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“No, but—”
He held up a hand. “That’s all right. I’m going to text you so you have my number again. Unless you blocked me too…?”
“I didn’t block you.” I almost had, and, man, this would have been even more mortifying.
“I never know with you.” He tapped on his phone, and a second later, mine vibrated. He’d sent me a cupcake emoji. Despite myself, I let out a laugh.
“Obsessed,” I whispered as I input my home address and the time of the party. “There. I sent you the details. If you can’t make it, I understand.”
“Oh, I’m showing up.” He flipped his phone face down. “When we’re done with our working relationship, feel free to delete my number again. I would hate to clutter up your contacts.”
“I’m—okay.” I had no words to defend myself, and I certainly wasn’t about to dive into why I had half-heartedly severed our connection. “I guess I’ll see you this weekend.”
“Hold on. Before you go, I have homework for you.” He paused, making sure I was listening. I nodded, and he went on. “I want you to write down all the questions you have about how to start—what are you calling it?”
“I haven’t decided.” I had an idea, though. I hadn’t told Andy because I hadn’t wanted him to tell me it wasn’t any good. He might’ve loved it, but I hadn’t trusted how he would have handled it if he didn’t. But I couldn’t get out of this without telling Miles, so I braced myself for him to laugh. “But I was thinking I might call it Grazing by Daisy.”
Miles pinned me with a long stare. So long, I couldn’t sit still under the weight of it. I shuffled my feet and moved my ass in my seat, nearly jumping out of my skin when he slammed a hand down on the table.
“Yes. I like it. It works.” Picking up his tablet, he tapped on it, saying nothing else.
I didn’t know what to do. Was the meeting over? It seemed like it was…though, it hadn’t been much of an ending. I squirmed a little more. Miles was lost in whatever was happening on his screen, so I mentally called it.
Grabbing my bag, I rose to my feet. “I’ll see you this weekend.”
He glanced up, the corner of his mouth quirking. “I’ll be there, Daisy. Don’t forget to do your homework.”
“I won’t.”
I left Peak Strategies feeling…well, I didn’t know. Optimism wasn’t really my thing, but there was a lightness in my chest that hadn’t been there before I’d walked in. To be honest, I’d been dreading this meeting, assuming it would only punctuate how far I was from achieving anything.
That hadn’t happened at all.
Between Saoirse, the cat, and Miles, it was like I’d just gotten off a tilt-a-whirl.
My mind was whirring, but I knew this was a step. A small one, but before today, I’d been too stymied by self-doubt to even shuffle my feet.
I plunked myself in my car, thinking about my homework assignment, when a text vibrated my phone. I lifted the screen, and blood drained from my face.
Andy: Hey. How are you, Daisy? I thought I would have heard from you by now. Just because we’re not together doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. Let’s be grownups. We have too much history to just disappear from each other’s lives. Talk to me.
A bucket of dread dumped on the sliver of optimism that had been breaking through my cracks. Andy must have had some sixth sense that I was moving on, doing something for myself.
My thumb hovered over his contact. I had no need for it. We weren’t going to be friends. Not after…everything.
Heaving a sigh, I let my head fall against the steering wheel.
I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t ready.
I would. I had to.
But not today.
Chapter Nine
Daisy
Miles showed up right on time. I hadn’t pegged him for the punctual sort. I watched him climb out of his SUV from my kitchen window, check his phone, then peer at the funeral home.
