Chapter 10 Daisy
Timberline Tavern was crowded for a Friday night.
I spotted Knox the second I walked in. He was at the bar, nursing a beer, positioned with a clear view of the entire room. His eyes found mine, held for a beat, then slid away. Casual. Like he was any other local having a drink after work.
But I knew better. I could feel him watching, a steady presence at my back as I scanned the room for Garrett.
He'd claimed a booth near the window. Of course he had. Garrett always positioned himself to be seen and to command attention. He stood when he spotted me, that perfect smile spreading across his face.
God, how had I ever fallen for this man.
"Daisy." He reached for my hand as I approached. I didn't give it to him. "You look beautiful."
"Let's get this over with." I slid into the booth across from him. "You wanted to talk. Talk."
His smile flickered. He wasn't used to this version of me. The Daisy he knew would have softened by now, would have let him take her hand, would have given him the opening he needed to work his charm.
That Daisy was gone.
"I ordered you a wine," he said, gesturing to the glass in front of me.
I didn't touch it. "I'm not staying long enough to drink."
"Daisy, please." He leaned forward, all earnest eyes and practiced sincerity. "I know I hurt you. I know what I did was unforgivable. But people make mistakes. I made a mistake. And I've spent every day since you left realizing how much I need you in my life."
"You didn't make a mistake." My voice was calm. "You made a choice. Over several months. With your business partner's wife. That's not a mistake, Garrett. That's a pattern."
"It didn't mean anything."
"It meant everything." I held his gaze. "It meant you didn't respect me. It meant our entire relationship was built on lies. It meant every time you told me I was being paranoid or insecure, you were gaslighting me to cover your own betrayal."
His expression hardened. There it was. The real Garrett, the one who lived beneath the charm.
"You're being dramatic," he said. "You always do this. Blow things out of proportion. Make yourself the victim."
"There it is." I smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "The real you. The one who made me doubt myself for four years. The one who criticized my body, isolated me from my friends, and made me feel grateful that anyone wanted me at all."
"I never did that."
"You did. Every single day. And I let you, because I was so desperate to believe that someone loved me that I accepted whatever scraps you threw my way.
" I leaned forward. "But I'm done, Garrett.
I'm done being small so you can feel big.
I'm done apologizing for existing. And I'm done having this conversation. "
I started to stand. His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist stopping me.
"We're not finished."
His grip was tight. Not painful, but firm.
I looked down at his hand, then back up at his face. "Let go of me."
"Not until you listen." His voice had dropped lower so no one else could hear. "You don't get to walk away from me, Daisy. Not after everything I've done for you. I gave you four years of my life. I was going to marry you. And you threw it all away because of one mistake."
"One mistake?" I laughed, sharp and brittle.
"You cheated on me for months. You made me feel worthless.
And now you're sitting in a bar in a town you've never been to, grabbing my wrist and telling me I don't get to leave?
" I shook my head. "You never loved me, Garrett.
You loved controlling me. And that's over. "
"You're making a scene." His grip tightened.
"Good." I raised my voice, not quite shouting, but loud enough to carry. "Maybe everyone in this bar should know what kind of man you are."
People were looking now. Conversations had stopped and I could feel the weight of their attention, the small-town curiosity that missed nothing.
Garrett's face flushed. He hated being embarrassed and he hated anything that threatened his carefully constructed image.
"You're going to regret this," he said quietly, his grip still tight on my wrist. "No one is going to want you, Daisy. You're almost thirty, you're hiding in a nowhere town, and you have nothing. No career, no money, no future. I was your best option. Your only option."
The words hit their mark. I felt them land and felt the old shame try to rise up.
Then I remembered Knox. His hands on my body last night. His voice telling me I was beautiful. His confession that he'd spent eight years becoming someone worthy of me.
Garrett was wrong. About all of it.
"Let go of me," I said again. "Now."
"Or what?"
A shadow fell across the table.
"Or I break your arm."
Knox stood at the edge of the booth, calm and lethal, his eyes fixed on Garrett's hand around my wrist. He didn't raise his voice. Didn't posture. But the threat in his words was unmistakable.
Garrett looked up at him, and I watched the calculation happen. Knox was bigger. Harder. Clearly not someone who made idle threats.
"This is a private conversation," Garrett said, but his grip loosened.
"It stopped being private when you put your hands on her." Knox's voice was ice. "Let go. Walk the fuck away. Don't come back."
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm the man who's going to make your life very difficult if you don't leave in the next thirty seconds."
Garrett released my wrist as I pulled my arm back, rubbing the red marks his fingers had left.
"This is who you're choosing?" Garrett looked between us, his lip curling. "Some mountain trash in a flannel shirt? Jesus, Daisy. I knew you were pathetic, but this is a new low."
Knox moved. Fast, fluid, controlled. One second he was standing at the edge of the booth. The next, he had Garrett by the collar, hauling him up and out of his seat.
"Knox." I stood, my heart pounding. "Don't."
He paused and looked at me. I saw the war on his face. The old Knox would have beaten Garrett bloody without a second thought. This Knox was waiting. Giving me the choice.
"He's not worth it," I said. "Let him go."
Knox held Garrett for one more second, long enough to make his point. Then he released him with a shove that sent Garrett stumbling into the table.
"Get out," Knox said. "And if I ever see you near her again, I won't stop."
Garrett straightened his suit, his face mottled with rage and humiliation. The entire bar was watching now. Sadie the bartender had her phone out, probably ready to call Cal if things escalated.
"You're making a mistake," Garrett said to me, his voice tight with barely controlled fury. "Both of you. This isn't over."
"Yes, it is." I stepped closer to Knox, and his arm came around my waist, pulling me against his side. "It's been over for a long time. I was too scared to see it. But I'm not scared anymore."
Garrett's eyes dropped to Knox's arm around me. Something ugly flickered across his face.
"You were fucking him while we were together," he spat. "That's what this is. You were cheating on me the whole time."
"No." I shook my head. "Unlike you, I was faithful. But I should have left you years ago. For myself, not for anyone else. Because you never deserved me, Garrett. And I'm done pretending you did."
Silence. The whole bar held its breath.
Then Garrett grabbed his jacket from the booth and stormed toward the door. He paused at the threshold, turning back to look at me one last time.
"You'll regret this," he said. "When you're stuck in this dead-end town with your mountain trash boyfriend, you'll remember what you gave up."
"The only thing I gave up was four years of my life that I'll never get back." I met his eyes without flinching. "Goodbye, Garrett. Don't come back."
He left. The door slammed behind him as the entire bar erupted into whispers.
I sagged against Knox, suddenly exhausted. He held me up, his hand rubbing slow circles on my back.
"You okay?" he murmured against my hair.
"Yeah." I breathed out, long and shaky. "Yeah, I think I am."
Mae appeared at our side, having materialized from somewhere in the crowd. "That was the ex?" She looked toward the door with narrowed eyes. "Slick. Too slick. Never trust a man whose shoes are shinier than his soul."
I laughed, surprising myself. "Where were you four years ago with that advice?"
"Waiting for you to come home, sweetheart." Mae patted my cheek. "Now. You two need a drink. On the house. Sadie!"
She bustled off to the bar, and Knox guided me to a quiet booth in the corner, away from the curious eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said when we were seated. "I know you wanted to handle it yourself. But when he grabbed you..."
"You stopped yourself." I reached across the table and took his hand. "The old Knox would have put him through the wall."
"The old Knox didn't have anything to lose." He turned his hand over, lacing his fingers through mine. "I do now."
My heart swelled. This man. This impossible, perfect, infuriating man.
"Take me home," I said.
His eyes darkened. "Cal will be there."
"I know." I squeezed his hand. "I need to have that conversation. Tonight. Before I lose my nerve and before small town gossip reaches his ears."
Knox nodded slowly. "I'll drive you and wait outside while you talk, so I’m close if you need me there.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. "I'm not going anywhere. Not ever again."
We left the bar together, Knox's arm around my shoulders, my head held high. I could feel people watching, and could already imagine the gossip that would spread through town by morning.
I didn't care.
For the first time in years, I felt like myself. Strong. Certain. Ready to face whatever came next.
Even Cal.