41. Daisy
41
DAISY
I turned up the radio, drowning out Aaron’s complaints as we sped over the bridge.
“This isn’t a three-point seat belt. When you crash, and you will because you’re going twenty miles over the speed limit, we will not make it.”
“We’re officially out of the city!” I told him, bopping along to nineties girl pop. “You have to relax. Enjoy the summer!”
The houses were bigger and more spread apart as we left behind the asphalt and steel of the city. A breeze teased the pieces of my hair that weren’t tied down by the scarf.
“My mom said the house was cleaned,” I added over the sound of the wind. “We’ll have it to ourselves. My mom and dad took Granny Madge to the West Coast to visit her elderly cousin. She’s dying.”
“Shit,” Aaron said, looking at me with concern. His hand rested on my leg. “Do you need to fly out there? I have several private jets. I can have one pick you up at the closest airport.”
“If you weren’t going to throw a tantrum because I took my hands off the wheel, I would have made air quotes,” I said, tapping along to the music on the steering wheel. “Granny Madge’s cousin is always either dying or heartbroken or about to be evicted. She likes the drama.”
“Sounds like it runs in the family.”
Aaron swore when I blared my horn at a finance-bro douchebag in a Porsche who cut me off.
“We might need to restock the bar at my parents’ house,” I added. “Granny Madge goes through gin like water.”
“I’m not fucking you in your mom’s house,” he warned.
“We’re a sex-positive household.”
“Says the thirty-year-old virgin.”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“Twenty-nine, Coleman.” A smile played around his mouth then dropped.
“I don’t need your mom to hate me.”
“She would never. You’re her new favorite child.” I poked him.
He swore. “Both hands on the wheel.”
“In fact, when I asked my parents about using the house, my mom had insisted on dropping by with quote, ‘extra food that Aaron might like’ and said that I ‘needed to remind him to wear sunscreen to protect his beautiful skin.’” I looked at him over my sunglasses. “Everyone’s out here just sucking your dick.”
He gave me a shit-eating grin. “Including you this morning.”
We were still arguing about the house when I pulled the car up into the shared driveway between the Ragnor house and my parents’ place.
Seagulls squawked as I killed the engine.
“I’m not staying at your parents’ house. I refuse. I’ve crossed too many lines already,” my husband said stubbornly.
“I didn’t know you believed in karma, Mr. Sociopathic Insurance Agent.”
Dorian hopped onto the hood of the car to stretch and let the seagulls know that they needed to stop perching on his fence.
Aaron picked up the picnic basket like it weighed nothing and headed into the Ragnor house.
“Besides, maybe I don’t want to have sex in your grandparents’ house,” I shot, racing after him, my sandals sliding in the gravel.
He gave me an almost confused look as he pushed the door open with his hip.
“‘Grandparents’ is probably giving them too much credit.” He set the hamper on the kitchen island.
“They don’t have a no-sex-in-the-house rule for you?”
I felt him wrap his arms around me and lean us back against the kitchen island.
“I’m sure they’ll be pissed, but they’re always pissed at me.” He leaned down and kissed me.
“Just don’t tell them,” he murmured, deepening the kiss, “how many times I made you come.”
I sank into him, giving myself over to him as his strong arms wrapped around me in the dim kitchen.
“Though,” he added, grabbing my hand and leading me to the narrow back staircase, “if you’re going to insist on these surprise weekend Hampton getaways, I might have to actually buy a house out here.”
“Ooh! You don’t like sneaking around behind your family’s back?”
He gave me a crooked smile. “It’s like a redo of being teenagers.”
Yeah, if that night hadn’t turned into a waking nightmare.
Aaron carried my suitcase behind me up the narrow stairs to the third floor and into a tiny blue bedroom.
“ His bedroom! ” I fangirled.
“Hey!” he complained when I started taking photos.
“I’ve always wanted to be in here. Let’s see, where’s the hidden porn?”
He growled, trying to grab at me while ducking the sloped ceiling.
Photos of him and his polo teams decorated the wall. A narrow bookcase held lacrosse medals, military sci-fi books, and sun-bleached seashells. If you weren’t chronically online like me, you’d think the bedroom belonged to your typical upper-class teen.
“Where’s the door to your sex dungeon?”
Aaron grabbed a rubber polo ball out of my hand and set it back on the rickety white shelf.
“If you’re trying to convince me to skip the reunion”—his hands slowly caressed my curves—“you just did.”
“Ahh! I forgot the reunion!”
I checked my phone as Aaron slowly undid the buttons on the collar of my dress.
I had several missed messages from Reese.
Reese: You better not be flaking.
Reese: Hello???
Reese: What are you wearing?
Reese: I’m not going by myself.
Daisy: I’m coming!!!
Daisy: Need to find something to wear.
Reese: Thank God.
I flopped down on the narrow mattress. The bed creaked under me.
“Please tell me we’re skipping the bonfire.” Aaron crashed down next to me and wedged his large frame in the niche holding the small bed.
“You sure you don’t want to sleep in my bedroom?” I asked as he adjusted his broad shoulders in the cramped space.
“I don’t plan on sleeping,” Aaron said against my hair. “I could show you.”
“Reese will kill me if I ditch her at the bonfire. Like, it will be friendship ruining.”
“Tell Reese I’ll pay her five million dollars not to hate you so we don’t have to go.” He gave me a noisy kiss.
“Our moms already told the other moms we were going to be there. If we don’t show, people will talk.”
“People always talk.” His hands slid under my dress.
I crawled over him, making him grunt, then staggered to my suitcase.
“What am I going to wear? I wish I’d brought my pink dress.” I pawed through my clothes.
“Coleman, you packed enough for a month-long vacation. You have to have something in there.”
“No.” I threw several blouses over a rickety chair at a small painted desk. “I have nothing. This is a disaster.”
I dumped out my bag,
Aaron sat there on the bed, rubbing his jaw as my stuff basically exploded all over his room.
“Coleman, you gotta get more organized.”
I held up a pink crop top and white capris. “You’re the one who complains about my outfits. Do you like this?”
“Why don’t you wear that yellow number you wore yesterday?” The corner of his mouth quirked.
“Stop distracting me. What are you wearing? We have to match.”
“What I have on…”
“Oh my gosh.” Worried, I chewed on my lip.
I was going to go to the reunion bonfire and on Aaron’s arm. I didn’t want people whispering, “Poor Aaron, shackled to Dump Truck Daisy.”
I threw the white capris and pink top next to him on the bed.
“What’s wrong with the dress you’re already wearing?” He pulled me in and kissed me. “I like you in that dress.”
His phone chimed.
“They need charcoal.”
“Good luck getting any at the stores.”
“I have it in stock.” He tapped his head and walked backward to the door. “Because I plan ahead.”
After an of hour FaceTime with Reese, I was trying to decide between a pink dress and a blue jumpsuit.
“Coleman!” Aaron bellowed up the stairs.
Panicking, I threw on a forest-green ruffled French Riviera top with a bow and ruffly high-waisted shorts, grabbed my purse, and raced down the stairs.
Aaron waited impatiently. He had his tie off, his collar unbuttoned, and his white shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows with sunglasses propped up on his head. That was about as casual as he was willing to get.
“You’re too good for the yacht-rock look?” I teased, following him outside.
He hefted a bag of charcoal easily on his shoulder then reached for my hand as we headed down the beach to the pier.
I wished we were just going to our own private romantic beachside picnic instead of to see the people who had made high school hell for me. Not to mention my first debut at one of these high school events was as Aaron’s newly minted bride.
I longed for the safety of my pink bedroom.
I didn’t go to these summer high school reunions.
Reese and I would always have a girls’ night, get drunk and watch Jane Austen adaptations from the seventies, talking shit and wondering about all the fun the cool kids from high school were having.
When Aaron and I strolled up, it looked like way more fun that Reese and I had ever imagined.
The beach party was like a Ralph Lauren polo ad, minus the horses.
“My man! Look who finally made it. I thought you didn’t go to these things?” Porchy, one of the it guys from high school, gave Aaron a one-armed hug and slapped him on the back. Then he pushed his sunglasses up to look at me.
“Damn. Daisy Coleman. I thought you were too cool to show up to these things.”
It wasn’t lost on me that his gaze slid down to my cleavage then back up.
When Aaron glared down at him, Porchy laughed and slapped his back again.
“Dude, do you ever wear something other than a suit?” Chet, who I recognized from my history class way back when, hugged Aaron then me, drink in hand.
Sweat puddled under my bra immediately as more people wandered over to greet us.
The guests who spoke to us were the same cool crew from high school. They were all “so stoked” and “super shocked” and “in love” that Aaron had made it. A lot of them seemed weirdly happy to see me too.
“Showing off your new husband? Let me see that ring, girl!” Maxine, who had dated Porchy in junior year, squealed to me. She grabbed my hand. “Aaron, honestly, you should have asked me for help picking this ring out.”
“What’s wrong with it?” He scowled.
“No family heirloom rings?” Maxine demanded.
“As long as the bride likes her ring,” Chet said, jumping to Aaron’s defense.
“It’s like a Ring Pop except you can’t eat it,” I deadpanned, making them all laugh.
“Make him buy you a new one,” Maxine said.
“When I took it off, he threw a tantrum in the middle of his office. So I don’t think he can handle it.” I grinned at him.
“I didn’t.” Aaron scowled again.
“All it needed was him throwing himself on the floor and wailing in front of my coffee cart.”
The cool crew all laughed.
“Oh gosh, my boyfriend works in the Van de Berg building,” Celine gushed. I’d been on the school literary magazine with her. “He says you make the best coffee. We should all hang out. My mom said you were hosting a charity garden party.”
“Yeah, at Aaron’s house,” I said weakly. “We cleaned up the garden.”
“Go get a drink. Then we’ll talk, girl.”
Reese was giving me a shell-shocked gaze from near the grill, manned by a guy in Sperrys and white shorts who waved to me like we were long-lost friends.
“Daisy Coleman!” Harvey hollered when I scurried over to Reese.
My bestie shoved a watermelon mojito in my hands.
“What the fuck is going on?” I muttered. “Why are we here?”
“I haven’t had enough to drink to answer existential questions like that,” my friend whispered.
Aaron and the rest of the cool crew flocked to the bar. I handed him a scotch.
“I figure we have to stay another hour and forty-five minutes,” he whispered.
I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him down.
“I thought this was your thing. Why are you trying to ditch?”
“Coleman, the only reason we’re here is because I thought you wanted to be here.” I heard the smile in his voice then felt it when he kissed me under my jaw.
“I can’t believe you lied to me.”
“Or did you make erroneous assumptions?”
Playful.
I hadn’t really expected that from him. Then again, I hadn’t really expected anything tonight.
Well, except that .
Aurora was breezy in a long white dress that would make me look like a rooster having a terrible day if I wore it.
She gave Harvey a big hug. He swatted her with the spatula, making her shriek.
“Daisy.” Harvey handed me a hot dog. “I made these myself. Don’t make that face, Aaron. You didn’t even try it.”
Aurora smiled at me. Friendly. As much as I wanted to scowl, I heard my mom in my head, admonishing me to be nice.
“What’s good, my man?” Aaron and Harvey exchanged a complicated handshake. “How’s the insurance biz?” Harvey turned to Aurora and dropped his voice in an imitation of Aaron. “Can I interest you in a home or auto insurance policy?”
I giggled into my hot dog.
“Everyone talks a big game until they need an insurance payout.” But a smile did slip across Aaron’s face.
“Yeah, I’m about to burn down my house for that sweet, sweet payout.” Harvey hoisted his spatula.
“Harvey…”
“Come on, Aurora. You, me, a can of gasoline?”
“You almost set the bar on fire,” Aurora scolded. “I need to follow you around with a fire extinguisher.”
“New hobby?” Reese asked.
“I am a certified meat smoker,” Harvey said.
“No, he’s not.” Aurora shook her head, looking incredulous. “He learned how to do this from YouTube.”
“Ye of little faith!” Harvey let his eyes linger on her before adding, “I’m hosting a meat-smoking charity class. Help raise money for indigenous food arts. Can I sign you up, Aaron? I hear you have a brand-spanking-new garden that needs a meat cooker.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“I don’t think anyone wants him cooking,” Reese said.
“Daisy, you didn’t teach Aaron to cook? Your mom’s so good at it,” Aurora said then rolled her eyes when Harvey tried to hand-feed her a hot dog.
“It’s good, right? Lamb, buffalo, and pork. Homemade sauerkraut.” An excited Harvey waited as Reese took a bite of the hot dog.
“You can’t just stick to something normal?” Aaron asked, looking down at my food.
“Thank you, Aaron,” Aurora said in mock exasperation.
“I don’t know. I like it,” I said, polishing off the snack.
“She likes it, Aurora!” Harvey threw his arm around my shoulders then laughed when Aaron took a menacing step toward me.
“Uh-oh,” Celine said. “Don’t do that. I need Daisy’s help hosting my next charity event, and if you piss Aaron off, we can’t use his house.”
“Please.” Blair, who had been in all my English classes, hopped up and topped off my drink. “Daisy loves to piss off Aaron.” She smiled brightly at him. “I was worried he was going to completely corrupt you with his brooding and glowering and bad attitude.”
“You just have to keep him well caffeinated, and he’s fine.” I ruffled his hair, making all the girls shriek with laughter.
“She’s the one corrupting him.” Harvey tried to pat Aaron’s hair back down. “It’s funny, you two together. Aaron’s so uptight, and Daisy, you were always the cool girl.”
“I, uh, really?”
“Girl, you walked down the aisle to a funeral march. I died.” The girls cackled.
“Once she realized I’d pay her bills and she could pretend to be a struggling English student, she changed her tune,” Aaron said dryly.
“We’re getting PhDs,” Reese clarified. “We did actually graduate from college in a normal time frame.”
“Fist bump!” Blair shouted.
“Do you like the program?” Maxine asked.
Strange. It was almost like they wanted to hear what I had to say.
“We have these visiting professors. It’s interesting to hear from people who have an international spin on literature,” I said hesitantly.
Aaron scowled.
“Come on, you can’t still hate Professor Pennington.”
“Uh-oh,” Blair joked. “A little competition?”
“He’s British,” Aaron grumbled.
The guys howled.
“He drinks tea and lives in his office,” Aaron snapped.
“The accent, though, when he reads Jane Austen aloud? Chef’s kiss.” I fanned myself.
Aaron scoffed and wrapped his arm around my waist possessively.
“I’m the one who makes sure you are sheltered and clothed so that you can read all day then earn a degree for it.”
“I am educating myself.”
“I see the things on your Kindle, Coleman. If I forwarded your reading list to your department head, they’d expel you.”
“Time’s up,” Aaron whispered later, nibbling my earlobe.
“Time for what?”
“To go.”
“You can’t be so antisocial.”
Reese was regaling several interested people with tales of our various eccentric and out-of-touch professors.
“It’s not antisocial if I really want to eat you out.”
My stomach fluttered as we walked down the beach, the setting sun casting long shadows.
The bonfire, the people, Aaron—the situation was a little too close to the last time he and I were out on this beach together alone.
Aaron had his pant legs rolled up, and we carried our shoes as we strolled back to his grandparents’ house, arm in arm, splashing through the waves that lapped softly on the sand while we laughed about our drunk classmates at the party.
He’s different.
He’s changed.
We’re not those people anymore.
I was going to enjoy being Aaron’s wife. The sex was great, and the home was beautiful. Dorian even liked him, though Dorian liked everyone.
This was good right? My happily ever after.
Until we were there, suddenly and inexplicably, at the cave.