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“Hey, Reed.” She rubbed his arm and gave him a gentle smile. “Landry would die for you to play a game with her. Your choice, even though it’s her birthday.”
Reed hesitated, flicking his eyes from Daisy to me. “All right.” Then he ducked around us, his head down, curling into himself.
When I turned back to Daisy, she was examining me with her usual wariness.
“What did you say to him?”
“Not much. I introduced myself, he told me you don’t need a boyfriend, so I told him about my brother’s hiking boot collection. I think we were bonding, but you interrupted before we could fully cement it.”
“He’s shy.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I got that. Got that he’s pissed off at the world too.”
“He used to talk to me.” She shoved her hair behind her ear. “He doesn’t anymore.”
“Well, you’re a girl.”
“No kidding.”
I chuffed. She didn’t get it. “Think about it. Try to remember being that age.” I squeezed her shoulder and dipped down, speaking low. “I’m going to head out. Thanks for having me here and giving me a glimpse of something nice. I had a really good time.”
“You don’t have to go.”
“That’s nice of you to say, but I’m going to leave on a high note and let you do your family thing.” I picked up a cupcake and a brownie. “Monday, Daisy. Come to your appointment ready to dig in.”
“Okay,” she murmured. “I’ll be there.”
Whitney didn’t let me leave before I took her phone number, then she hugged me even tighter than the first time. Two hugs in one day was a world record for me. And they were so high quality, they’d keep me full for a year at least.
They’d probably have to.
Chapter Eleven
Daisy
Miles had done a lot of work for me. My stomach churned looking at his beautiful logo ideas and well thought out spreadsheets. They were beautiful and meticulous, but deep down, I knew this was all for naught.
I shouldn’t have let myself be optimistic. For a moment, I forgot who I was, but this town was always here to remind me.
Miles stopped in the middle of a sentence, cocking his head left then right.
“You’re not in,” he surmised.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I should have texted you to let you know this wasn’t going to happen. You did all this, and it was for nothing.”
He drummed his fingers on the round wooden table we were sitting at again, his jaw rippling.
“What changed? The last time I saw you, you were in.”
I leaned back in my chair, folding my arms around my middle. “I had some time to think about it and realized what I’d already known all along: this isn’t going to work. Not in this town, not for me.”
“What do you mean? Why not here? Why not you?”
“You won’t let me get away with saying ‘no thank you,’ will you?”
His brow dropped. “Not a chance. Get with the talking, Daisy-daze. My patience is finite. I’m almost to the stage where I flip you over, hang you by your ankle, and shake it out of you.”
My upper lip curled. “I’ll cut you.”
