Chapter 29
Daisy
“Coming!” I called to the knock on the door, setting down the vial of rose extract I’d started earlier in the week.
A part of me instantly hoped it was Max, but logic punctured that thought like a balloon. Max wouldn’t knock at his own home, and he was in Boston.
He left the bed this morning with a kiss to my forehead, almost before the dawn had risen. I knew it was because he wanted to leave so he could get back, but I didn’t want him to leave at all.
I winced with every last step to the front door.
I felt so achy this morning. So big. Was it the shoes from last night?
They were flats but still new. Or was it the standing?
We’d lapped that ballroom so many times, I’d lost count, and I hadn’t been complaining.
The way Max made me feel at his side was addictive. Powerful and protected.
Until that one moment shattered everything.
“Do you really want to be responsible for ruining his business?”
I peeked through the window and immediately opened the door.
“Hey, Harp.” My hand set on my stomach.
“Morning, Daze. Hope I didn’t wake you.” She extended her arms. “But I brought blueberry muffins and honey.”
I moved aside. “Max sent you, didn’t he?”
A sheepish smile worked one side of her mouth. “He said you might want some company this morning.”
My tongue lay heavy in my mouth as I followed her into the kitchen. I worked myself onto one of the seats at the counter, feeling like it was so much more work to move this morning than yesterday.
“Are you okay?” she asked, unpacking the basket of baked goods.
I rubbed my belly, feeling Lucy sitting low. “Yeah, just feeling really…big this morning.”
“Well, you’ve only got, what? Two weeks until your due date?”
“Thirteen days,” I answered as she set a plate with a muffin in front of me. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” she said and grabbed a knife for the honey. “How was the gala?”
I winced, a cramp rippling through me. Braxton-Hicks, Dr. MacDonald explained at our appointment last week, in depth, due to Max’s probing. “What did Max tell you?”
It wasn’t until I saw her eyes flare and then chin dip that I realized my tone was sharper than I’d intended, not because of her question, but because of the pain.
“He didn’t tell me anything, just that you decided to come home last night. Sorry if you don’t want to talk about it. We don’t have to.” She scooped some honey onto the knife and spread it over her muffin.
“No, I’m sorry.” I shifted to alleviate another cramp. “I didn’t mean…it’s just been a long night.”
“It’s okay. I only asked…” She paused and swallowed. “I only asked because I know Blaze was at the gala.”
Blaze. That’s right. Now, I remembered what Max had said about being surprised that Harper had bailed on going with him to the gala—because he thought she’d want any excuse to see Blaze.
“Yeah, we talked to him for a few minutes. He thanked Max for letting him use the apartment, but that was about it.”
She made a soft sound but kept eating, almost like she was trying to stop herself from asking more.
“Do you…know when he’s moving in?”
I shook my head, uncertain. “He didn’t say. I’m sure you’ll see him around as soon as they do, though.”
Her eyes dropped. “Oh, I hope not.”
“No?” A crease pulled through my brows.
Harper shook her head. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just…I think it’s better if I don’t see him. That’s why I told Max I couldn’t go last night.”
“Why don’t you want to see him?”
“Aside from the fact that my family has already made it awkward by sharing about my high school crush on him?” She laughed weakly.
“I think it’ll just be better for me if I don’t interact with him.
Help me get those girlish fantasies out of my head.
” She tried to play it off lightly, but there was only self-deprecation in her eyes. “Can’t fight reality, right?”
I set the other half of my muffin down. What little appetite I had was gone.
Can’t fight reality.
“Todd’s parents were at the gala.”
“What?” Food practically spilled from her mouth as it dropped. “Did they…” She trailed off when I nodded.
“I think that was the only reason they were there. To talk to me.” To threaten me.
“What did Max do?”
“He wasn’t there. Not at first.” In hindsight, maybe that was a good thing. If I hadn’t heard her out, who knows what they would’ve done—if they would’ve just started cutting off his business without warning.
“They want the baby,” I heard myself say.
“What the hell?” Harper’s hands planted on the counter, and she glared at me. In that moment, I saw the similarities between her and Max. “They can’t just demand someone else’s baby. This isn’t the eighteenth or whatever century. I hope you told them to go f—”
“They’re going to come after MaineStems if I don’t,” I interrupted, not wanting to hear all the ways I should’ve stood up to them—stood my ground and said screw it to whatever consequences Max would endure because of me.
“I don’t understand.”
“They’re going to ruin his business. All his contacts. His contracts. All the deals he has in the works…they’re going to lean on all their connections to hurt Max.”
“How…can they do that?”
“What? Spread rumors? Spread lies?” I choked out, my throat burning with anger and loathing. “People can say whatever they want—write whatever they want. No one bothers to check anymore if it’s true.”
It wasn’t until the color drained from her face that I realized I’d hit close to home. Well, at least she understood now. All it took was one word, a single lie dropped like dye into a bucket of clear truth, and the whole thing would be tinted. Tainted.
“I’m sorry, Daisy.” She took my hand, and I was glad when she squeezed it because another cramp came on, and her hold helped distract me from the pain. “I’m sure Max will think of something. There’s no way he’s going to let you give up his baby.”
I bit my tongue and lowered my head, staring at the impossible swell of my stomach. Lucy.
I couldn’t tell her I’d already thought of a way to fix this—to fix everything.
Max was the leverage they held over me—over my heart. If he wasn’t in my life, then their threats were empty.
If I left, Max would no longer be in danger, and Todd’s parents wouldn’t be able to find me.
“Daisy…” I lifted my eyes to Harper’s. “Don’t.”
“Don’t?”
“Don’t run.”
My mouth opened and then shut. “What are you talking about?”
How did she know?
In seconds, her eyes were awash with tears.
“Two years ago, Nox was in a relationship with someone. No one knew—well, I knew—but no one else did. Something happened…I found him upset. Angry. So angry.” She shivered at the memory.
“I begged him to talk to me. To Max. To Dad. To someone. The next day, he decided he was going to study glassmaking in Italy. He didn’t tell me until the day before he was leaving. ”
My breath hitched. Now, the chill between them seemed clearer.
“Nox had the same look when he told me he was leaving as you do now,” she finished, her fingers curling into a fist. “He thought running was the answer, and so do you.”
I didn’t think it was the right answer. I thought it was the only solution. But I didn’t say that. If this was what I decided to do, I couldn’t tell her. She’d turn around and go right to Max.
“Isn’t running what you’re doing with Blaze?”
My question shocked her, but only for a second before she banded her arms over her chest and fired back, “Blaze never looked at me the way my brother looks at you.”
And with that, she walked around the counter to wash her hands and then grabbed her bag. “I have to get to my hives, but if you need anything, just call.”
My chin dipped.
“And Daze?” She stopped on her way to the door and looked back at me. “Max will be back soon, and he’ll figure out a way to fix this, I promise. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do when it comes to protecting you.”
My palm lifted to my throat, my heart nothing more than a rattle against my chest.
I watched her walk away. Heard the front door open and close. And that was when I let myself break.
Why was Max always the one protecting me?
I love him too, you know, I wanted to shout to her. Why couldn’t I be the one to protect him for once?
Him and my baby?
My chest started to heave with deep cries, each one fitting between the increasing cramps in my stomach. Harder and harder. Each more painful than the last. I knew what they were, but they felt like my heart breaking. Each one cracking and splitting the seams of an organ I’d finally let feel.
Was it running when it was a choice? When it was to protect the man I loved?
There was a loud knock on the door, and my cries hiccuped to a halt. Swiping my eyes with my fingertips, I saw the basket still on the table.
Harper had forgotten them.
I picked up her things and went to the door, puffing out hard breaths through tight lips as the contractions intensified.
“Be right there, Harp!” I yelled, having to hold my stomach this time as I moved.
I wasn’t expecting Braxton-Hicks to be this bad. Maybe I should call the doctor to check. To confirm. That was what they had to be, though. It was too early for anything more.
I didn’t bother to look before opening the door. A mistake I’d realize too late.
“Harp—” I froze and stared at the face on the other side. “Oh my god…”
And then I felt a waterfall crash down my legs and drench my bare feet.