Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
A few days later, they finally took Logan’s grandparents up on their offer to come to the farm and talk Dream Harbor history.
‘You sure I can’t get you two something to eat?’ Estelle asked, bustling around the kitchen. Elliot sat at the kitchen table with Henry poring over the older man’s photos, but Daisy had stood up a while ago to stretch her legs.
She was about to accept Estelle’s offer of food, when she caught Logan’s eye from across the kitchen. He gave a subtle shake of his head as if to warn Daisy away from his grandmother’s cooking.
‘Oh, that’s all right,’ Daisy said, smiling at Estelle. ‘I had a big lunch.’
Estelle glared at her grandson. ‘What did you tell the poor girl? My cooking is just fine,’ she said, turning back to Daisy as Logan chuckled on his way out of the kitchen.
‘Whatever you say, Nana,’ he said as he left to go pick Jeanie up from her shift at the café. Daisy thought it was sweet that he picked up his wife after work. And she was secretly relieved to see her curse hadn’t affected them yet.
‘I’m sure it’s delicious,’ Daisy said, eyeing the slop Nana Estelle was stirring in the crock pot. ‘But I really am full.’
She was actually starving. They’d been here for hours now, and while the first two hours listening to Henry tell the history of the town had been interesting, here in hour three, as Henry pulled out a literal chest of old pictures his parents had left him, Daisy was getting tired.
And hungry. But not hungry enough to eat whatever was in that pot.
Was food supposed to liquify like that? Daisy couldn’t even guess what it had started out as.
‘Suit yourself,’ Nana said with a shrug, replacing the lid on the food crime. ‘I’m off to aerobics. You all can help yourself if you get hungry.’
The men barely lifted their heads from where they were peering over the pictures.
‘Okay, dear,’ Henry murmured when Estelle pressed a kiss to the top of his head. ‘See you later.’
Daisy plopped back down next to Elliot, leafing through the pictures spread out in front of her while she tried to think of a polite way to suggest they get out of here.
And then she found a familiar face.
Her Great-Aunt Daisy was staring up at her from a black and white photo.
She stood with a few other men and women, all looking around the same age like maybe they were all friends.
But in this photo, her aunt was smiling.
Beaming really. And she wasn’t turned toward the camera like everyone else.
Her gaze was set on the man beside her. And that was the part of the picture that had Daisy staring in disbelief.
That man also had a familiar face, kind and shy with disheveled hair.
Somehow Elliot’s face was staring up at her from the past.
Two immediate and horrifying possibilities sprang to Daisy’s mind.
One, Elliot, the Elliot sitting beside her, had died years ago and was actually a ghost. Which was certainly unsettling, but not quite as horrifying as option number two, which was that she and Elliot were related because her great-aunt clearly had a thing for this Elliot lookalike, who could very well have been his ancestor.
And if they had had children, then, quite possibly, Daisy and Elliot were some kind of cousins, and she certainly hadn’t been thinking about him in a cousin-like manner lately.
Ew.
A full-body shiver ran through Daisy, big enough to get Elliot’s attention.
‘You okay?’ he asked. That furrow of concern between his brows, the one that made Daisy think impure thoughts about a naughty professor, deepened.
Oh, no.
‘Look at this,’ she said, pushing the photo toward Elliot who peered down at it, a lock of hair flopping over his forehead in a way Daisy really did not need right now! Stop looking at your hot cousin like that!
‘It’s your great-aunt,’ he said and then stopped as his eyes tracked over to his lookalike. ‘Jesus, that looks exactly like—’
‘You.’
He cleared his throat. ‘That’s uncanny!’
‘You’re not a ghost, right?’ Daisy poked him in the arm. Very solid. Didn’t seem like a ghost. And he usually made her feel warm, not cold…
Elliot laughed. ‘I’m definitely not a ghost.’
‘So, who is that, then?’
‘I’m not sure. Henry, do you know who this is?’
Henry peered down at the picture. ‘Well, this right here is my father,’ he said, pointing at one of the other men in the photo. ‘And my Aunt Blanche is there.’
‘Okay, but who’s the guy who looks exactly like this guy?’ Daisy asked, cutting in and jabbing a finger at Elliot. ‘And do you happen to know if he procreated with my great-aunt?’
Henry’s bushy gray brows rose. ‘Well, that I wouldn’t know. As for who he is, I’m not sure. You got family around here?’
‘My mother’s family is from nearby.’
Henry shrugged. ‘Could be a relative, then, I suppose.’
‘Do you mind if I take the picture to show my mom? Maybe she’ll recognize him.’
‘Of course.’
‘Thank you, Henry. We should probably get going,’ Daisy said, jumping on the opportunity to wrap up this little history fest.
‘Yes, thanks so much. You are a wealth of knowledge.’ Elliot shook the older man’s hand while Daisy continued to stare at the photo. It was like she and Elliot had gone to one of those old time-y photo booths where you can get your picture taken in vintage costume. It just looked so much like them!
The way that Daisy was staring at that Elliot…
Daisy wondered if she looked at this Elliot in the same way.
After saying their goodbyes to Henry, they made their way out of the farmhouse and down the dusty drive to where they’d parked. Several fluffy chickens followed them out.
‘Are these normal chickens?’ Elliot asked.
‘I don’t know. Who cares?’ Daisy snapped, her emotions bubbling over.
‘You’re upset.’
‘Of course I’m upset, Elliot! Our relatives were clearly in love and what if they had a secret baby and what if we’re related!’ she yelled and the nearest chicken gave a startled cluck.
Elliot blinked. ‘I think you’re jumping to a lot of conclusions. We don’t know if I’m related to that man.’
She scowled at him as the weird chickens circled their feet.
‘They seem fluffier than normal chickens.’
‘Shut up about the damn chickens!’ She continued storming off to his car, ignoring his shocked expression.
‘Why are you so mad about us possibly being distantly related?’ he asked when he caught up to her. She was leaning against the passenger-side door, and he came to stand in front of her.
‘Because.’ She crossed her arms petulantly over her chest.
‘Because, why?’
‘Because, Elliot,’ she said with a sigh, ‘if we are related then I need to stop having sexual fantasies about you.’
The man turned bright red in an instant.
‘I … well … uh…’
Daisy waved him away. ‘Never mind.’
‘Never mind?! Daisy, you can’t say something like that and then expect me to forget it.’
She sighed. This was a strange day.
‘What can I say? I have a professor-kink and you’ve been looking very … professor-y lately; always poring over a book or looking at me all stern-like. And then, when you’re not doing that, you’re holding my hand or being all sweet. And frankly, Elliot, what is a girl to do?!’
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open.
She may have broken him.
‘Say something.’ She nudged his foot with the toe of her black boot.
Elliot met her gaze.
‘Your grandmother said your great-aunt never had children.’
‘That we know of.’
‘We’ll find out. We’ll find out for sure.’ Suddenly, he was a man on a mission.
Daisy smirked. ‘And why are you so eager to find out?’
He stormed around to his side of the car and wrenched open the door. ‘Because I have plenty of my own sexual fantasies, Daisy, and they all involve you.’
* * *
The ten-minute car ride back into town had been incredibly long and deafeningly silent, their confessions lingering in the air between them.
But Daisy couldn’t let this awkwardness continue, not with Beltane coming next weekend.
They needed to look normal and in love in front of everyone. Not weird and terrified of each other.
‘So…’ she ventured as they pulled in front of the shop. ‘That was—’
‘I’m sorry,’ Elliot blurted out.
‘For what?’
‘I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘Was it not true?’
Elliot turned to face her. ‘No, it was very true.’
Daisy couldn’t help her nervous giggle.
‘Why are you laughing?!’
‘I’m sorry! I just, this hasn’t happened to me before!’
‘Well, me, neither!’ Elliot gave her an awkward smile. ‘You’re my first fake girlfriend, I’m not really sure of the protocol here.’
Daisy blew out a long breath. ‘I know our arrangement is for show but these … physical feelings I think are … real. I mean … I’m attracted to you … for real.’ Her face heated. She hadn’t put herself out there like this in so long, but Elliot’s answer was quick and sure.
‘Same,’ he said, blowing out his own sigh of relief.
‘So, what do we do now?’ What should they do now? She had a few fun ideas, but would that just confuse everything between them?
The fact that she even found someone else attractive felt like a huge breakthrough, but she didn’t want to finally start moving on from David, just to get her heart broken by someone new. Especially by someone who was still hung up on his ex, too.
Ah, there was the red flag.
It was the same as her own. Still not over her ex. Still trying their damnedest not to repeat old mistakes.
But this level of sexual tension was becoming a problem. So maybe they could just … get it out of their systems? Or a friends-with-benefits situation? Or maybe…
‘We should probably confirm we’re not related first.’
Well, that knocked all the fun ideas out of Daisy’s head. Nothing kills the mood like the possibility of being related to the dude you’ve got the hots for.
She still had the old photo in her hands. ‘Right,’ she said, studying it again. ‘It really is crazy how much this looks like us. It’s freaking me out.’
‘It is pretty eerie.’ Elliot held out his hand and Daisy gave him the photo. ‘I’ve done some ancestry stuff already, and I don’t remember my great-grandfather looking all that much like me. Definitely not like this.’
‘So, who is he then?’
‘Maybe a great-grandparent’s cousin or something?’
‘The more distant the better,’ Daisy muttered.
‘I really don’t think we’re related. Your grandmother told you her aunt never had kids, right? That’s how she ended up as the next Daisy?’
‘Yeah, true.’ She really wanted that to be true.
‘I’ll do some digging, okay? We’ll figure it out before we…’
‘Before we?’
Elliot cleared his throat. ‘Uh … do anything more … real.’
‘Right. Good. Thanks.’ Daisy nodded, trying to keep everything sounding businesslike when her heart was thumping against her rib cage at the thought of doing more real things with Elliot.
She thought he was going to kiss her during their beach date, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that until they were thwarted by that Frisbee, and her disappointment had been big.
Girl-with-Frisbee had robbed her of something she was now positive would have been great.
She hadn’t stopped thinking about it since.
‘Your Great-Aunt Daisy looks so much happier in this picture than the other,’ he commented, looking down at the smiling faces in the photo again.
‘I know,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s like night and day.’
‘And you think it’s because of this man?’
‘Look at how she’s gazing at him. In the other photo, it’s like someone took away her favorite toy.’
Elliot chuckled. ‘Her favorite toy?’
‘Or something like that,’ she said with a cheeky grin. ‘I just think they had some kind of doomed love affair.’
‘It’s a lot to assume from two pictures.’
‘I have a hunch.’ A hunch that her great-aunt and this man who looked exactly like Elliot had some sort of relationship. Until they didn’t. And clearly her great-aunt hadn’t gotten over it. It seemed clear to Daisy, anyway.
‘A hunch is usually a good place to start.’
‘I guess we’ll just have to pore over more dusty old books and find more evidence.’
‘You’re really speaking my language now,’ he said and Daisy laughed.
‘Getting a little too close to those sexual fantasies?’ she teased.
Elliot’s ears burned pink, but he laughed, too. ‘A little bit.’
‘How about we go to the library and dig into the archives,’ she purred, putting on a fake sexy voice, having a little too much fun with this flirting game.
‘You think you’re joking, but that’s really doing it for me.’ He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Daisy burst into more giggles. She hadn’t felt this silly in a long time, like her insides were fizzing and her cheeks hurt from smiling.
It felt good.
‘Okay, then go talk to your mom and find out who this guy is so we can finally make out!’
Elliot’s grin grew. ‘Okay.’
Daisy held his gaze. ‘Okay.’ It was too warm in the car. Unseasonably warm. ‘I’m really glad you’re not a ghost.’
Elliot let out a laugh. ‘That would definitely complicate things even more.’
‘Like if I couldn’t touch you.’
He cleared his throat.
‘Right.’
‘Right.’
Elliot leaned closer, his warm breath tickling her cheek. ‘That would be a shame.’
She nearly leaned in. Elliot was right there. And it had been so long since she’d wanted someone. But then she remembered what they’d literally just been talking about, and she pushed him away. ‘Go talk to your mom!’
‘Right. Sorry. Right. Go talk to your grandmother. Maybe search for family birth certificates or something.’
Daisy nodded, opening the door and launching herself out of the car before she did something crazy and possibly incestuous.
‘Okay, got it. Bye, Elliot!’
‘Bye, Daisy.’