Chapter 9
LIZA
Ihad never been much for sports. Coordinated physical activity that involved keeping score felt like a special kind of torture designed specifically to humiliate nerds like me. So when Darek announced after breakfast that we were going miniature golfing, I felt my stomach drop.
“Miniature golf?” I repeated, hoping I’d misheard.
“It’s Daisie’s favorite,” Darek said, already clearing plates from the table. “We go every Saturday when the weather’s nice.”
“I’m really not good at golf. Or mini golf. Or anything involving balls.”
“It’s just putting,” Daisie said. “I’ll teach you! It’s super easy.”
The place was exactly what you would expect from a tourist town trying to separate wealthy visitors from their money. Brightly colored windmills and castles, a pirate ship you had to putt through, obstacle after obstacle designed to look whimsical and fun.
It was packed with families, kids running around with putters taller than they were, parents taking photos and trying to keep everyone from melting down over the slow pace.
Cloudhaven was a rich touristy place on the beach, with boutique ice cream shops and galleries selling ocean paintings for thousands of dollars. The “casual” restaurants would likely have dress codes and waiting lists.
We got our putters and balls. Daisie insisted on pink, I got blue, and Darek took red. We headed to the first hole. It was designed to look like a lighthouse, with the ball having to go up a ramp and around a curve before dropping into the hole.
“Okay,” Daisie said, taking my hand and pulling me to the starting spot. “So you put the ball here, and then you hit it just hard enough to make it go up the ramp. Not too hard or it’ll fly over. Not too soft or it won’t make it.”
“That seems like a lot of variables.”
“Just watch.” She demonstrated, tapping her ball with perfect precision. It rolled up the ramp, curved around the lighthouse, and dropped into the hole with a satisfying plink.
“Show off,” Darek said, ruffling her hair.
Clearly, the girl had done this a few times.
“Your turn, Liza!”
I positioned my ball, gripped the putter the way I had seen Daisie do it, and took a swing. The ball shot forward, bounced off the ramp, ricocheted off the lighthouse, and came to rest approximately where it had started.
None of us said a word. I could tell by Darek’s expression he was speechless. Daise looked like she was trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t hurt my feelings. That was very sweet of her.
“You have to tap it gently. Like this.” She guided my hands through the motion. I was struck by how patient she was. It felt like that was something she would have picked up from her father.
Just a little something to think about.
I tried again. This time, the ball made it halfway up the ramp before rolling back down.
“Better!” Daisie declared.
It took me six strokes to complete the first hole. Darek got it in two. I was too busy laughing at my own incompetence and enjoying the way Daisie cheered every time I made any progress at all.
The second hole had a windmill with rotating blades. Daisie explained the strategy with the patience of a saint.
I watched her demonstration, marveling at her confidence. Seven years old and already so self-assured. When had I ever been that brave as a kid?
“Okay,” I said. “I can do this.”
I waited for the blade to pass, then hit the ball. It rolled forward, straight toward the gap, and I felt a surge of triumph until the blade swung back and knocked my ball sideways into the fake grass.
“So close!” Daisie said. “Try again!”
By the fifth hole, a volcano that required bouncing the ball off a wall at just the right angle, I was actually starting to get the hang of it. Or at least, I was only taking four or five strokes per hole instead of six or seven.
“You’re getting better,” Darek said, watching me line up my shot.
“Don’t patronize me. I’m still losing by about thirty strokes.”
“But you’re having fun.”
He was right. I was having way more fun than I’d expected to.
We made our way through all eighteen holes, Daisie winning easily, Darek coming in second, and me bringing up the rear with a score that would have been embarrassing if I actually cared.
“That was so fun!” Daisie declared as we returned our putters. “Can we go to the arcade now?”
The arcade was next door, a massive building that was all flashing lights and beeping games with the smell of pizza filling the space. It reminded me of the arcade in Seaside but on steroids.
And a lot nicer.
We got a card loaded with credits, and Daisie immediately dragged me toward the Skee-Ball lanes.
“We need to win tickets so we can get a prize.”
“What kind of prize?”
“I don’t know yet. But something good.”
We played Skee-Ball for the next twenty minutes. It was a game I knew and was surprisingly decent at.
“Yes!” she shouted when I landed one in the fifty-point hole. “You did it!”
We high-fived before Daisie took her turn. I caught Darek watching us. He looked a little happy but also a little sad.
Our tickets printed out in a long stream. Daisie gathered them up like they were precious treasure. We headed to the prize counter and then surveyed the options.
“What about the friendship bracelets?” Daisie asked.
The friendship bracelets were fifty tickets each.
“Perfect,” I declared. “We can each get two and match!”
We quickly put them on.
“Now we match,” she said happily.
My throat felt tight. “Now we match.”
I watched as Daisie ran to her father to show him. He squatted down and gave her his full attention. It wasn’t fair. The man was already attractive enough without adding “devoted father” to the list of his qualities.
We ended up at the arcade’s food counter, ordering corn dogs and fries and onion rings. It was all the fried, greasy food that nutritionists probably had nightmares about. We sat at a sticky table near the windows and did a little people watching while we ate.
Things were going very well. Better than well. It felt way too easy and natural. I was falling in love with Daisie. She was smart and funny and sweet, and every time she smiled at me or grabbed my hand or asked me a question about whales, I felt my heart expand a little more.
And her father wasn’t half bad either.
I watched Darek steal an onion ring from Daisie’s basket. Daisie started giggling and attempted to steal one back. He was good at being a dad and making his daughter feel loved and secure.
Sasha was a stupid bitch if she thought he wasn’t a good father. I suddenly felt very protective over both of them.
I knew this was fake. I knew I was here because of a contract, but it was getting really easy to pretend when I was with them. It was too easy to forget that this had an expiration date. In a few weeks I would pack up my suitcase and go back to my real life.
I needed to be careful. I needed to keep the boundaries clear in my head and in my heart.
In a month, I would be back in New York. But with the money I made from this job, I was thinking about moving somewhere on the coast to write my dissertation. I could move to a place on the beach where I could actually afford to eat while I finished my research.
Either way, I would leave. I would leave them and never see them again, so I couldn’t let myself get too attached to them.
“Liza?” Daisie’s voice pulled me back to the present. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sweetie. Just thinking.”
“About whales?”
“Always about whales,” I lied.
We finished our food and headed back into the chaos.
We ended up at a racing game with two seats side by side. Darek lifted Daisie into one seat while I stood behind them, ready to be the world’s most enthusiastic cheerleader.
“You’re going down, Dad,” Daisie announced, gripping the plastic steering wheel with determination.
“Big talk for someone who can barely reach the pedals,” Darek shot back, but he was grinning.
The countdown started on the screen. Three. Two. One. Go.
They both slammed on their gas pedals. I immediately started shouting.
“Go, Daisie! You’ve got this!”
“Hey,” Darek protested. “What about me?”
“You’re a grown man. With a driver’s license. You don’t need my encouragement.”
Daisie giggled, her little car swerving back and forth. She corrected quickly and hit the gas.
“Take the inside turn!” I called out. “Inside, inside!”
She did, pulling ahead of Darek’s car by half a length.
“That’s my girl!” I cheered.
Darek glanced over at his daughter. I saw the exact moment he made a decision. His car slowed just slightly, enough that Daisie pulled further ahead. It was subtle. If I hadn’t been watching him, I might have missed it entirely.
“Yes!” Daisie shrieked as she crossed the finish line first. “I won! I beat you!”
“You sure did,” Darek said, climbing out of his seat. “Fair and square.”
But I had seen it. I had seen him let her win, and something about that simple act of love made my chest ache.
Daisie was bouncing with excitement. “Did you see, Liza? Did you see me win?”
“I saw! You were amazing! Watch out Denny Hamlin!”
She frowned. “Who’s that?”
I laughed and shook my head. “He’s a driver.”
Darek arched a brow. “A driver?”
“NASCAR.”
“You watch NASCAR?”
I shrugged. “Not religiously. Old habits.”
“I’m going to play the dance game,” Daisie declared and dashed away.
We followed behind her.
“You let her win,” I said quietly to Darek.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You slowed down on the last turn.”
“She’s seven. She needs to win sometimes. Builds confidence.”
“You’re a good dad.”
“I’m trying to be.”
After watching her dance, Darek moved on to the claw machine. I almost warned him it was a money trap, but then I remembered his house.
He could afford it.
Darek finally won a turtle that Daisie immediately named Shelly. Obviously, he could have bought twenty of the silly things, but it was the thrill of winning.
By the time we left, it was late afternoon, and Daisie was dragging. The sugar crash was very real. Darek carried her to the SUV. She was asleep before we even left the parking lot, the turtle clutched in her arms, the friendship bracelets still on her wrist.
I looked back at her from the passenger seat and felt that dangerous ache again.
“She had a good day,” Darek said quietly.
“So did I.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Darek nodded and just kept driving. He looked troubled. Like something wasn’t quite right. I got it. We were both in trouble. Things had clicked with all of us so quickly and so naturally that it was easy to forget this was all make-believe.
We pulled into the estate, and Darek gently woke Daisie up, carrying her into the house while I grabbed the stuffed turtle and followed behind.