Chapter 4
4
DAISY
People around town call Bryce the ice queen. Even her best friends have given her Ice as a pet name. They’re not far off.
Her scowl is sharp enough to cut, and her words are cold, well-aimed bullets that never miss their target. Yet, I don’t seem to care much about either of those things.
They don’t intimidate me. She doesn’t intimidate me.
Balling up the paper towel I used to dry my hands, I drop it into the garbage before following her out of the bathroom.
Johnny invited all of his friends to Peakside tonight because of me, even if he won’t admit that yet. After our talk last week on the porch, he’s been burning holes into the living room carpet with his feet while pacing and listing off every possible person I could stay with instead. It’s a sweet gesture, but not needed.
I’m capable of finding somewhere on my own. It just might take me a bit longer.
Peakside is still as empty as when I arrived a half hour ago, but this time when I pass the double-sided bar, I stop and order a beer. I’m a bit frazzled after my run-in with Bryce, and a drink will hopefully help me shake it off.
The black-haired woman with eyes the same shade as glacial water and skin a shade paler than mine has never failed to snag my attention. She’s gorgeous in that look but do not touch kind of way. There are icicles imbedded beneath her skin, just waiting to poke through and impale you, but the danger of that is almost exciting.
I’ve never been an adrenaline junkie, but when I’m intrigued by something—or someone—I can’t help but want to test just how far I can push before the consequences appear. It’s a personality trait I share with my twin.
After paying for the long neck, I make my way over to the table. It’s packed full, both bench seats housing three bodies and a set of two chairs pulled from other tables to rest at the edge of it. There’s one extra chair, and I would have laughed at the fact it’s beside the one Bryce is sitting in if she wasn’t already glaring at Poppy’s brother, Darren.
He’s sitting on the outside of the bench seat beside my brother and Aurora and is grinning smugly at her, almost as if he stole the spot on purpose.
“Enjoy getting a numb ass, Bryce,” he says, the dig bright in his tone.
She licks her lips in a slow, vicious movement before baring her teeth. “Enjoy having a micro, Darren.”
“Nah, I’ve got a?—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” Poppy shrieks, hands over her ears. “Nobody wants to hear about your dick size, Darren.”
I pull the empty chair further away from Bryce and set my beer on the table before sitting. She doesn’t react, so I let it all go, focusing on everyone else now.
“Daisy!” Johnny exclaims, slapping a hand down on the table. “The guest of honour.”
“I’m the what now?”
Rory smiles sympathetically at me. “I tried talking some sense into him, Daisy, but you know your brother.”
“That I do,” I agree.
Johnny addresses the entire table next. “As you all know, my twin is back in town to stay, and, well, she wants to move out. ”
“Move out of your place?” Brody asks.
The country music star leans back on the bench, his arm in its permanent place over his fiancée’s shoulders. Anna leans into his body, her eyes bouncing around the table as we wait for Johnny to continue. The couple is a love story that will be told for a long while in Cherry Peak. A broody cowboy and the new girl in town running from a past with a man who didn’t deserve her.
“Yep,” Johnny answers.
“Have you thought about Rory’s old rental?” Anna asks me.
I shake my head and cross my legs. “I’m not stepping foot in that horror story home.”
“I don’t blame you. I swear to God, I saw a woman in the upstairs window once,” Poppy says with a shudder.
Rory snorts. “No, you didn’t.”
“I still don’t know how you lived there for so long,” Anna says before pointing at Johnny. “And I don’t know how you let her.”
My brother throws his hands up. “Hey, don’t take shots at me. I tried to get her out of there, but you know how my woman is.”
“And how is that?” Rory asks him, an eyebrow cocked.
He smirks before leaning to whisper into her ear, and a beat later, Rory’s cheeks flame a bright red. I smile softly at the way their eyes meet, and despite the no doubt dirty words he’s just spoken to her, I can’t help but feel really, really happy for them.
“You’re going to talk like that right beside me? Really?” Darren cries, twisting his face in disgust.
Bryce stares at him and bluntly says, “Shouldn’t have stolen my seat.”
“Shouldn’t have stolen my seat,” he echoes in a high-pitched voice.
“Mature.”
Darren flips her off and takes a long drink from his glass. Their dynamic is interesting. I’ve noticed it a few times in the past, but mostly in passing. Getting a chance to watch it up close makes it easier to see that they share a similar brother-sister relationship to the one he has with Poppy and I have with Johnny.
“Anyway, back to why I called you here,” Johnny says, guiding everyone back. “Anyone have an open room for Daisy?”
My stomach swirls with nerves and a bit of embarrassment when he drops the question. Everyone besides Bryce turns to look at me, and I keep a brave face despite feeling like a child who needs to be taken care of.
“I’m capable of finding my own place. I don’t want anyone to feel forced into housing me,” I add, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.
“Nonsense!” Johnny declares.
I meet his eyes and subtly shake my head. “Johnny.”
He looks a bit scolded when he nods. “If anyone would be open to letting my sister stay with you for a few weeks, we’d both appreciate it.”
“Did you kick her out?” Darren asks him.
“No. But she hasn’t . . . been sleeping well at our place.”
Poppy tries to hide her laugh but fails when it escapes her sealed lips in a cough-like sound. “So, you two have been keeping her up all night with your fucking.”
“Don’t laugh, Poppy,” Aurora mutters, cheeks still that deep red hue.
Poppy pulls her hair behind her shoulders and leans forward over the table. “Oh, I’m going to laugh. For all the shit y’all give me and Garrison, this is just too good.”
“It’s a blessing he isn’t here to hear this,” Brody notes.
Johnny huffs. “I’m sure Poppy will give him the rundown the minute she gets home.”
“Of course I will.”
They continue to pick on my brother for the next few minutes, and I let them, sitting back in silence. They’re all really nice people. The best Alberta has to offer. But they’re not really my people. Not the way they are my brother’s .
Darting my eyes from the table, they land on the crossed, bare legs of the woman beside me. She bounces the one she has beneath the other, and I focus on the black cowboy boots that cup her from foot to calf. A dark denim skirt has risen to midway up her thigh, and even with her sitting position, her black band tee is cropped short enough to expose an inch of her toned stomach.
Her attractiveness is obvious, but as I lift my eyes higher and higher, so is the way she’s looking at me right now, all cool irritation and a sharp bite of curiosity.
An apology gets stuck in my throat when she tenses and looks away. I release a long, quiet exhale and glance back at the table.
“I’d love to help you, Daisy, but unless you’re willing to commute from Calgary again, me and Garrison are out,” Poppy says.
Darren speaks next. “I’ve got a pull-out couch in my office, but it’s pretty shit.”
“We have two extra rooms,” Anna pipes in.
Hope swells in my chest. “Really?”
Brody finishes his beer and reaches for the tray of nachos on the table. “We’re up through the ranch. Past the main and guest houses. Down from the shop.”
Living on Steele Ranch . . . My hope deflates.
“I appreciate the offer, but living on the ranch isn’t really me ,” I say, shoving the guilt away that follows my statement.
Brody shrugs me off, unbothered. “It’s not for everyone.”
“What about you, Ice?” Poppy asks.
I stare at her, trying to analyze the barely there twitch of her lips. Bryce adjusts her posture beside me, her leg no longer bouncing.
“What about me?”
“You have an extra room, don’t you?”
Anna gasps before glancing between Poppy and Bryce. “Yes! That’s right. You said you were using it for what again? Your clothes?”
I don’t dare steal another look at Bryce. Not even when she shifts again, this time planting both feet on the floor.
“Would you do me this favour, Bryce? Please?” Johnny asks, excitement ramping with every word.
When I feel the weight of her eyes on my face, I look over. The vividness of the blue is startling this close up and without the dull, yellow lights of the bathroom to drown them out.
“It would only be for a couple of weeks,” I say softly.
Her tongue presses against the inside of her cheek. Everyone’s watching us, not a single word spoken. It’s eerie, and I itch at my forearm when my nerves become relentless. Something about this woman shocks my system. Makes me shy, almost.
Maybe I should just take Brody and Anna up on their offer.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Just say yes, Bryce,” Poppy mutters, the first to break the silence.
Bryce’s nostrils flare with her short sniff. “Fine.”
With a quirk of my lips, I offer her a thankful smile. She doesn’t return it before darting her eyes away and toward the bar. Then, she’s up and away from everyone.
Discomfort nips at me, but I ignore it. Bryce can hate me all she wants as long as I can sleep in peace. Besides, it will only be for a max of two weeks. Not a day more than that. We can deal until then.
“Sorry, Daisy. She takes her personal space seriously,” Poppy divulges.
“It’s okay. I get that.”
“I’ll talk to her. Straighten her out,” Johnny says.
Poppy twirls the tiny straw in her red drink. “No, I’ll do it. She’s just not the most welcoming to people she doesn’t know well.”
It’s a lie. I’ve heard the opposite from my brother and his girlfriend. If that were the case, Bryce wouldn’t have taken in both Aurora and Anna as easily as she did when they moved into town. Yeah, she’s guarded and brutally blunt. That’s obvious. But rude? Down to her very core? That’s still to be decided.
It seems that I’m an exception to her usual behaviour, and I’m curious enough to want to know why. She can be warm to those she cares about as I’ve seen a handful of times, and I want to know why I’ve been written off as someone who can’t be tucked into that category the way my brother and everyone else has.
“Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you helping me out. And for offering me a place, Brody and Anna.”
“Anytime. We’ve got a soft spot for the Mitchells,” Anna says with a wink.
“If I didn’t mind the smell of cattle or being woken before sunrise, I’d have moved in without a second thought.”
“I’m with you, Daisy. When we stay in the guest house on the weekends, I’ve started wearing earplugs,” Poppy says.
Brody laughs. “You get used to it after a while.”
“Only if you want to.” Poppy finishes her drink and pats Anna’s shoulder. “I’m going to check on Bryce.”
“Want me to come?” Anna asks.
“No. I’ve got it. Just let me out.”
Brody and Anna exit the booth long enough to let Poppy out before sliding back in. I watch Poppy head right for the side of the bar not visible to us at the table and then drop my gaze.
I feel bad that this has upset Bryce so much, but she could have turned my brother down. Something tells me that Bryce isn’t one to fall under the trap of peer pressure.
So why didn’t she just say no?