by Jessa Chase
“Don’t worry, momma,” Mason replied in his most serious tone. “I won’t eat too much ice cream and I’ll brush my teeth. And Uncle Logan said I could help him roast some marshmallows outside after dinner. ”
Daisy laughed. “That’s my good boy. Be sweet to Ella and listen to the grownups. Be careful around the fire. Give me another couple of smooches and then you can go get back to playing.”
She was still leaving lipstick marks on his cheeks when the front doorbell chimed. Daisy could feel her heart pounding away in her chest as she stood and opened the door.
Damn if the man didn’t look extra delicious that afternoon, too. Dressed up, but not too fancy. Like a 50’s movie star, ready to take his best girl out on the town. It wasn’t until he gave her a little smile that it occurred to her that he’d be as nervous as her.
“You look beautiful,” he took a step inside the house and grasped her hands in his. “Stunning, actually.”
Daisy blushed, let herself enjoy the sensation before leaning back and catching Kate’s eye. “Thank you, again, Kate. For everything.”
Kate was grinning from her position on the couch. “Absolutely. You two deserve a little time away from the outside world.”
“Agreed,” Cole said emphatically. He pulled Daisy to him and kissed her cheek. “Are you ready to go?”
Daisy nodded.
*
The spot that Cole had picked for the picnic was like something out of a fairytale. There was a big willow tree, with branches sloping down gracefully to the earth and providing shade along the western side. There was a bubbling brook not far from where they sat, close enough that they could hear it but far enough that it didn’t make Daisy feel like she had to pee.
As Cole arranged the quilt on the ground, Daisy took a peek inside the basket he’d packed. She grinned when she saw the contents; the man had really gone all out.
“How did you convince Enzo to make these?” She pulled out the grilled cheese sandwiches that had been lovingly wrapped in foil to keep them warm.
Cole waggled an eyebrow. “The man might seem tough, but it didn’t take me long to figure out that he’s putty when it comes to you. And, apparently, when it comes to me requesting something that would make you happy.”
“This definitely makes me happy. Ooh, what’s this?” Daisy pulled out a small bowl covered in cling-wrap from the bottom of the picnic basket. The contents looked interesting, like some kind of green marshmallow mixture.
“It’s something our housekeeper used to make when I was younger, I think she called it Watergate Salad. Never did really know why. But I looked up the recipe online and figured it was something you might enjoy.”
“Looks like marshmallows, pineapple and…what’s the green stuff?”
“Pistachio pudding mix.”
“Oh, yeah I’m definitely going to enjoy this. You should have made more,” she said with a laugh. “I might eat this whole bowl.”
“You’re eating for two, after all. Hopefully.”
“Hopefully?”
“I didn’t get a chance to mention the other day…twins do tend to run in my family. Just saying.”
Daisy stuck her tongue out at him playfully. “Now you tell me. I guess two new little ones wouldn’t be too bad.”
Cole pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Two new little ones with you would be twice as much fun. I’m not worried.”
“Well, I won’t worry about it either, then.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Famished.” She reached out her hands and smiled. “Gimme.”
Together they tore through the grilled cheese sandwiches and the Watergate Salad. Cole reclined back on his elbows and glanced over at Daisy.
“What are you thinking about?”
Daisy shaded her eyes with her palm. “Nothing. Everything. Are you sure you want to know?”
“Spill.”
Daisy sighed. “I was just thinking how beautiful this place is, that you know me well enough to know how much I would enjoy this.”
Cole reached for her hand, rubbed a sensitive spot on her wrist with his thumb.
“I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I do feel like I know you pretty well. I’m not sure why that would make you look like you’re going to cry though.”
Daisy nodded. “You’re just so sweet to me. And hormones. Is it too soon to blame the hormones?”
“You’d know better than me. I say blame ‘em.”
Daisy laughed as she reclined back into a similar position as Cole. “Alright. Hormones it is. But I can honestly say I haven’t had a nicer first date than this one.”
“With many more to come,” he replied. “I promise.”
*
They pulled up to the drive-in theater just before dusk. Daisy smiled when she saw from the empty spaces in the parking area that they weren’t full to capacity.
“I’ve always wanted to come here and I never took the time.”
“Well, then I’m glad I could be the one to bring you.” Cole laughed when he saw her fingering the butt warmer button. “You might be better off with the cooling option until the sun goes all the way down.”
“Wait, there’s a cooling option?”
“Yep,” Cole pressed the button for her chair. “It’s like A/C for your cute little rear.”
Daisy grinned. “A/C for my butt. I feel like I’m living in the future now for sure.”
COLE
The movie was a black and white romance, something Cole didn’t expect to enjoy, but when Daisy laid her head on his shoulder and rested her hand on his thigh, it was suddenly the best movie he’d ever experienced.
There was something quaint about the whole setup, from the soundtrack of the movie playing through his car’s AM radio, to the fact that the screen itself was nothing more than the side of the concessions building painted white.
He tugged her fingers up to his lips and kissed each one, enjoying the sound of her sighing deep in her chest. Particularly enjoying the way each sigh made her chest rise and fall. He’d just finished laying a kiss on her pinky when she tilted her head up to face him.
“Are you bored?”
“Me? Why would I be bored?”
“I don’t imagine you watch these kinds of movies on your own time.”
“I don’t,” he replied. “But I’m really enjoying watching it with you.”
Daisy grinned. “I remember you making some very promising remarks about showing me a good time in the backseat of this car, not too long ago.”
“I remember that too,” he chuckled. “And I always make good on my promises.” He pressed his lips to hers and forgot about the movie for a few minutes.
“I have a little surprise for you,” he said after they came up for air. “I’m hoping you’ll like it better than the backseat.”
Daisy quirked a curious eyebrow at him. “Oh?”
“I got us a room in a hotel, not far from here. And before you ask, I worked it out with Kate and she packed you an overnight bag.”
“She was okay with keeping Mason overnight?”
“She was ecstatic, actually.”
Daisy laughed. “She’s really excited about this thing between you and me.”
“That makes two of us,” Cole replied with another silly waggle of his eyebrows.
“Three of us. I’m pretty dang excited too. About all of this.”
“I’m glad. I’m so glad. We’re going to make this work, I know we will.” He paused for a moment, gathered his thoughts. “I didn’t want to drop this on you while we were out here, but I also don’t want to get wrapped up in the evening and forget. I’m going back to Chicago for a little while.”
His heart hurt with anticipation, waiting for her to reply. Finally, painfully, she spoke.
“You’ll be back though.”
“I will. And we’ll be able to talk through what we want to do with all this,” he gestured between the two of them. “We’ll ma
ke plans.”
*
Busy making the arrangements for his trip to Chicago, Cole didn’t manage to make it into the diner for two days after he and Daisy spent the night in Sunnyslope.
Daisy was wiping down the tables when Cole entered the diner. She glanced up, and he saw the first edges of a smile in her eyes before she clamped it down and continued her work. She couldn’t hide the little upturn of her lips, or the twitching he saw when she tried to resist smiling.
“Daisy,” he said as he headed her way. “Just the woman I was looking to talk to.”
She stopped wiping, left the rag on the table and cocked her hip to the side. Damn she was cute when she did that, he thought to himself.
Focus.
“What’s going on?”
“As you know, I needed to go back to Chicago and take care of a few things, and I was thinking you could come with me. I made an appointment with a very well-respected OB-GYN doctor for you.”
A muscle flicked in Daisy’s jaw, which should have set off more than a few alarm bells in Cole’s head. But he remained blissfully ignorant of the anger brewing inside of her.
“You made. An appointment. For me.” She spoke slowly, chewing on each word as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was saying. It was about that point that it finally occurred to Cole that he might have taken a misstep.
“This doctor is very hard to get in with, I pulled a few favors to get you in.”
“I have a doctor. You’ve met her. Kate McAllister.”
“I want the best for my kid, Claire.”
“And you think I don’t?” Daisy’s voice raised in pitch and tempo.
“The best is in Chicago, not Madelia. Kate is wonderful, I’m sure, but-”
“And while you’re dragging me back there to see ‘the best’, what exactly do you envision happening with the diner? Or my son for that matter? Who is going to take care of things here?”
Cole waved a hand dismissively. “The diner will be fine. The town won’t fall apart if we close it down for a few days. And Mason can stay with Kate and Logan, or he can come with us. Actually, now that I think about it, he should definitely come with us. I bet he’d love to see Chicago. We could take a day and go to the Field Museum. They have this fossil prep lab, I guarantee he’d have a blast.”
“Cole,” Daisy said, still speaking through clenched teeth. “I’m not going to Chicago with you. Neither of us are. It was unbelievably rude of you to just decide all of this without even talking to me first.”
“I…well I mean, okay maybe it was a little brash, but I only have the best of intentions. I’m trying to do right by you.”
“Do right by me? Wanna rephrase that a little? Or are you going to propose and make an honest woman out of me next?”
Cole sighed. This was not going at all the way he thought it would. He’d expected maybe a little resistance when he’d come up with the plan, but the more he’d thought about it and the more he’d acted on the idea, the more excited he’d gotten.
“I’m not proposing anything, Daisy. I just…I thought you’d enjoy a little trip with me. And I thought you’d want to see this doctor. I’m sorry.”
Tears began to form in Daisy’s eyes.
“Don’t be sorry, please. Just…” she paused, he could tell she was trying to regain her composure. “Just go, do what you have to do. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine, here.”
DAISY
“Can I get you a cup of coffee or something?” Kate said from the kitchen as Daisy tooled around the living room. She still wasn’t very good at leaving Mason in the room alone with Ella, even if he’d played fine next to her before.
Daisy wringed her hands together and tried not to show her nerves.
“Do you have decaf?”
Kate gave her friend an odd look. Daisy had to admit, it probably sounded like a strange request coming from a self-professed caffeine addict like Daisy.
“I do…somewhere. Give me a minute and I’ll find it.” Kate rose up on her tiptoes and dug through the back of one of the higher cabinets.
Daisy took a long last glance back at Mason and Ella, both playing near each other with no problems, and headed into the kitchen.
“I love what you guys have done in here,” she said as she looked around the renovated room.
Logan was always changing something in their house, so often that Daisy found something new to comment on every time she visited. It was clear that the kitchen had been his latest project, with the new backsplash and sparkling granite countertops.
“Yeah,” Kate said with a sigh. “He got me hooked on these cooking shows and suddenly our kitchen needed new counters. The man is crafty.”
Kate squealed triumphantly when she found a packet of instant decaf stuffed in the back of the cabinet.
“So spill, Daisy,” she said as she blew the dust off the packet. “Why on earth am I making you decaf? You aren’t pregnant or something, are you?”
Daisy bit her lip. “Well, actually…”
“Oh, my, God. I was joking!” Kate’s eyes lit up. “Holy crap, are you really?”
“Really really.”
Kate’s brows knitted together with worry. “What’s wrong? Is the baby okay? Are you okay?”
Daisy waved her off and tried to give a smile. “I’m okay, baby is fine I think. It’s just…well the situation. I feel like I’m repeating history here, like I didn’t learn a damn thing the first time.”
“I’d say the situation is different now. You aren’t 16, Daisy.”
Daisy sighed. “I’m not. But I’m still dumb enough to have gotten pregnant. Again.”
Kate’s eyebrow shot up. “It’s not like you got that way all by yourself. Cole’s not flaking on you, is he?”
Daisy shook her head. “No, he’s not. He’s actually excited, probably more excited that I am to be honest. But he has this whole life in Chicago and I don’t see how that’s going to play out.”
Daisy glanced back at the living room, giving herself time to think before she spoke again.
“He’s actually back there right now. His work needed him, has needed him for a while but he’s been so busy with everything here. Is it ridiculous of me to wish he’d want to stay here with us?”
Kate pulled the steaming hot cup of coffee away from the coffee maker and poured a dash of creamer in.
“It’s not ridiculous at all. Do you think he’s hoping you’ll move to Chicago with him?”
“He is. He actually scheduled an OB visit for me, wanted me to come with him. Didn’t even ask me what I wanted.”
Kate winced. “I can only imagine how that went. Actually, I don’t have to imagine. Logan is about as headstrong as they come, I can see him doing something like that himself.”
Daisy smiled. “I can see that too. But see, when I think about Logan doing it, it doesn’t piss me off like when I think about Cole doing it.”
“Because you aren’t in love with Logan.”
Daisy stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence suddenly.
“I’m not. I mean, we’re not even…Oh God.”
She flattened her palms against her eyes and willed her brain to fire up again.
Kate, for her part, just laughed and handed her friend the cup of coffee she’d made especially for her.
“Drink up. And I’m saying this as your friend as well as your doctor: a little caffeine is not the end of the world.”
“No advice about the Cole situation?”
“I don’t think you need any advice on that part just yet. I think when the time comes, you’ll know exactly what you need to do.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
Chapter 9.
COLE
“Sarah, would you bring me the Anderson file when you have a chance?” Cole Shuster spoke into his intercom while flipping through a stack of pages on his desk.
His assistant, Sarah, popped her head into his office and pointed at a second pile.
“It’s i
n there,” she said. “About halfway down the pile, if I remember right.”
Cole sighed. “Thank you, Sarah.” He put down the stack he was riffling through and grabbed the second pile.
“I’d probably lose my head if I didn’t have you around to keep track of it.”
Sarah grinned. “That’s the job, boss. You think big, I keep track of the paperwork.”
She gave him a silly little salute before closing his door.
Cole found the file, almost exactly where Sarah had said it would be. She was a smart girl, and he didn’t look forward to the day that she figured out she was too smart to be an assistant and went back to school.
Fact was, there weren’t enough competent assistants in Chicago who could navigate the ins and outs of a public accounting office. It wasn’t an exciting profession, Cole had to admit, but it made him a comfortable living in a very expensive and enjoyable city.
His dream had always been to make partner, and it felt closer to becoming reality than ever. But even as he sat in his plush office and tried to immerse himself in his work, he felt the tug of Madelia pulling at his subconscious.
It wasn’t just Madelia, of course. It was Daisy; wild, eccentric, adorable Daisy with her red hair and sexy smile. It was the life she offered, a tantalizing life that Cole had never even considered as an option for him. A ready-made family, there for his taking. A good woman in his bed every night.
Ideally, he hoped that he’d be able to convince Daisy to come to Chicago with him. He was pretty sure he’d be successful, after all the schools in Chicago were top notch and didn’t Mason and their future child deserve the best?
It had struck a nerve with him that she’d refused to come see the OB-GYN doctor he’d scheduled her with, but as he got a little distance from the initial fight, he was starting to see her side of things. He’d been excited when he’d made the appointment, and he knew he’d done it because he cared about Daisy, but he’d also managed to leave her out of the discussion completely. He wouldn’t do that from now on, he resolved.
Flipping through the file in an attempt to redirect his thoughts toward work, he re-familiarized himself with the case. Big fish client, Jack Anderson and his development group had brought in a lot of money to the firm over the years. He expected perfection and punished severely when it wasn’t attained, and he’d taken a special liking to Cole after their last meeting a few months before.