Daisy Does It All (Clover Park, Book 2) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (12 page)

Did he just turn that husky voice on and off to charm the pants off women? Well, it wouldn’t work on her now. The way he’d dumped her was something she’d never forget. She considered bolting, but didn’t want him to know how much he affected her. She sat at the table with her water.

“I know you must’ve been surprised to see me,” he said, pulling out a chair next to her.

She didn’t reply.

“I’m a producer now,” Max said. “Worked my way up from production assistant.”

Was she supposed to be happy for him? Proud?

“Congratulations,” she said flatly.

He laughed softly. “Lately I’ve been feeling like I want more. Settle down, have a family.”

She felt his intense stare and finally met his eyes.
Those eyes. They used to look at me with total adoration.
She couldn’t tear herself away. Then he hit her with a heart-wrenching bombshell.

“I just never met anyone that compared to you.”

Anger flared within her at his blatant attempt to get close to her again. She was practically
married
. “
You
left
me
, not the other way around.”

He exhaled sharply. “I’ll regret that for the rest of my life. You didn’t deserve the way I treated you—”

“The way you left me, you mean,
after
you found out I lost the baby.” Her lower lip trembled, and she looked away. The double loss of the baby and the man she’d thought was the love of her life still hurt. When she’d miscarried and gone into a deep state of grief, her only consolation had been the thought that Max would be there to help her through.

She’d told him, in the privacy of the dorm’s empty lounge, practically choking over the words.

“I lost the baby.”

Pure relief had washed over his face. His words were even worse. “I’m sorry for your loss; I think we should get a divorce.” All in the same breath.

“
My
loss?” she’d asked through the haze of tears. “Divorce?”

He stood stiffly. “We’re too young to be married. I’ll take care of the paperwork. I guess this is goodbye.”

Her voice came out small. “I thought we were soul mates.”

“We’ll find each other again. Promise. In ten years. When we’re twenty-eight, if neither of us is with anyone, we’ll be together. It’s just not the right time.”

She’d yanked off her engagement ring and threw it at him. “Take your stupid ring and your stupid self and get out of here! I never want to see you again!”

The next week, Daisy took off for a kibbutz in Israel. College without Max, without the baby, was meaningless. She stayed on the kibbutz, working cooperatively on a farm, for two years. Her parents had tried to convince her to return to college. She’d refused.

But that was then, this was now. Now she had Bryce.

Max took both her hands in his and held them in a warm grasp. “I didn’t come here to fight. I came here to ask your forgiveness.”

She met his eyes, read the regret, the sincerity there, and felt herself weakening. She’d never had any backbone when it came to Max.

“Daze, I am very, very sorry.”

The words were too much, far too late. She pulled her hands away. “It doesn’t matter. It’s old news.”

He pushed a lock of her hair back, stroking her temple gently. “It does matter. I hurt you. And I’m sorry.”

Daisy blinked back tears. The wind picked up, roaring through the trees. The kitchen lights flickered. Mother Nature seemed to pick up on Daisy’s turmoil. She remembered everything about Max. About them. How much she’d loved him. She’d truly believed they were soul mates.

Bryce was her life now, and that meant Trav too.

“I’ve moved on,” she said softly.

He leaned toward her, his eyes searching hers. “I just need to know if you forgive me.”

She stood abruptly. “Fine. You’re forgiven.”

She’d almost made it out of the kitchen when she heard Max say quietly, “I never stopped loving you.”

She paused, her heart racing, and shook her head as if she could shake off the words. She forced herself to walk away, one foot after the other, all the way upstairs to Bryce and the man she’d promised to marry.

Chapter Ten

Daisy sat in the guest chair set up in the living room for the afternoon interview, already drooping. How many more questions could Jessica come up with? Daisy wasn’t that fascinating a person. Just a mom living the small-town life.

Jessica settled into the host chair and adjusted her mike. “Lovely lunch.”

“Glad you liked it,” Daisy said evenly, unsure if the remark was sarcastic or not. It was hard to tell with someone whose expression dialed from insanely interested to blank.

“Let’s get Trav back for this next segment,” Jessica called.

A crew member went to fetch him. Daisy shifted in her seat. Couple questions were the hardest to fake. She and Trav knew each other biblically, it was true, other than that, not much one-on-one time.

Jessica sat riveted to her cell while she waited. A few moments later, Trav appeared.

“I’m ba-ack,” he said, leaning down to give Daisy a quick peck on the lips.

She felt herself flush. Geez, you’d think she was a teenager. She really had to get her libido under control. It was just so hard to be disciplined and responsible all the time. But that’s what her mom was like. If she wanted to be a good mom, she had to at least try.

“Great!” Jessica beamed at him. None of her smiles for Daisy went beyond polite. Clearly, she favored dealing with men. Especially good-looking men. “Let’s get moving, people.”

A flurry of motion while the crew went back to work. Max appeared again. He avoided looking directly at Daisy, instead watching the monitor. What did Max think would happen between them? He’d show up at her house, declare his love, and wait for her to abandon her family and ride off into the sunset with him? He was seriously delusional.

“And…rolling,” someone said.

Daisy sat up straighter and pushed Max to the back of her mind.

Jessica smiled brilliantly at Daisy. “One of the things that makes your blog so popular is the loving marriage at the heart of it. What makes Daisy and Travis work?”

Daisy sat, tongue-tied. What made them work? What made any relationship work? People either clicked or they didn’t.

Trav filled the silence. “I think a good sense of humor goes a long way. We laugh a lot.”

“Absolutely!” Daisy exclaimed. “Trav’s always making me laugh. Laughter is the best medicine!” She laughed a little too heartily.

Trav stared at her.

“How long have you been married?” Jessica asked.

“One and a half years,” Daisy responded immediately, happy to remember the right answer.

“Awww, you count the half years, that’s adorable!” Jessica looked at the camera. “Isn’t that adorable?” She turned back to Daisy and Trav. “Still newlyweds, then?”

“Yes,” Daisy said with a smile.

“Very much so,” Trav said huskily. He grabbed Daisy’s hand and held it warmly.

Daisy’s gaze lingered on him, his tone was so…happily married. She almost believed him, and she knew the truth. He winked. She grinned.

“How are things in the bedroom?” Jessica asked suddenly.

Daisy blinked. Jessica must have been holding that question for the shock factor. She looked to Trav, who set his mouth in a tight line. Should she say it’s private?

At their silence, Jessica pushed on. “You did blog about bedroom shenanigans after baby and vacation intimacy. Any special tips you could offer moms who might not be feeling their usual sexy selves?”

“Daisy never stopped being sexy,” Trav said.

“Aww…you too, honey.” Daisy ran her tongue over her upper lip just to tease him. Trav’s eyes widened, and she laughed. “Even after you didn’t push out a baby.”

“I did my part,” Trav said.

“Yeah, the easy part,” Daisy replied.

“I can see you two have a nice repartee,” Jessica said. “Care to share how that carries over into the bedroom?”

“Would you get off the bedroom?” Trav muttered.

“Come on, just one juicy tip for your loyal blog readers,” Jessica pushed. “Something that no one else has heard yet from Daisy who
does it all
. Or does she?”

Daisy narrowed her eyes. “What exactly would you like to hear?”

“We’ve all heard about your lingerie, the candles, the slow jazz…ooh, I know! Show us the sexy dance you do that has him ready to rip your teddy off before he has a chance to see your stretch marks.”

“She doesn’t have stretch marks,” Trav said.

Obviously he hasn’t seen me naked since I had Bryce
.

“He’s just being kind,” Daisy said. Not that she wanted to bring Trav’s attention to her flaws, but she had mentioned them in her blog.

“So, the dance?” Jessica prompted, lifting her arms and doing a sensual wave in her seat.

No, thank you. That’s not happening on national television
.

“I don’t think so,” Daisy said. “Maybe you’d like to hear about our vacation plans?”

Jessica turned her attention to Trav. “What would you say was your biggest turn-on to really combat that post-baby fatigue?”

Trav stood and ripped off his mike. “Enough. Our sex life isn’t open to discussion.”

Daisy tugged on his arm to make him sit down. The cameras were still rolling. “Trav, honey, just sit down.”

He pointed at Jessica. “Do you get off on what other people do? Watch some porn.”

Jessica’s fake smile stayed in place as she said pleasantly, “Your wife is the one who put it out there for the world. I’m just following up on what she already shared.”

“I did mention it on my blog,” Daisy said, yanking Trav forcibly back to his seat. “But I also said some things are private.”

Trav crossed his arms. “Yeah, private.”

“I suppose you’ve quietly crossed over into old married couple,” Jessica said dismissively. “Nothing special. Your usual Saturday night appointment.”

“That’s enough!” Trav roared. “This interview’s over!” He rushed the camera and put his hand over the lens.

Jessica stood. “Max, get him off that camera.” She turned to the other camera. “Roy, you keep rolling.”

Roy gave her the thumbs-up.

“Trav, stop it! You’re making a fool of yourself!” Daisy hollered, trying to peel him off the camera.

Trav set Daisy to the side, turned, and jabbed a finger at Jessica. “She’s making a fool of us.”

“I’m just trying to get a good story.” Jessica framed a headline with her hands. “We’re all happy in small-town America isn’t a story. Daisy’s the one who put your sex life out there.”

“Don’t blame Daisy for sharing on her blog!” Trav barked. “That was on her terms. Not needled out of her.”

“How dare you!” Jessica huffed. “I’m a professional!”

Max pitched his voice above the noise. “Everyone calm down here!”

“Why don’t
you
calm down?” Trav said, getting in Max’s face.

Max glared at Trav; they were eye to eye. “Watch yourself.”

Daisy rushed over. “Trav, please.”

“Daze, butt out!” Trav said.

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Max yelled.

He shoved Trav, and Trav shoved him back.

“STOP IT!” Daisy yelled at the top of her lungs.

The lights went out.

The house fell silent.

“What the hell?” Jessica yelled in a shrill voice.

Chapter Eleven

“Oh, no,” Daisy muttered.

“You broke the house,” Trav said.

“What the hell?” Jessica shrilled again.

“Power outage,” Trav said. “It’s this storm.”

“I’d better check on Bryce,” Daisy said. She hurried from the room, nearly knocking over one of the crew’s lights and catching her elbow on the banister on her way upstairs as her eyes adjusted to the sudden lack of light. Her parents had mentioned power outages in the area happening more frequently, but this was her first time experiencing it. Did she have enough diapers, baby food, fresh clothes for Bryce? Would they have heat? Food for the rest of them? She’d never thought of surviving a power outage with a baby in the middle of winter. The city hardly ever had lights out. She just prayed it didn’t last long.

She burst into Maggie’s room. Bryce was napping in his crib. Jorge was reaching for something on the high shelf of the closet while Maggie was sitting on the bed, pillows propped up behind her.

Daisy looked around wildly. “I thought you were watching TV.”

Maggie smiled and nodded. “We were.”

There was no TV in the room. “On what?”

Maggie pulled an iPad off the bed. “There’s lots of TV on the Internet. Connection went down, though.”

“Okay. I don’t want you to panic, but the power’s out.”

Maggie nodded slowly. “Yes, we know, dear. Jorge’s digging out the emergency radio.”

“Emergency radio,” Daisy repeated numbly. “Good, good.” She glanced at Bryce sleeping through this nightmare. “Bryce is good. We have a radio. Okay.”

She bolted again, heading for the stairs. They needed food, water, heat. Maybe not in that order. Maybe heat, water, food. Bryce would survive. She’d get him through this. At least she knew he could nurse; that was food and water combined. Okay, heat. They needed heat.

She’d find an ax and chop wood and build a fire in the fireplace. They’d huddle around the fire just like in pioneer days. She suddenly wished she’d paid more attention when Liz went on and on as a kid about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family surviving out on the prairie.

Her baby’s survival was all that mattered. Funny how all that worry about the blog and the TV show and Jessica and Max faded away the instant the lights went out. Without power, it all came down to the basics.

WAAHHHH!

Daisy raced back to get her baby.

~ ~ ~

Trav stared out the front window at the snowstorm, ignoring Jessica’s rantings over the impossible weather. Visibility was bad. The wind was gusting, and the snow was still coming. There was at least three inches on the ground already. Roads weren’t clear. A huge tree branch had come down across the driveway. Several more branches were strewn across neighbors’ lawns. The snow on the trees made the branches heavier. Combined with the wind, it meant massive tree damage throughout the area. It would take time to clear things out.