years. I thought she sold it, and I definitely didn’t know she could still drive.
My dad and Duke are still going at it when the car parks. The door slowly opens and I run to help my granny out of her car.
“Quit yer’ fussin’ boys! Knock that off. Timothy, I’m talking to you!”
I’ve got grandma by the arm and I’m taking her over to the patch of grass they currently occupy. She’s pointing her cane at them and won’t stop shouting.
“Mom?”
“And don’t you ever forget it! Now get up off that ground. Didn’t I teach you any manners? Introduce me to your friend.”
There’s something about the power of a mother that just works. The guys pick themselves up off the ground and Duke limps over to my grandma.
“I’m Duke, ma’am.”
“I know who you are. Why are you beating up on my boy like that?”
“Ma’am, what happened was—”
“He wasn’t beating up on—”
“I don’t want to hear it…from either of you! You’re both guilty of acting like children.”
“Mom, what are you—”
“Don’t what me, Timmy. You’re lucky Duke here already had you pinned down, because I came over to put a real whoppin’ on ya.”
“I was win—”
“Shut up and listen for once. That’s your problem. Timothy, you need to hear this. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s the truth. You don’t listen enough. You’re lucky that doll, Karen, puts up with you. That’s probably why she’s out of town on business so much…so she doesn’t have to listen to your nonsense. You think like a daggum analytical military man. Women don’t think in X’s and O’s. We think with our hearts and our emotions. You think in a straight line, we think in a circle. We’re probably gonna come to the same conclusion you do, we just might need a little more time to get there. But this time, we’ve arrived at the answer a lot faster than you have.”
I’ve never seen my dad put in his place before.
“Think with your heart and not your harpoon. This is a matter of two people, a matter where you got no business sticking your nose. Yeah, he may be your best friend, and she may be your daughter, but they’re two grown adults and they love each other and that’s all that matters. Case closed!”
My dad was frozen in place.
“Leave them alone and everyone will be a lot better off, especially you. You’re so darn high strung these days, with Karen out of town. You really need to get laid!”
“Grandma!” I say.
“Don’t grandma me. It’s the truth.”
“Daisy,” Duke says. I turn my head to look at him. “My place isn’t much right now, but I want you to come and live with me. Just the two of us.”
“Young man!” my grandma says. “I may have been on your side a minute ago, but I am still eighty-three years young and my values are old fashioned. My granddaughter will not be living in sin.”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s why I came prepared…with this.”
Duke takes three steps towards me. He’s still covered in sweat and dirt and even blood. He looks like a completely sexy mess, but I’m the one who turns into a mess when he drops down on one knee, and removes the little black box from his pocket. Somehow it’s still in one piece.
“Daisy, we haven’t know each other long, but we don’t need to know all we need to know. What we don’t know about each other today, we can look forward to learning about tomorrow. I’m a man who knows what he wants in this life, and that can only be you. I want you by my side now, forever, and always. Will you marry me?”
I look down at this man and see the honesty, patience, and wisdom in his eyes. Most importantly I see the conviction. The convicti
on that he’ll be true to me, and he’ll be there to help me grow and be the best woman I can be. And the conviction that I’m the only woman he’ll ever have eyes for. I’m the only woman for him and he’s the only man for me. I can see he loves me completely, just as I do him. We’ve got a lot to learn about each other, but we’ll figure it out as we go. I look forward to the adventure. And it sure doesn’t hurt to take that adventure with the sexiest guy I’ve ever seen, and one who’s rugged to boot.
“Yes!” I say, as he slides an absolutely beautiful engagement ring on my finger, as it sparkles in the morning sunlight.
“Okay, then. She can live with ya. But not until after the wedding!” My grandma says.
I kiss Duke, as he wraps me up in his arms. We both turn and look at my grandma and laugh.
“And I thought your grandfather was fast when we got married while he was on a seventy-two hour leave from the Navy! Fifty-two years that lasted. I think you two might last even longer, looking at how fit this boy looks, but I’m not sure I’ll be around to see it through so he better take good care of ya.”
My grandma turns to look at Duke. “My granddaughter keeps active so she’ll have you feeling fit as a fiddle for years. Plus I can see you’ve been keeping strong milking the cows and tending to your chores.” She squeezes his bicep.
“Grandma Gertrude! This is my man.”
“And she’s my woman,” Duke says.
“You two sure are meant for each other. I’m going to the Bingo parlor to give my own man a squeeze! If Danielle Steel can have five husbands, well then, I can certainly have two!”
EPILOGUE
Daisy
Three months later
H ow was your day, my fiancé?” I ask, throwing my arms around my husband to be.
“Incredible, my fiancée,” he says, sweeping me off my feet and spinning me around the kitchen in his new two-story home.
“I can’t believe my business is growing so quickly,” he says.
“I can,” I say. “You do amazing work and people really like you.”
“What time’s dinner?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes. Why do you ask?”
“Because I was hoping we could do some amazing work of a different kind before we eat.”
“I have to watch the oven, so we’ll have to wait until after.”
“Well then, your delicious food will give me plenty of energy for later.”
“Me too,” I say, hugging him tight. “So everything went smoothly?”
“Yep, although when it came time to sign the paperwork I wasn’t sure if I should register the business license as a landscaper or as a construction firm.”
“Which did you choose?”
“Construction.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Gardening was the start. Landscaping is much bigger and more interesting and I’m really enjoying it right now. Plus I never knew how much money was in landscaping.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”
“And I see a butt in here,” he says, as he playfully gives my rear a slap. “But, you’re right. You know me too well. After this summer rush, I’ll sit down and lay out plans for what I really want to do…build homes.”
“That’s great!”
“It is great. And so is the money.”
“But I don’t want you to stretch too far if you’re already enjoying landscaping. The money there has been really good.”
“It has been good, but speaking of stretching, I think it’s time we stretch out ourselves.”
“We can’t go to the bedroom, silly. I have to watch the oven.”
“Not stretch out there. Stretch out here,” he says, pulling an envelope out of his back pocket.
“What’s this?”
“Open it.”
I carefully open the envelope, knowing this is going to be something I’ll be saving in my special memory box.
“The Bahamas!”
“After a week in Miami first,” he says.
I jump into his arms. “You’re amazing.”
“You’re amazing.”
“It’s perfect, but do we have time to travel right now?”
“I always have time to go anywhere and everywhere with you, and it’s also time we took the final step.”
“Step along the white sand beach?”
“Steps down the white sand aisle.”
“White sand aisle?”
“I want to marry you there. It’s all set. All you have to do is say yes.”
“Married in the Bahamas? What about our families?”
“We’ll do it all over again in a few months, for them. But right now we can do it for us. Just the two of us. Our little secret, forever.”
“I like that sound of that. Forever.”
“Me too, because that’s exactly how long we’re going to be together.”
“And exactly how long I’m going to love you.”
“That’s funny.”
“What’s funny about that?”
“That’s almost the same amount of time I’m going to be loving you.”
“Almost?”
“Almost, because I’m going to love you forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and—”
“Shut up and kiss me already,” I say.
His lips meet mine and it feels just like the first time all over again.
“I love you, my forever and ever and ever and ever man.”
“And I love you, my forever and ever and ever and ever woman.”
The End
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SNEAK PEEK: BUDAPEST
Tamás Buda is a pest…the bane of my existence…my billionaire boss…and also my dad’s best friend.
He’s been teasing me since I was a child, but now all I want is for him to tease me with those strong hands, luscious lips, and primal pectorials.
When he invites me to Budapest for a summer internship at his international advertising firm, I discover he's into a whole different kind of playing. One night after work we walk along the Chain Bridge and he reveals the bridge isn’t the only place in Budapest with chains, and Ghoulash isn’t the only lashing in town.
He’s as dark as his is rich, and more difficult to solve than Ernő Rubik’s Cube.
When my spring fling turns into a summer of sin, I’m left wondering if I've fallen for him for good.
*Budapest is an insta-everything standalone romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger.
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Gardener: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 18) Page 6