Chapter 25
Patrick
You can ignore reality,
but you can't ignore the consequences
of ignoring reality.
~ Ayn Rand
“You’re here again?” Maeve asks.
I showed up an hour ago, let myself into the backyard and started trimming the shrubs.
“Yeah. Are you complaining?”
“No. I’m just wondering what has you coming over here so much these days.”
“A brother can’t want to help his sister?”
Maeve crosses her arms over her chest. “Patrick, I’m not saying you never help around here.
You’ve always been great about lending a hand or helping with the girls—even running errands for me on your days off.
But this? Coming here and getting straight to work without being asked? You have to admit it’s fishy.”
I set the hedge trimmers on a bistro table near where I’ve been working and take a long pull from my water bottle. I’m not about to tell my sister about the way I stormed across the lawn at Moss and Maple. And I’m certainly not about to tell her how I ended up kissing Daisy.
As if I could actually explain that crazy turn of events.
I obviously didn’t wake up yesterday morning planning to kiss Daisy Clark.
On the job, I know when to charge in and when to hold back.
Off duty—under the influence of Daisy’s pull—I tossed every bit of discipline out the window.
One challenging look from her, and suddenly all my rules went up in flames.
I went by Moss and Maple because my dad had asked me to meet him out there. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’ve been so wound up over Dad’s project and my inescapable feelings for Daisy. I acted on impulse—which I rarely do. And it backfired—of course.
After that kiss I didn’t even stick around. I moved my truck, just like Daisy had asked me to. Once I got behind the wheel, I just kept driving. Dad hadn’t even arrived yet, but I couldn’t sit there, staring at Moss and Maple, emotions swirling like a storm, her kiss still burning on my lips.
Dad has called—multiple times. I haven’t answered.
As if that weren’t enough, barely an hour after that reckless—clearly unwelcome—kiss with Daisy, I found out M&M lives here. In Waterford.
The idea of us meeting each other thrills me, confuses me, and scares me in equal measure.
So, yes, I’m hiding out at my sister’s, cutting shrubs and raking leaves—avoiding the woman I kissed on impulse and the one tempting me to break my biggest rule: stay anonymous. Both have me acting like a man I hardly know.
“Are you saying you want me to stop?” I deflect.
Maeve holds her hands up in a gesture of innocence. “Far be it from me to stop you.”
“That’s what I thought,” I say with a smile.
I spend another few hours in the yard, raking leaves and replaying that kiss over and over.
I try to focus on anything besides the way Daisy softened into me, the sound she made when our lips finally met in a kiss I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
The intensity of our connection floored me.
It shouldn’t have. We’ve always had a tension between us. Cody was right about that much.
All day long, one question circles through my brain on an infinite loop: What am I going to do about Daisy Clark?
I take a break and meander into the kitchen where Maeve is making dinner.
“Are you staying for supper?” she asks.
“I hadn’t planned on it. Are you inviting me?”
“Of course.”
I lift the lid on a pot and Maeve swats my hand. The smell of vegetables and herbs in a broth wafts up in a plume of steam.
“I’ll stay,” I say.
I take a seat at one of the stools at her island and she sets a glass of ice water in front of me.
“Can I ask you something?” I say.
“Of course.” She sets the loaf of French bread on the cutting board and turns toward me, leaning back on the counter.
“How did you know Walker was the one?” I try to appear as nonchalant as possible.
The smile that takes over my sister’s face has me close to considering heading home before it’s dark out—even if going home would mean taking the risk of bumping into Daisy in front of our duplex.
“Patrick? Do you have a woman in your life that we don’t know about?”
By “we,” my sister means the whole O’Connell family.
If only she knew. I’m juggling two women and neither even counts as a girlfriend. A reckless kiss, an online message—and suddenly I’m a man breaking my own codes left and right.
One woman is fire. The other is oxygen. And I thrive on the sparks, but deeply crave a breath of fresh air. Heaven help me—I want to finally breathe, but the flame I swore I put out keeps reigniting.
I spend another few hours in the yard. Ignoring my father … Daisy … life. By the time my sister says the soup, homemade bread and salad are on the table, I’ve distanced myself from reality enough to focus on my nieces and their chatter about Halloween costumes over the family dinner table.
“I wanna be Bluey!” my youngest niece, Boston, declares.
“It doesn’t match,” her older sister, Ariella, says. “We can all be princesses.”
“Even Daddy?” Boston’s nose scrunches up.
“No. Silly. He’s the prince.”
The girls continue to banter about their options.
Maeve turns to me and says, “What are you and the guys at the station doing this year?”
I’ve given this some thought. Ever since M&M mentioned meeting at the Fall Festival, I’ve been trying to come up with a costume that would conceal my identity—in case, for any reason, I meet her and realize she is not a woman I want to pursue.
A good disguise will give me an out and preserve my anonymity.
What if Vanessa is M&M? I know she’s not. Vanessa isn’t that compassionate or humorous—even when she’s putting on her game face.
I’ve been rolling the online conversations through my head. David and Goliath? That could be anyone. It doesn’t have to refer to my dad’s development. And even if it did, a whole lot of small businesses and townspeople have a beef with my family. The vote was won by a slim margin.
“We’re not coordinating costumes this year,” I say to my sister. “I think I’m going as a dragon.”
“Fire breathing?” she smiles. “That’s clever.”
More like a book dragon, but I don’t say that out loud.
We finish eating and I help wash the dishes. Then I pack things up and head back to my duplex.
The next day, after we run through shift change and start to work, Cody and I are in the bay doing morning checks. The rest of the guys are in the office with Captain reviewing a call they went on earlier this week.
“So …” I say to Cody in a low voice. The acoustics in here are far too good for this conversation, but keeping this to myself feels like holding a live grenade. “You know how you told me to make my move on Daisy?”
I can’t help glancing around to double check that we’re alone.
“Yeah?” His eyes go wide with anticipation.
“Yeah. Not like that. Don’t get excited. I … basically … well … I kissed her.”
Cody’s face scrunches. “Context?”
“That’s it. There was no context. She had her hands on her hips.
She was scolding me about Dad’s trucks blocking her parking lot.
I took one look at her and lost my mind.
I stormed over to her and got right in her face, telling her how crazy she makes me.
I meant to let off some of the steam—I don’t know what I was thinking, honestly.
And then, she was right there, inches away from me, smelling like cinnamon and temptation.
One minute we were exchanging barbs. The next thing I know, she was licking her lips and leaning in.
And … well …” I run my hand through my hair. “I kissed her.”
“That’s so out of character for you,” Cody muses. “Cinnamon and temptation!” He laughs. “That’s straight out of one of your books. Did she kiss you back?”
“Like I’ve never been kissed before.”
My lips hum with the memory. I shake my head as if I could dislodge the feeling of her in my arms, her wrist in my grasp. Her pulse thrumming under my fingertips.
“Okay, then.”
“No. Not okay. Because she pushed me away as quickly as she had relented.”
“Really?”
“I’ve still got whiplash. Not that I thought she wanted me … but for that one moment … I don’t know.”
“Whew.” Cody blows out a breath. “But she did kiss you back?”
“I think it was a physical thing for her. For me? It’s so much more.”
“What I wouldn’t have done to be a squirrel watching that go down.”
“A squirrel? Don’t you mean a fly?”
“Squirrels have better vision.” He says it as if his reasoning’s so obvious.
“Have you seen her since then?”
“I’ve sort of been … busy.”
“Avoiding her?”
“Mostly, yeah. If you’d have seen how she reacted, you’d be in hiding too.”
“Well, you’re going to have to face her at some point. You are neighbors. And this is Waterford.”
“I know. I’m giving the whole experience space. Maybe in a few days it will be easier for us to both pretend it didn’t ever happen.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind when I said make your move,” Cody says. “I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the self-controlled, disciplined Patrick losing his composure and kissing his nemesis.”
“Tell me about it.” I run my hand through my hair again, pulling my open palm down the back of my neck and letting it drop to my side.
I lift the medical kit and start sorting through the items, taking inventory.
“There’s more,” I confess, glancing over at Cody.
His brows raise.
“There’s this woman online. She’s a fan of the show.
She sent me an email a while back. We started messaging about books.
Then it turned into talking about life, sharing our days with one another.
We’ve developed a friendship—a genuine connection.
But I made it clear we’d never meet—because of the importance of my anonymity as the host of my show. I don’t want to risk being found out.”
Cody doesn’t say anything, so I spill it all.
“She wants to meet up. It turns out—you’re going to love this—she lives here in Waterford.”