Page 18 of Hot Dad Summer

I grabbed my cellphone and opened my text thread with Kacey Day, my best friend and the manager of Oopsie Daisy. I’d kept her in the loop since arriving at the Calloway Estate while also doing my best not to obsessively ask her how the bakery was doing. I typed out a quick message and then covered my face with my hands.

Daisy: I need to talk to you tomorrow. Something happened. I think I might be a pervert. When can I call?

Kacey: You fucked one of that asshole’s hunky brothers, didn’t you?

Daisy: …No. I didn’t do that. I did make out with one of them, though. And then imagined all three of them while I played Jenga with my BOB, though. What do I do?

Kacey: You played Jenga with your vibrator while thinking about all three of Tyler’s older brothers? You slut. I love it. Lily says it’s about time you welcomed good dick energy into your life.

Daisy: I hate both of you. Is the bakery okay?

Kacey: I haven’t burned it down, yet, if that’s what you’re asking. But if I did, you could take the insurance and move in with your new hot bodied daddies.

Daisy: Don’t call them that. I feel horrible enough as it is. Never mind about the call tomorrow. I don’t need your help. Your help makes me think my deviant personality attracted deviant best friends and I need to put some space between us.

Kacey: You want to talk about deviants? You should see the contraption Lily just bought me for my birthday. There’s a swing and- Lily says I can’t tell you the rest. Apparently, she thinks you’re not as far gone as you think. She says you’re adorably innocent.

Daisy: Tell my brain that. I love you both. I’m going to try to get some sleep so I have the energy to pretend nothing ever happened tomorrow.

Kacey: Love you, too, twat. Instead of pretending it didn’t happen, maybe you should do a little less cooking and cleaning and a little more looking and lingering. If you know what I mean.

I shut my phone off and pulled my pillow over my head. I’d known that Kacey and her wife, Lily, wouldn’t give me the advice I’d think was right. They’d quietly hated Tyler for four years and believed I took too much shit from everyone. Reaching out to my best friends hadn’t been to confess and be chastised and instructed to do better. I’d been looking for confirmation that I did nothing wrong.

That realization sent a bolt of energy through my body that kept me up for hours.

14

***Daisy***

Icouldn’t look at Flynn the next morning. I tried to play it off and I might’ve pulled it off if the kids weren’t especially observant and blunt in the morning. They’d called me out for being weird and my gaze had clashed with Flynn’s before I could stammer out that I wasn’t being weird. With bright red cheeks clashing with the perfect blue-red shade of my lipstick, I’d dropped a plate of cookies that Hank attacked and tripped over my own feet. Max had caught me with one strong arm around my waist, making my body overheat even more.

I was a wreck. To avoid needing to speak normally to the kids all day I took them into the village and waited in line with them at the tiny amusement park that was overrun with tourist families eager to capture picture-perfect memories. The kids had a blast while I tried to stay out of pictures and fielded more than a few questions about my style.

Everyone around us was dressed in normal tourist attire, with shorts and t-shirts, sunglasses and vacation flip flops that would be lost in the back of the closet once they got back home. They had matching sunburns and matching moms trying to keep everything and everyone together while also attempting to enjoy themselves. So, when they saw me, in my vintage dress that flared out around my hips and my perfectly placed rockabilly curls, they couldn’t help but stare.

Because of the thoughts playing squash in my mind I couldn’t help feeling self-conscious. Paranoia made me wonder if there was something on my face that they could see that told them that I was a pervert. It wasn’t until one of the moms quietly approached me that I realized I was being stupid. No one knew I was hot for three brothers at the same time or that they all happened to be my ex-boyfriend’s brothers.

The mom who broke my self-hate loop silently and delicately sidled up next to me as we watched our kids screaming happily on the old wooden rollercoaster that I never would’ve ridden in a million years. I felt her gaze flick to me a time or two before she whispered at me.

“You’re her, aren’t you?” Her voice was excited but controlled. “I saw you on TV and when we took our annual family vacation to the beach last year, I made my husband stop in Atlanta so we could visit your bakery.”

A different kind of blush touched my skin then. I shot her the smile I’d perfected for strangers who felt like they knew me from the television spots I’d done since opening the bakery. I held out my hand to shake hers to let her know she was right and that she was just as worth meeting as I was. “Daisy. It’s nice to meet you, …”

She shook my hand quickly and let her smile widen. “Samantha. Sam. We’re from Baltimore. If we lived closer to Atlanta I’d be as big as a house by now. Your baking is heavenly.”

My wide smile was real. Even after years of hearing things like that about my bakery, it still made me giddy. “What was your favorite thing? Oh, here. Let me give you something.”

She watched as I pulled a little pouch shaped like a cat from the pocket in my dress. “I was in love with everything. The croissants were so good that I ate three and then had to stay in bed from how full I was. My husband ordered six of your Mississippi Mud cupcakes and devoured them. We both went back home five pounds heavier.”

I found the card I was looking for and handed it to her. Stuck in my pouch with my license and credit card, it was one of the special gift cards I liked to carry in case I ever ran into a fan or just a serious sweets lover. “It’s enough to make you sick again.”

She took it happily and clutched it to her chest. “You’re so sweet! Thank you so much. Is there somewhere I can tag you online so I can tell people just how kind you are? And brag that I met a celebrity!”

I snorted. “I’m hardly a celebrity. Before you, I was just thinking that everyone here was looking at me like I’d escaped the circus. I don’t hardly use social media. Just an Instagram for the bakery I hired my sister to run.”

As I said that, a small chill ran down my spine. Brooke had been in charge of it, after she’d insisted on starting a page. My bakery’s only social media account was being run by the woman sick enough to steal her sister’s boyfriend. That wasn’t good. I could think of nothing else the rest of the time we were away from the estate.

The moment we got back home I put on a movie for the kids, which they were enthusiastic about, and then sat at the kitchen island with my phone. I opened my phone and reinstalled the app Wes told me to delete and searched for the bakery's page. The moment my phone got to where I needed it to get the breath froze in my lungs.