Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alder
Daisy: The house is yours. I’ll look for another place so we can move when the year is up.
There were no major holidays between now and when our year was up. Aunt Linda and my dad would likely never know that Daisy and I were done. I rubbed my aching chest and tossed the phone onto the seat of the pickup. I sat outside Rattler’s waiting for my order to finish.
The last two weeks had been miserable. I was nothing but a ghost in the house. I’d gotten up at the crack of dawn so I could be out before Daisy and Laila woke. Then I came home after ten. My staff had to know something was up. I was in the office well before any of them, I stayed later, and sometimes, I returned to the office after I grabbed something to eat for dinner.
The farmer’s market was winding down now that school had started, but those meetings had kept me busy. I was half tempted to call Matthew and see if there was any fall coaching to do around town.
I got out of my pickup and walked to the entrance. I had to switch between the Purple Petal restaurant in Crocus Valley and Rattler’s. To make it worse, I ordered two meals so it didn’t look like I was fucking single and saved the extra in my office fridge for lunch.
I prodded the impending headache at my temples. I’d been sleeping like shit, and there was an ulcer rapidly forming in my stomach lining. I had done the right thing. I had to have. Otherwise I’d torched the only damn chance I had to get my wife back.
My phone pinged. That must be the notice of my meal. If it was Daisy, I didn’t want to read it. She was planning to move on without me again. I’d seen it happen once; I didn’t need to see it again.
I trudged into the restaurant. My suit coat was left behind in the pickup, and I rolled up my sleeves as I went. Just as I reached the door, Evander pushed out like a battering ram, making way for his wife and kid.
“Alder, hey.” He narrowed his eyes at me. No, I hadn’t shaved this morning. Or yesterday. Was it the day before?
Violet exited with Willa in her arms. “Alder.” Her smile faltered when she took me and the dark circles under my eyes in.
“Hey, guys.” I took the door from Evander so the happy family could go on their way.
Violet handed Willa off to Evander. I would’ve stepped around her, but she blocked my way. “Evander, why don’t you head home? I wanna talk to Alder for a few minutes.” She peered at me. “You can bring me home, right?”
I wasn’t getting out of this. Violet clearly sensed something was wrong, and she had no plans to drop it. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll go in and grab my order.”
When I emerged with my bag of food, Violet was by herself.
“I’m parked at the back.” I kept walking. I wasn’t going to bullshit her, but that didn’t mean I looked forward to the conversation.
Once we were in my pickup, I didn’t bother to start it. “It’s over.”
Violet groaned. “I was afraid something was wrong. Daisy’s been a zombie for a couple of weeks.”
“She’s not doing well?” The thought didn’t make me feel better.
“It’s safe to say no. I suspect she goes to the bathroom and cries.”
“Fuck.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“What happened?” she asked softly.
I gave her the rundown, and unfortunately, it didn’t take long. “I tried.”
Violet studied me. I itched under her inspection.
“I did everything I could think of,” I said, the silence getting to me. “She refused to rely on me in any way.”
Violet didn’t respond.
“I gave her space,” I continued. Why wouldn’t Violet say anything? “Her daughter started to accept me, but my own wife? She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.”
Still my sister said nothing.
“Jesus, Violet. What?”
She looked out the windshield. “Do you love her?”
Her question surprised me and fucking depressed me. “I’ll never quit loving her.”
“Then why are you giving up again?”
The again stung real damn hard. “This is different than before.”
“Is it? Daisy didn’t behave like you wanted, and you’re letting her go.” She twisted in her seat. “She didn’t want to go the first time. She wanted you to try. She wanted you to listen. She wanted you to do better.”
“Don’t you think I’d give Daisy everything she wanted?”
“Except for time.”
My head jerked back. Her words were a real slap in the face.
I had given Daisy time, but I’d put her on my timeline. I’d wanted her to heal faster, to trust me when I demanded it. “Shit.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Violet said. “Daisy isn’t one to open up. She’s known me for years— years —and she doesn’t tell me much. We talk, we go to lunch together, and I barely know why she didn’t marry Jason. All she said was that he was a good guy but he didn’t get her. I don’t know about her exes. She’s talked a little about her work experience, and we bitch about our old bosses, but she still keeps things tight to the chest. And the thing is, Alder, I think I’m the best friend she has.”
I sighed and let my eyes slide shut. Violet felt like she hardly knew Daisy, but Daisy poured herself out to me. She might reserve some parts, but I got the most. That meant a lot. “What the hell am I supposed to do? She pushed for that damn prenup, probably because of that credit card debt, and she refused to tell me about it.”
“She’s probably humiliated.”
“I’m supposed to be her husband. Her partner.”
“Who did real well after the divorce. You’re the boss of her boss of her boss…” She mouthed names and counted on her fingers. “Of her boss.”
I clenched my jaw and stared out the window at happy couples walking into the restaurant and coming out, greeting each other. My envy chewed through my gut.
How had it looked to Daisy? I’d come swooping in, and I’d had the house, I’d had the funds, and I’d had the history of bouncing back even better. She’d been an almost homeless single mom with an undetermined amount of debt.
My stomach acid flared, searing the lining. She’d been almost homeless because of that damn debt. She’d been in a helluva bind, and I’d taken advantage under the guise of helping. I’d known all along I was going to try to win her back when she’d been trying to survive—for herself and her kid.
I groaned and rested my head against the steering wheel. “Fuck. I ruined it.”
“You really are a fan of giving up.”
“Damn, Violet.” Sisters didn’t hold back.
“Look, I don’t know what happened way back when. You turned into an Alder none of us recognized for a few years and then you snapped out of it—and right into another Alder none of us recognized. I, for one, have enjoyed seeing you with Daisy. It’s like having you back.”
I frowned. I’d turned back into myself after Daisy left the first time. “I’m still me, only I argue with Daisy less. Not at all in fact.”
“So you two had one argument and then you called it off? Dang, Alder. You’re going to have to extend that timeline.”
I was going to get a second ulcer. She was right. So damn correct. The first hiccup and I’d been the one to bail. I had tightened my life so efficiently that I hadn’t been prepared for a single delay. I’d finished college over a year ahead of time. I’d climbed the corporate ladder quickly. And I had thought I could win Daisy back earlier than she needed.
“Violet, I need to make sure my wife wants to stay married to me. I need your help.”
Daisy
My real estate agent was barely out of high school, but he was prompt and brutally honest about the properties he showed. I’d taken the Friday afternoon off to find a place to live once Alder got the house.
Mom’s house had sold, and she said she’d help me with a down payment. The mortgage on a small house would be the same as renting one. I couldn’t pay her back, but she wanted us to have a place that wouldn’t get sold out from under us.
I’d reimburse her though. Someday.
That was if I found a house that wouldn’t drain the rest of my check from all the repairs. It wasn’t looking good.
The first house Hunter had shown me had smelled like moldy carpet and had still been in the seventies. The second had been a giant money pit. We’d gone to Crocus Valley for the next showing.
The house in front of us was also hungry for some landscaping and general maintenance. I squinted at the roof with the uneven shingles. I hadn’t gone inside, but it already looked like it’d need significant repairs.
“Yeah,” Hunter said with a lazy drawl. “The roof needs to be replaced. You might even find that it’s more than shingles that needs to be fixed.” He stuck a hand in the pocket of his slacks and leaned back like he was taking the whole picture in when the sight of the thing just slapped a person in the face. “The original owner built the place.”
“So, he was in construction?”
“Nope.” Hunter clicked his tongue and started for the front door.
I’d gotten the world’s most honest real estate agent. Hunter had saved me lots of heartache with his factual house showings. I’d laugh if I wasn’t ready to cry at the drop of a hat.
I followed him into the house. “Oh god,” left my mouth before I could stop it. The place smelled like cat pee, and the carpet looked like it’d hosted several ragers. Not even the floor of the apartment Alder and I had lived in had looked this bad when I’d moved out.
“Definitely plan for new carpet and a paint job.”
I made the mistake of glancing at the ceiling. The many dark spots told me how bad the leaks were. I walked through the living room to the kitchen on the opposite side of the wall. A hallway stretched to my left. The kitchen linoleum was as stained as the carpet and probably older than me. I looked out the back window at the yard.
Was there any part of this house that would justify me buying it? There were no other places in my price range.
Hunter stopped next to me. “The backyard neighbor owns a small engine repair shop, and he’s known to let his projects creep onto your lawn.”
“Oh, okay. Is he a decent guy to talk to about it?”
“Nope.” Hunter started for the back door. “He’s been in jail a couple of times.”
My hopes burst like a stuck balloon. I couldn’t afford the renovations on this house, and if I could, I couldn’t risk a volatile neighbor with Laila. I blinked rapidly, the tears forming too fast.
The front door opened. Was there another person interested? Hunter would’ve said if he was entertaining another client. Did it matter? They could have it.
Hunter spun around. “Hey, man. Can I help you?”
The new arrival was a stranger? Alarm pierced my despair, but Hunter was relaxed. I took two steps just as Alder turned the corner, looking like a polished diamond on a dung heap in his suit and tie.
“What are you doing here?” My balloon of hope tried to piece itself back together. Just seeing Alder was a balm, and we’d gotten really good at avoidance.
I’d cried every damn night since he’d left. I’d run our last conversation through my head. I had asked for time, and he had claimed I was never going to trust him.
I did trust him, but I didn’t understand why I couldn’t let him in all the way. I had no clue why I wanted to vibrate out of my skin to think that we weren’t pretending anymore or that we weren’t trying. The idea that we were husband and wife in all it entailed smothered me with a fear I couldn’t define.
Then Alder had left. Technically, he was still under the same roof. We hadn’t come this far to lose the house.
“I heard you were buying.” Alder glanced around. His expression flickered with disgust but remained calm. “But you can’t. Because I’m purchasing this place.”
I sputtered. “What?” Why would he want it? What about his house?
He lifted a shoulder. “I’ll buy it and fix it so you and Laila have a decent place.”
Shock robbed me of words. What the hell was going on?
“You got, uh, an agent you’re already working with?” Hunter asked, grabbing a business card from his wallet.
Alder accepted it from him and stuffed it into the pocket of his shirt. “Thanks. I do need someone. Mind if I have a minute with Daisy?”
“You got it, my man.” Hunter left us.
I crossed my arms, stupidly happy that he was here. His presence in this house somehow made it better. “The floor is warped.”
“The walls are warped,” he said. “This place is a piece of shit.”
I bristled, but he was right. “Why are you buying a house I’m interested in?”
He closed the distance between us, so tantalizingly close I could just wrap my arms around him and inhale his new-leather-and-cedar scent. “I don’t want you to have to buy a house.”
“I can rent.” The options were just as dismal.
“Then I’ll buy the apartment building so you and Laila can live rent-free.”
“You don’t have that much money,” I scoffed. His gaze remained steady. My stomach fluttered. “You can’t purchase every place I look at.”
“I can and I will and I won’t charge you rent, but let me fix them up first. You and Laila can’t live on wavy floors or under questionable roofs.” He scanned the room. “Or in a place with both.”
I made a strangled noise. He was serious.
“I won’t quit taking care of you.” He tilted my chin up and ran a thumb over my lower lip. “I walked away, and I shouldn’t have. We experienced our first real hurdle, and I retreated. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have left you.”
“You’re still in the house,” I whispered.
“I haven’t been with you.” He stepped back. “But I’m going to be. You asked for time, I’m going to make sure you get it. When you get home tonight, there’s dinner in the crockpot. Chicken and biscuits.”
My stomach growled. The traitor. “You don’t have to— We’re not—” A tremble tracked over my skin. We fit a pattern. Bliss, then heartbreak. “This isn’t going to work.”
“Yes, it will.” He took his hand from my chin and all the heat in my body went with it. “I’m going to talk to Hunter. The three houses you looked at today are going to get an offer.”
“All three? Alder, you can’t.”
“I can buy these with the money from the sale of my house in Billings. I won’t even have to touch my investments.” When I had no response around my shock, the corners of his eyes crinkled. “See you at dinner tonight.” And he walked out.
What the hell?
What. The. Hell.
I stared out the window at the various lawn mowers and snow blowers creeping across the property line. If Alder really was buying this house, that neighbor would lose his access within minutes of closing.
I will find a way.
That declaration was not part of the pattern. I believed him. My knees nearly gave out. A boulder rolled off my chest, and I sucked in a deep breath for what felt like the first time in fifteen years.
Fifteen years. We’d found our way back to each other. Two weeks that had felt like an eternity. Yet he was on the front lawn buying this dump. For me.
Only two weeks had gone by. Lightning fast compared to last time.
It all clicked. Time. Deadlines and lengths of relationships. I’d gotten hung up on those.
I charged outside, pushing out the screen door that I hadn’t noticed was a screen door because the screen was missing. “Hunter, we’re done here for now.”
Hunter glanced from me to Alder.
“You have my card,” Alder said. “Send me the paperwork.”
“On all three?” Hunter squeaked.
Alder didn’t flinch. “Yes.”
Hunter’s mouth dropped open. He snapped it shut. “Of course. I’ll lock up and leave you two be.”
“You don’t have to buy the houses, Alder. I want this. With you.” It’d ruin Hunter’s day, but I couldn’t let Alder buy three damn houses.
Alder didn’t take his gaze off me. “Don’t worry, Hunter. Send me the paperwork.”
Hunter scurried by us. “Will do. You two have a good day.”
As soon as his pickup door shut, I sucked in a deep breath. “The first guy I dated after you? He stole my information and opened a bunch of credit cards. I didn’t catch it for three years, and he’d run them all the way up. That’s all he was using me for, and I stayed with him way too long.”
“Daisy—”
I held up a hand. I had to finish this. He needed to understand. “The next guy was a charmer, and I was lonely. So I stayed. I stayed when he came home late five nights in a row with a weak excuse that the office was getting painted and he had to be present to lock up after. I stayed when he went on a work trip with his best friend— Lilah . And I stayed when he told me that the fake lashes I found in his passenger seat were mine. I was ‘overreacting.’” I threw up air quotes. “I was being paranoid .” I puffed hair out of my face. “I stayed with him for four years.”
“Who the fuck is he?”
“An asshole who’s probably cheating on his wife. Lilah .” I lifted my arms and dropped them to my sides. “Then there’s Jason. Poor, sweet Jason. He was safe. I knew I didn’t love him. And I knew I had stayed too long as soon as I saw that positive pregnancy sign.” I stepped into his space. He blocked the light breeze ruffling my hair. I put my hands on his shoulders. “Before all of them was you. I spent years wondering if I left too early. Should I have stayed longer, given you the time you needed to sow your wild oats? Did I give up too soon?”
Understanding dawned on his face. “You stayed with all those douchebags because of me. I’m including Jason, but he’s not a douchebag.”
I smoothed my hands over the expensive material of his suit. “I trust you, Alder. I don’t trust myself.” The tears I tried to keep back rolled freely down my face. “I love you so much. I never thought I’d have a second chance, but I’ve screwed up every single time before.”
He cupped my face, anger emanating from him in waves. “You didn’t screw up. Never you. I fucked up. Those assholes fucked up. I mean, Jason—well, damn, I would’ve stayed with him too long too.”
A blubbery laugh left me. “You’re the most perfect man. You were then, and I didn’t allow you any leeway.”
“I was a disrespectful prick. You were the most important person in my life, Daisy. I took you for granted, and when you left, I didn’t believe you were gone for good. After we signed the divorce papers, I still didn’t buy that we were done. Then you graduated and never came home, and I knew. I knew that I ruined the best thing that had ever happened to me. And I knew I had to do something drastic to get you back.” He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks. “Then I took you for granted again. My grandma dropped a miracle in my lap, and as much as I want to find that asshole and throttle him for driving you into debt, I can’t help but thank him—just a little—because it created the perfect scenario to get you back with me. I love you, Daisy. I’ve always loved you. I will always love you, and I’m willing to spend my life showing you, even if it means being the roommate upstairs you fuck.”
“Alder…I’m scared. I’m scared I’ll mess this up.” I already had by not talking to him.
“There’s nothing you can do to chase me away from you. One day at a time, Daze. You’re mine, and I’m yours. That’s all we need to know.” He kissed me, capturing my tear-soaked lips.
I gripped his lapel and tugged him closer, then I wrapped my arms around his neck. He hugged me to him, deepening the kiss. For a second time, I thought I had lost this.
Never again. I’d face my fear down a thousand times if I had to.
A low growl came from him. If we weren’t in the middle of the street, we’d be stripping each other down. My skin burned for his touch. I wanted him inside me. I wanted him in my bed. I’d talk to Laila?—
I pulled back with a gasp. “I have to pick up Laila from daycare.”
He checked his watch. “Shit. You need to hurry. I’ll go home and get the table set and?—”
“Why don’t you come with me?” I wet my lips. His taste was on them, right where it should be. “You’ve never been there, and they should know who you are. I’m sure you’ll be picking her up sometimes. Since you’re her stepdad.”
His whole expression lit up. “I’d be honored to. I’ll follow you.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “I’ll follow you anywhere, Daisy Duke.”