by Sabrina Sol
The woman turned back around and put on her fake smile again. “I’m sorry, Mr. Montoya, but there’s still no new information since you asked me fifteen minutes ago.”
“But it’s nine-thirty, and the surgeon said it shouldn’t take more than two hours if there were no complications. And if there were complications, someone from his team would let us know. So why hasn’t anyone let us know?” His tone, louder on his last sentence, made her raise her eyebrows. Again, he didn’t care.
A hand touched his shoulder. “Brandon, I’m sure once there’s something for her to tell us, she’ll tell us. Right?”
The woman nodded at his sister. It irritated him that, as usual, she wasn’t as concerned as he was. That was Alex, after all. He was the worrier of the family because he had to be. Otherwise bad things happened.
He moved away from Alex and stomped back to his seat. He caught Daisy’s eye but looked away before she saw the fear that was thrashing his insides at that moment. Control was slipping from his grasp. He’d been grabbing onto it like a vice from the moment he woke up. This had been one of the hardest days of his life, yet he’d done everything he could to not show it, especially to his mom. He’d nearly lost it just before she was wheeled into surgery. He’d told her he loved her and when he bent down to kiss her forehead, she’d whispered that she loved him, too, and added, “If I don’t come back, take care of your sister. And don’t mess things up with Daisy. She’s good for you.”
Just thinking about it again made him choke on the emotion. He needed to get out of there before he exploded in either tears or anger.
“I need to make a call. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he muttered to no one in particular, and walked toward the small courtyard next to the surgery waiting room.
As soon as he got outside, he closed his eyes and sucked in the cool air. He could breathe again, and that started to calm him. Luckily, there was no one else on the patio and the tall hedges created a barrier between him and the parking lot on the other side. Finally, all alone, he wiped at the tears wetting his eyes.
A hand touched his shoulder, and he stiffened. “Look, Alex, I’m not in the mood right now to hear—”
“It’s not Alex,” he heard Daisy tell him.
He wiped his eyes again before turning around to face her. “Did the doctor come out yet?”
“No, not yet. I just came out her to make sure you were okay. If you’d rather be alone, I’ll go back inside.”
He’d thought he wanted to be alone. But now he wanted to be with Daisy. He grabbed her hand before she could leave. “No, stay with me.”
She nodded. “I’m so sorry all of you have to go through this.”
“Yeah, it sucks. But I guess it could be worse.”
“You know she’s going to be okay, don’t you. She’s a fighter. The doctor is going to take out the tumor and in a few months she’ll be cancer free.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For telling me that. For being here with us. For agreeing to be my fiancée so she would have the surgery in the first place. For everything.”
She shrugged and gave him a look that wrecked him. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”
Fear and anger vanished. A new feeling overcame him, and that made him bend down to kiss her. Their lips met, soft and hesitant. There was nothing urgent or lustful about it. Yet it made his heart thump wildly in his chest and his gut clench. The sweetness of her mouth overwhelmed him, and for a few seconds the noise of cars and people coming and going on the other side of the hedges fell away. All he could hear were their mingled breaths, inhaling each other’s need.
“Ahem. Excuse me, guys.” Alex’s voice cut through the heaviness of the emotion between them, and they pulled away from each other to look at her. “Sorry to interrupt, but the doctor’s here and wants to talk to us.”
Never letting go of Daisy’s hand, he walked back inside with her and approached Dr. Katz, who still had his surgery scrubs and game face on. He didn’t break it until all three of him were standing next to him.
“The surgery went extremely well. We were able to remove all of the tumor via laparoscopy so we didn’t have to switch to the traditional open surgery. She’s resting in the recovery room and you can go and see her in about half an hour. As long as we don’t see any side effects from the anesthesia or the beginnings of an infection, she can go home in two days.”
“When will she start her radiation therapy?” Alex asked.
“I’ll know for sure after her follow-up appointment next week. But if all looks good she can start pretty quickly. I’m hoping so.”
“Thank you, Dr. Katz. Really, I can’t even tell you how appreciative we all are for taking such good care of her.”
“You’re welcome, Brandon. I’ve done my part. Now it’s your turn to take care of her. You need to make sure she comes to all of her appointments and follows the diet that the nutritionist gave her. If she does everything she’s supposed to, I don’t see why she can’t have a full recovery.”
The doctor offered his hand and Brandon took it, the worry falling off his shoulders with every shake. When they were done, both Alex and Daisy gave the doctor a hug, which surprised but pleased him, judging by the big smile he wore when he finally left the waiting room.
But while Daisy was also smiling, Alex’s face crumpled. He rushed to his sister’s side and asked what was wrong.
“I’m just…so…relieved…she’s…okay,” she sobbed, and then covered her face with her hands. He felt bad for ever thinking that Alex hadn’t been just as worried as he had been. He pulled his sister into a bear hug and tried to comfort her.
“I’m going to go find her some water and tissues,” Daisy told him, and left the room on her search.
He ushered Alex back to the row of black leather chairs that had been their home for the past few hours. She dug into her purse and pulled out a tissue. “I’m sorry for being such a crybaby,” she said as she wiped her tears and cleaned her nose. “I just couldn’t hold it in anymore.”
“No need to apologize. Believe me. I almost had a breakdown outside before Daisy found me.”
“Looks like she did a pretty good job of calming you down.”
He caught the sarcasm behind her words and he smiled. If she was teasing, then she was feeling better. Although he’d usually respond with a smart comeback of his own, this time he couldn’t think of one fast enough. Maybe because what she said was true. Daisy had calmed him and made him forget his anxiety for a few seconds.
“So you guys have gotten pretty close?”
“Well, we are pretending to be engaged.”
“Um, there was no pretending going on as far as I could see. That kiss looked very real…and very hot.” Again, what could he say? They sat in silence for a few seconds before she continued. “What are you doing, Brandon?’
“What do you mean?”
“What are you doing with Daisy? I thought this whole engagement business was supposed to be platonic. And sleeping together is exactly the opposite of platonic.”
“Whoa, who said we were sleeping together?”
“That kiss did. And so did you just now by that reaction. Please, just be careful.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we are being careful.”
“I don’t mean that, you dummy. I mean, be careful with her heart. Daisy has a really good one, and I’d hate to see it stomped on.”
“Ouch. Thanks a lot.”
“Look, we both know that neither of us do really well when it comes to long-term relationships. I have a tendency to pick guys that turn out to be blackmailers and you have a tendency to pick women, well, who don’t have the best intentions either. But Daisy’s different. She’s not the type of woman where you can just send a dozen roses to let her know you won’t be calling anymore.”
“Hey, I only did that once. And only because that was one was a little loca.”
“That’s my point. Daisy is kind a
nd sweet and someday she’s going to make someone very happy. And we both know that someone isn’t going to be you. Is it?”
The thought of Daisy waking up next to some other guy every morning for the rest of her life annoyed him more than it should. And so did Alex’s assumption that he was going to damage Daisy somehow. So what if he wasn’t her Mr. Right? He’d never said he was. Plus, they’d both agreed that he’d be her Mr. Right Now while his mom was in town.
“Look, I appreciate you watching out for Daisy, but she’s a big girl and she knows exactly what she signed up for. We know that this is just a temporary deal.” Alex’s raised eyebrow compelled a small confession. “Fine. I’m not going to lie. I like having her around, I like spending time with her and, yes, I like sleeping with her. But we were very clear about keeping our emotions out of it.”
This time the arched eyebrow came complete with an eye roll. “Well, as long as you were clear about it…”
There was that sarcasm again. “What do you want from me, Alex?”
“Nothing. I just want to make sure that you’re not kidding yourself about what Daisy may want from you eventually. Or even what you may want from her.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Oh, dear brother. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I don’t like her.”
Brandon leaned down to whisper in Daisy’s ear. “You don’t even know her. She seems harmless to me.”
“That’s because she’s cooking you dinner,” she whispered back. “I’m sorry, but you’re kind of a manwhore when it comes to food.”
He shrugged and acknowledged she was right. That made her smile, and she tipped her head against his shoulder. He moved his hand to cover hers and squeezed to let her know everything would be fine, and that she needed to get over the fact that her dad had a girlfriend.
Her name was Teresa and she was a widow he’d met during Bingo night at the church a few weeks ago. And now she was cooking them all enchiladas.
“It’s just that I can’t believe he didn’t tell me about her before tonight. Don’t you think I would deserve to know that he was seeing someone,” she whispered as they watched the couple from the couch in her dad’s living room. He was setting out plates on the kitchen table while Teresa was placing the silverware.
“He probably thought the same thing when you told him about us.”
She turned away from the kitchen to look at Brandon. “You know that’s different. Besides, it not like him to lie to me. Maybe that’s her bad influence?”
“They’re not teenagers you caught smoking,” he said with a smile. “Yes, he invited us to dinner and neglected to mention that his new girlfriend would be joining us. That’s not exactly lying.”
“Well, it’s not telling the whole truth either. I don’t like it. And I don’t think I like her.”
They sat in silence for a few more minutes observing the very domestic scene.
“So he really has never had a girlfriend since your mom left?” Brandon finally whispered.
“Not that I remember. I guess he could have dated without me really knowing, but if he did, he never brought anyone home to meet me or cook dinner.”
“Then he’s been alone a long time, Daisy. Try to be happy that he found someone.”
“Wow, Brandon. I thought you believed in lifelong bachelorhood?”
He shrugged. “I think it all depends on the person. If being a relationship makes your dad happy, then I’m no one to judge. And neither are you.”
Daisy thought about Brandon’s words all through dinner. Her dad did seem to be smiling a lot more. He was even joking around with Brandon, which shocked the heck out of her since he hadn’t been too happy that her supposed fiancé hadn’t asked his permission to marry her—even if it would’ve only been a symbolic gesture since Daisy hadn’t asked for his permission to do anything since she was seventeen. She knew she couldn’t put off the meeting any longer, which was why she had said yes to coming over for dinner, and why she’d dragged Brandon along.
Truth was, it was nice having him there.
“So Brandon, how is your mom doing?” her dad asked as they sat down to eat.
“Good, thank you for asking. She recovered pretty quickly from the surgery and is starting her first radiation therapy tomorrow.”
“We’ll light a candle for her at church on Sunday,” Teresa added.
Okay, maybe she wasn’t as bad as Daisy originally thought. The rest of the dinner went surprisingly well and before long she realized her cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much.
“Teresa, these were some amazing enchiladas,” Brandon said after nearly licking his plate clean. “Thank you again for cooking.” He was always such the charmer, even around older women who smelled like manteca and Vick’s Vapo Rub.
“Maybe she could cook some for your restaurant?” her dad asked.
Daisy tried hard not to roll her eyes. “Dad, Brandon’s sister is the chef. I’m sure her enchiladas are the only ones they need.”
“Pues, I just thought since your cousin sells her desserts there then maybe they needed some other dishes.”
“Oh Juan, stop,” Teresa said and leaned over to touch her dad on the arm. Daisy looked away. “My enchiladas aren’t the kind people want to eat at a restaurant. They’re too simple.”
“Actually, Teresa, some of our most popular dishes are the simple and traditional ones that people grew up eating in their mother’s kitchens. You’d be surprised,” Brandon offered. “But I’m afraid my sister prefers to make all of the main dishes herself. She’s a little bit of a control freak and doesn’t let me bring in anything except Amara’s desserts. However, I definitely think your enchiladas are as good as any restaurant’s.”
Judging by the way Teresa’s and her father’s faces beamed with pride, she knew Brandon had just charmed his way into her family.
Well, her dad was the only family that counted anyway. Her mom had still been bugging her about wanting to meet him, but there was no way she’d subject him to that drama-mama.
In fact, none of Daisy’s boyfriends had ever met her mother. Not even Luis. It helped that he was a garage mechanic—the kind of job her mother frowned upon. So she’d never asked to meet him and instead spent their three yearly phone calls telling Daisy that she could do better.
Who knew she’d be right?
But Brandon’s not your boyfriend. And he’ll never be part of your family. Why would he even want to?
As she listened to Brandon and her dad talk soccer while Teresa cleared the table, it was hard not to imagine what it would be like to have this perfect little picture for real. All that was missing was a couple of grandkids running around the living room.
Dear Lord, where’d that come from?
And she wasn’t even drinking.
That’s what happened when you grew up wishing you had a normal family like everyone else. Sure, she had friends whose parents were divorced, but she was the only one who lived with her dad. No one could understand why Daisy’s mom wasn’t around. And she was the last person who could explain it to them.
Her abuela and tias filled in here and there, and her poor dad did the best he could. But she was the one who taught herself how to cook and how to hem her own dresses, and when she got her period, she looked up what to do in a library book. Eventually she learned to accept the fact that her mom was more like a distant aunt she visited a few times a year.
She used to tell people that her childhood had made her stronger, more independent. What she didn’t tell them was that it had also made it hard to rely on other people, or even trust that they truly wanted to be part of her life.
No wonder she’d given Brandon such a hard time.
As if he sensed she was thinking about him, he caught her eye and smiled. “What?” he mouthed as her dad searched the kitchen counter for a soccer magazine to show him.
She didn’t answer because she didn’t know what to sa
y, how to describe what she felt when she saw him laughing at her dad’s jokes and offering to help Teresa clean up.
It was such a drastically different picture compared to how she’d seen him before she’d stepped foot in that hotel bar.
They’d definitely become closer over the past few days, settling into a routine that involved more than just sex. Although the sex was still hot, they’d spend the hours afterward talking and teasing each other. Sometimes those were the moments that took her breath away. Fake engagement or not, they had turned into a couple. It felt nice. No, it felt better than nice. It was amazing.
But it’s not going to last, the voice warned.
She knew that deep down. But for tonight, she wouldn’t think about it. Instead, she’d enjoy spending time with Brandon, her dad and, yes, even Teresa, and pretend, for once, that she had a normal family just like everyone else.
Chapter Fourteen
Daisy checked her makeup one more time in her rearview mirror. Her dark, ruby-red lipstick and winged black eyeliner were as perfect as they had been when she’d left the house a half hour earlier. It wasn’t a look she normally wore, but it was perfect for a special evening like tonight.
The valet attendant opened her door and helped Daisy out of her car. The bright lights of the L.A. Cuchara sign reflected off her windows even though the restaurant was technically closed for a private party. Some big movie producer was throwing himself a seventieth birthday bash, and the guest list was sure to be just as amazing as the food. Brandon and Alexa had worked themselves to the bone on the menu. Daisy had barely seen or spoken to him in days.
And a few days seemed like forever when all you wanted to do was touch the person you couldn’t see.
He’d always text late at night to ask about his mom and ask about her, promising he’d wake her when he got home. But usually she’d find him the next morning passed out still in his clothes, either on the couch downstairs or in the other bedroom.