Chapter 43 Daisy
FORTY-THREE
DAISY
I woke up to a door slamming and a clatter of activity. Squeals of my children’s voices interspersed with others.
Excitement in the air, while I felt as if I’d been sucker punched.
My sleep had been chaotic. Tossing and turning in a toil of the confessions that Cash had made last night.
Now, I was uncertain of where we stood.
He’d been so certain that he would be the source of our affliction. That he was nothing more than a servant of pain.
His ghosts so powerful and profound they had become his master.
I mean, okay, it scared me that he basically got off on inflicting violence. But he said these people weren’t innocent.
That gave him a lot of points, right?
Or was I making excuses?
Eva squealed before there was a riot of pounding feet.
What in the world was happening?
Blowing out a sigh, I slipped off the bed, padded to the door, and pulled it open.
A bit in a daze as I tried to process what was happening in the great room.
Charleigh, Emery, Piper, and Raven were standing inside. Raven held a giant garment box and the rest of the women were loaded down with bags. The entire flock of their children minus Baby Luna held hands and ran around in a circle with mine, the six of them overjoyed at seeing each other again.
Their little faces lit up with excitement.
Addy caught sight of me first, and she spun around to where I loitered in the doorway. “Mom! Guess what?! Since you’ve got to go marry our Grumpy Giant, after the wedding, we get to go to Finn’s house to have a big sleepover party with all our new friends! Can you believe it?”
“But that means you’re our family since our uncle Cash is going to be your dad,” Nolan said with an emphatic nod of his head.
My stomach twisted.
Oh no.
Is that what they thought?
Crap, I really hadn’t thought this whole thing through, had I? I thought this whole ceremony thing would be swept under the rug.
Done in the darkness.
A quickie marriage that no one would notice.
“But family is really just who you love most,” Nolan added. “And we already love you, so we got a good thing.”
Was it?
Was what I was doing a good thing?
Teasing my children with the hope of this when it was only fake? Temporary?
That or wholly permanent if something awful were to happen to me.
Sadness spiked through my consciousness at the thought, but it was assuaged by a bare whisper of comfort.
At least they would have this.
This amazing family.
A whole bonus that I hadn’t anticipated.
My gaze drifted to where the group of women grinned these knowing grins while I stood there completely clueless.
“Uh…a sleepover?” I finally managed.
We were going to the courthouse.
No ceremony.
No guests.
No frill or pomp.
We were fighting for our lives here, not getting fancy.
“That’s right.” Raven jutted her shoulder as she strolled deeper into the house wielding that giant box. “It is your wedding day, which means we had to make arrangements for your wedding night.”
She tacked a whole lot of suggestion onto that then added a dramatic wink.
Super subtle, that one.
“That is after we fix this.” She rested the box on the back of the couch and made a big circle around me with her finger.
I shifted on my bare feet. Glancing down at the tank and scroungy lounge pants I’d worn to bed, though I was pretty sure what I was actually wearing was the proof of the way things had gotten handsy between me and Cash last night.
His touch imprinted over every inch of me.
My hair a mess, and my body still trembling.
Speaking of Cash, where was he?
Anxiety flicking through my nerves, I peered around the room for any sign of him. I was worried whatever plans these ladies had were about to be thrown out the window since I doubted Cash had any intention of heading to the altar today.
“Um, I don’t think—”
“The plan is to gather up these little sweetie pies and take them to my place so everyone else can help get you ready,” Piper said. Then she edged toward me, dropping her voice. “You don’t need to worry. Theo and a guard will be there the entire time.”
“Oh, I…”
God, I couldn’t even finish a whole sentence.
“I don’t think I need any help getting ready,” I finally managed. “It’s not a big—”
The sharp gasp ripping from Raven cut me off. “Please tell me you weren’t getting ready to say it’s not a big deal, because this is most definitely a really big deal. Um, hello, wedding day. And who else is going to help you get into this if you don’t have your besties to help you?”
She shook the big box.
I frowned at it.
“A gift,” she said with a lift of her brows. “From your fiancé.”
“What?” Confusion wound through me while my stupid insides took flight.
Emery stepped forward. “He called me super early and asked if he could go into Ivy Threads and pick something special for you. Which I just so happened to have something extra special that our very own Piper here designed. Cash walked directly to it, obviously, since it’s the most gorgeous dress we have in the store.
It’s not exactly a traditional wedding dress, but I think it’s perfect.
” Emery brushed her fingers over the backside of Piper’s arm in a show of admiration.
Redness splashed Piper’s cheeks. “I hope you like it.”
“He also had us help him pick out some cute outfits for the kids,” Emery added.
I stood there stunned. Cash picked out a dress for me? Picked out clothes for my children? I thought for sure the plan had been demolished last night.
That it was too painful for him to even entertain.
That what I had asked of him had become too much.
Charleigh laughed a disbelieving sound. “I don’t think there’s any worry in that. It’s stunning. Cash is going to lose his mind when he sees you in it.”
My nerves rattled. Apprehension and this buzz of excitement that I knew better than to allow to invade.
This was fake.
Fake.
Fake.
Fake.
I silently chanted it to try to keep my fantasies from galloping away and becoming a life of their own. From turning this fiction into fact.
“Cash only asked that you open this alone first before we ‘descend on her with whatever torture you plan on inflicting’.” She made the grumpiest, growliest voice that she could, her head rocking back and forth as she parroted him.
“As if us coming in here to help you get ready for the most important day of your life is torture. More like Best. Day. Ever.”
“And we brought mimosas.” Glass bottles clanked as Charleigh lifted her bag.
“I…”
“Go on, take this and we’ll get the kids ready to go.”
Piper gestured to Raven, who stepped forward and placed the large white box in my hands. A pink ribbon was wrapped around it, the bow adorned with fresh white and pink flowers that matched.
It was so pretty I almost hated to open it, but honestly, I couldn’t wait to see what was hidden inside.
A hum of anticipation whirring through my spirit as I pictured that gruff man in Emery’s boutique picking it out for me.
Gulping, I accepted the package. “Thank you.”
“Oh, I don’t think you need to thank me,” Raven said with a smirk. “You can thank Cash later.”
“It’s not like that,” I tried to reiterate.
She laughed a tinkling sound. “Oh, my sweet, dear, innocent Daisy. Cash demanded all of us meet him at the store at six o’clock this morning to help him pick out a wedding dress for you.”
“And shoes!” Emery lifted another bag, then she hiked up the one in her other hand and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “We took it upon ourselves to pick out the sexy bits. That way it’s a surprise for him.”
“Uh…um…” I stammered again.
Raven angled her pretty head. “This is our resident recluse who doesn’t attend family events until I’m threatening physical harm.
And he actually gave us the green light to come here this morning.
To actually go into his house. A place we’ve been forbidden to step foot into, a rule I had to adhere to in fear of stepping into some sort of booby trap. ”
She gave me a look like it would be ludicrous to think otherwise.
“And based on the way you look properly loved up this morning, I’m thinking it’s definitely like that,” Charleigh rushed beneath her breath, making sure that the kids were out of earshot.
Properly?
If only.
Because damn it, how badly I’d wanted to actually feel him completely.
Not that the orgasm hadn’t been out of this world.
Extraordinary.
But when it came to Cash, I wanted…
I trailed off, refusing to give credence to that foolish train of thought.
“Go on,” Piper urged. “We’ll get your littles situated.”
Gratitude filled me to overflowing. My heart feeling like it would explode or cave or a combo of the two. All I knew was I felt unstable. As if everything were shifting. Everything I knew taking new shape.
Slowly, I turned and shuffled back to Cash’s room to the sweet call of Piper shouting at the kids, “All right, everyone grab a change of clothes and your toothbrushes. Everyone is going over to The Sanctuary to hang with Uncle Theo until it’s time for the wedding, then you get to go back for your sleepover! ”
A discordant crash of yays and stamping feet banged against the walls while I fumbled into the bedroom and clicked the door shut behind me.
In the dim light, my mood instantly changed. My stomach curled and twined into knots as I stared at the box.
Wishing that everything was different. Wishing that Cash and I hadn’t been given this lot. That he wasn’t broken, and I wasn’t afraid.
That I was dressing for a wedding like the one I imagined in the secret times as a teenager. So shy and insecure yet feeling fully seen by the boy who had helped to pull me out of my sorrow and showed me it was okay to stand in the light. Those foolish dreams right then seemed so bittersweet.
Exhaling a heavy breath, I forced myself over to the bed and set down the box. My fingers trembled as I released the bow. The pink satin fell away, and I fumbled to get the lid off.
The garment inside was wrapped in pink tissue paper, and an envelope sat on top.