“Right. Something no one bothered to tell us. That’s not going to happen this week. The storm caused too much damage and I have two days and not enough hands to get the cleanup done,” she explained to Tucker and his crew.
“Don’t give up just yet. Did I mention I’m on vacation?” He smiled, and she felt the movement of his lips to her toes.
“What are you suggesting?” Was he really planning on helping? What would Daisy say?
“Maybe Grandmother will understand how serious I am if I’m part of the crew.”
“So you’re doing this to teach your grandmother a lesson?” Worked for her, but could he be serious?
“Yeah and maybe because I’d like to spend more time with you.” He met her eyes. She was in huge trouble.
“Ha. Don’t you live in York? That’s a long drive every day.” Was she really going to accept his offer? What did she have to lose? If he proved to be anything but a help, she’d send him packing.
“I wasn’t planning on going back and forth every day.” His eyes held something Sydney didn’t think she could even try to figure out right now.
“You will unless you want to sleep in a tent.”
“Did you see that camper in the parking lot?” He grinned as if he’d just won an award. “Mine.”
Sydney sighed. Daisy was going to kill her.
She was right. Daisy stood on the front porch of their cabin, her eyebrows practically fused together. She was furious. Sydney didn’t think it was only because of the truck that followed her into the campground.
Jace stopped at the site where the funky lights had been all over the trees. He waved at Daisy as he got out of the truck. She wasn’t happy in the least.
“What did you do?” Daisy’s voice was low.
Sydney shrugged. “He’s on our side. Apparently, Violet lied to him.” She explained as quickly as she could – before Daisy went over and smacked Jace.
“And you’re trusting his word? Unbelievable. You let me sleep when there’s tons of work to be done around here, then you go off to meet him without telling a soul where you’ve gone? Do you know how worried I was?” Daisy paced, ready to unleash her beast on Jace.
“Whoa. Listen, Mom. You obviously needed the sleep. I handled the contractors and I left you a note. And I figure we’ll keep a close eye on him. If he’s lying, then at least we’ve gotten some work out of him. We need the help, Daisy.”
“I know. Don’t keep too close of an eye on him. Marshal won’t appreciate that.” Daisy cocked an eyebrow.
Sydney stepped back, anger erasing the feeling she’d done something good by allowing Jace to appease his guilty conscious.
“Marshal does not own me. I make my own decisions and there’s nothing going on between Jace and me. Or Marshal and me for that fact.” Her words were quiet, but Daisy heard.
“You led him on. Maybe nothing’s happened yet, but until Jace showed up, it was going to. Marshal’s my friend, Syd, don’t hurt him.” She turned and went inside the cabin.
Sydney followed, guilt eating her insides.
“I’m not trying to hurt him. The thing is, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Up until this morning, I hated Jace. Now I don’t know.” Great. She was doomed.
“Just be careful.”
“You know what? I don’t have time to play this game of who’s a better match for me. We have a campground to open, and not much time. Neither one of us have time to go all soft over a pair of tight jeans. We’re not here to find love.”
Daisy paused for a few seconds. “You know what? You’re right. Absolutely right. Good. We don’t need these stinking men. Let’s get busy.” Daisy breezed past her, the sound of her work boots echoing through the cabin.
Sydney sat down at the table and dropped her head to the scratched wood. What was happening? Daisy was hiding something big and painful. She wanted Sydney to be with Marshal, but Sydney didn’t know if she should even be thinking about the opposite sex right now. Maybe she should forget this campground idea and get a bunch of cats. Or find a convent that would take her as a reformed virgin.
Daisy kicked at the stones along the path. One pinged off the side of Jace’s camper, but she ignored his startled expression. From the way he wrestled with the canvas, he obviously didn’t know what to do with that brand-spanking new camper. There was no way she was helping him. What the hell was wrong with Sydney?
Jace was the enemy.
All that shit Sydney told her about his time with Gramps felt like a hot knife in her heart. Jace had taken what should have been hers and Sydney’s. So what if it wasn’t his fault? He still had their grandpa all to himself when Gramps needed his only granddaughters. Damn. That hurt. A lot.
She kicked a bigger rock, not caring that Tucker and his crew had just finished raking new stones into the path. She didn’t want to talk to Tucker either.
Or Graham.
Everyone seemed to think they knew what she wanted. She was tired of being told what to do and how she should feel. After arguing with Tucker again this afternoon about the ticking of his biological clock, she almost told him his services weren’t appreciated any longer.
Thankfully, she’d managed to walk away without cutting off her nose to spite her face. The argument stemmed more from hurt feelings than the job Tucker was doing. She was mad because he’d ignored her this morning and because of the things he’d said about wanting children. Jerk.
Graham had made a derogatory comment about Sydney when Daisy couldn’t find her. She’d given him the death glare and left, even though he’d tried his best to apologize for his rude behavior. She didn’t care. No one talked about her sister like that. Except for maybe her.
This whole thing with her birth parents had her on edge. She didn’t know if she wanted to pursue this any farther, or if she should just leave the search alone. Her father supposedly lived and worked just a few miles from here. What would he do if she showed up and announced herself as his love child?
Soon she’d have to talk to Sydney. Not yet. Getting the information straight in her head was required before that happened. Sydney would want to take action, and Daisy had to decide if action was what she wanted. She pulled the gloves out of her back pocket and shoved them on, concentrating on the weeds nearly obliterating the door to the office. If the building was in decent shape, they might pass inspection this week.
Daisy looked over at Gramps’ house. They’d agreed the house would be last on their list. The oversized cabin they were in would suffice until they had the money to do a little repair and renovation. She was pleased that the house would need a little less than they thought. Melancholy washed over her. Summers spent running the path between the house and the office, fishing in the pond and begging Gramps to put a pool in.
Now that pool was going to give her a whole head full of gray hair. The cost to fix it was twice as much as they’d budgeted. She hadn’t told Sydney that yet. Daisy sighed and yanked at the weeds with determination. Her head might be cluttered and confused, but she’d put the unease to good use.
Hours later, her back had taken all the abuse it could handle. Daisy needed a shower. And Tucker waited for her on the cabin porch. Great. Daisy shoved her gloves back into her pocket, wondering how bad she looked after the hours spent weeding.
“You don’t want us to clean up around the office?”
Oh. So that was it. He was hurt that she’d removed all the weeds herself.
“What? I can’t help?” She was too defensive.
“I didn’t mean that. It’s just when we talked the office wasn’t mentioned. I guess my real question is why?” He didn’t respond to her obnoxious tone.
Daisy sighed. The hours spent doing physical labor had taken the edge off her mood. “We didn’t know if we’d be able to use the building, but it’s good to g
o. We were going to rent a trailer to use as the office, but now we don’t have to.” She sounded stupid.
“Excellent. I have four guys that need experience with creating pond gardens. What do you think of a set up in the flowerbeds? I have supplies left from another job. It wouldn’t be very big, so the cost would be minimal. And we might be able to use some of the old stuff around here.”
She blinked. “Okay.”
Maybe the sun had fried her brain.
“The storm damage is cleaned up. Well, except for the tree in the cabin. Sydney said to leave it for now. We still have a lot to do here before we start our summer schedule.”
That’s right. Tucker would be gone soon.
Would anything change between them? Did she want it to? How could she take a chance with him again when he was certain he wanted children and she was certain she did not?
She nodded and waited for him to move. He gently grabbed her arm, stopping beside her.
“I never meant to hurt you.” He touched her face and she couldn’t stop the tear that escaped her careful composure.
The next thing she knew she was in his arms. His familiar kiss drew her in and the comfort bolstered her spirit. When he moved away, she glanced up, confused and impressed.
“I don’t want to hurt you again. I just don’t know what I want.” He released her and left.
Daisy watched him until he disappeared. As she turned, Graham stood against the cabin he shared with Marshal. He stared at her for a few minutes before turning around and leaving, too.
She started toward her and Sydney’s cabin, letting out one of Sydney’s primal screams.
God. She was a screw-up.
CHAPTER 11
Daisy tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable on the lumpy mattress. She stopped wrestling with the blankets when she heard voices through the interior wall. For a minute, she thought Marshal or Jace had snuck into Sydney’s room. Except the voices were female.
She rose, trying to be quiet and stuck her ear against the wall. Sydney spoke to someone in a pleasant, patient voice.
Definitely not Jace or Marshal.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Your family is waiting for you.” Sydney. Quiet and soothing.
Daisy could use those kinds of words herself.
“Yes. I’m sure. You’ve been trapped here too long. It’s time.” Why hadn’t Daisy heard the answer that should have come between Sydney’s words?
Confused, she debated for a minute before deciding the time for secrets had passed. She’d tell Sydney hers, and hope Sydney would do the same.
Softly, she knocked once on Sydney’s door before opening it without waiting for an answer. Sydney sat up in bed, the sheets around her waist. An odd glow filled the room and Daisy looked around for the light source.
“What’s wrong?” Sydney glanced over Daisy’s shoulder to the empty corner.
“Lots of stuff. What’s going on in here? I heard you talking to someone.” That wasn’t how she’d planned to ask. She’d wanted her sister to tell her because she wanted to.
“You first. What happened this morning?” Sydney patted the bed beside her and Daisy scooted in next to her.
“I asked Uncle Al to find out information on my birth parents.” She waited, knowing how Sydney would react but curious just the same.
Instead of the anger she expected, Sydney nodded and smiled. “I wondered when you would.”
“I didn’t think you’d understand.”
“I do. It’s hard though. I don’t want to think about it and I don’t want to see you get hurt.” Sydney leaned against her.
“Knowing isn’t going to change anything.” Why was she comforting Sydney?
“I know. I know you need answers.”
“I know where the guy they say is my father works.” Daisy told her everything.
“What do you want to do? Do you want to meet him?” Sydney’s patience almost freaked her out.
“I don’t know yet.” She didn’t, but wished she did.
“How about we check him out first? You don’t have to tell him who you are. We’ll see what we think. That is, if you want me along.” This was very unlike Sydney. She took charge and that was that. She didn’t ask first, but apologized often afterward.
“Let me think about it. Your turn. What’s going on in here? Are you cracking up and talking to yourself now?” She tried to sound light, but failed.
Truthfully, she was a bit worried about her sister’s recent judgment. Daisy wondered what the number for the psychiatric hospital was and how quickly they could get the men in white coats out here to pick up her clearly deranged sister.
“You won’t believe me.” Sydney again looked to the corner of the room and Daisy realized the weird light seemed to originate there. Oh.
“Try me.” She adjusted the pillows and leaned back.
“Well, I’m a fraud. Remember when we used to pretend we saw ghosts? Well, I really could. I thought you did, too, but when I realized you couldn’t, I stopped saying anything. Then, it all went away. And then we came back here . . .” Sydney went on to tell a terrific tale of how she could see and talk to spirits when they were kids and then again now.
“You’re not serious.” If Sydney wasn’t teasing, and Daisy didn’t think she was, the story made sense on so many levels and caused a touch of regret for the way Daisy teased her.
“I rejected the whole thing after our last summer here. Actually, I think I denied the ability for so long I believed my rants. Believed everything I ever said to you about there being no such thing as spirits. I would dream odd dreams of people talking to me, begging me to help because no one else could hear them. In the cabin, when I was touched, it all came back. I knew what he wanted, why he had to get my attention. It scared me spitless and I didn’t want it. I am visited every night by people looking for the way to peace. I try, but I don’t think I’m doing the right things.”
“I wondered why you accepted Marshal and his crew so readily. And here I figured you just thought Marshal was sexy and wanted in his pants.”
Sydney smiled and shrugged. “After talking to Kay, I think Gramps had similar experiences. I need to find his journal.”
“That journal is nowhere, we’ve searched. Gramps probably hid it in some abyss or something. That would be so like him. And even if we do find it, would we be able to decipher what it says? His way with words was something else.” Daisy shook her head. “Have you told Marshal?”
“He knows, but . . . this is hard for even me to believe. Sometimes I want to give it back and forget everything. Even this campground. What happened to my normal life?”
“You mean the life where you stayed home every weekend wondering what was wrong with you? Where you busted your ass for a boss who ignored you and tried to take credit for your ideas? You hated your job.”
“I know. I did. I think I planned my career wrong.” Sydney shook her head.
“You worked at the wrong place. That’s all. You’re a great accountant.”
“You only say that because I do your taxes for free.” Sydney laughed and sobbed at the same time.
Daisy laughed. “Well, yeah. No. You’re dedicated and you enjoy the work. It’s not about what you do. Your skills will come in handy around here.”
“Yeah, I can open a tax season business to pay the electric bill in the off season.” Sydney’s sarcastic tone didn’t sit well. Though she did have a point.
“You might have to, but that wasn’t what I meant. Neither one of us would have been able to quit our jobs and take over this nightmare if it wasn’t for you. So now you have another skill.”
Sydney leaned against the pillows and yawned. “I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since the cabin. It’s like some kind of portal opened and spirits
from everywhere are coming for help. Do you think Gramps dealt with this?”
“I don’t know. Okay. We need to set some ground rules then. No more waking you and entering your private space at any hour. I assume you did something about Suicide Sally in the bathhouse?”
“How did you know about her?” Sydney studied her and Daisy realized what she’d given away.
“I saw her. She’s kind of hard to miss.”
“She finally realized I could see her. I don’t think she understood the finality of suicide. She was waiting for her lover to rescue her, thinking that seeing her bleeding would make him realize what he would lose, but I don’t think she understands.”
Daisy shook her head. “That’s too sad.”
“At least she’s listening to me now. Who knows how long it’ll be until what I say makes sense to her. If it ever does. It’s almost like she enjoys being a tortured soul. Like a dead drama queen.” Sydney yawned again and rearranged the blankets. “What are we going to do?”
“Sleep and figure the rest out later.” Daisy leaned over and kissed her forehead before getting up. As she opened the door, a spectral form appeared in her path. Daisy took a step back until Sydney’s dilemma reminded her of what her sister was dealing with. This could not continue.
“She’s sleeping. You are not to wake her this night, or any other. Tell them she is not to be bothered until she tells you. She will help you all, but not now.”
She didn’t know if the message got through. The figure stood at the door as if debating. If her speech didn’t work, Sydney would have to tell them.
Finally, the vague shape moved away.
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