Chapter Forty
Daisy-Mae
“More wine?” Hadley asks, her auburn curls falling into her eyes again as she leans forward, pausing over my glass.
I shake my head. “I shouldn’t. I have to pump anyway or Waylon will .
..” I trail off remembering a similar conversation with West once.
Right before he decided to make my pump obsolete.
God, I miss that man’s mouth. I miss the man too, even though he’s clearly a dumbass and not the knight in shining armor I imagined him to be.
“Earth to Daisy. You wanna finish that sentence?” Hadley studies my face with a knowing smile. “Okay, I’m going to say something, and stop me if it’s crossing the line but, girl, what the hell are you doing?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the house hunting, the viewing bakery spaces, and endlessly checking your messages, only to be disappointed that he hasn’t called?”
“I’m not constantly checking my messages.”
“Daisy, you’ve glanced at your phone at least three times in the last half hour.”
I pout and toss my phone on the couch, and then I grab a cushion and cover my face with it as I flop back on the plush velvet. “I didn’t want to feel like this. I didn’t want to fall in love with him.”
“Well, Dais, sometimes your knight in shining armor turns out to be a country boy in dusty boots.”
I groan and toss the cushion at her. “Have you been waiting this whole time just to say that?”
“Oh my god, ever since you got here.” She sobers as she says, “Is it possible you read the situation wrong and projected his unhappiness because of what you went through with Eddie?”
I frown and then finish my glass of wine. Maybe Hadley is right. Maybe I brought my baggage from Eddie into this situation without even really listening to West. God, I really am an idiot.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“You’re supposed to call him.” She exhales slowly. “Look, if there’s one thing I know about West Winchester, it’s that he’s a perpetual grump—”
“He’s not that bad.”
She shoots me a disapproving glare. “You didn’t let me finish. As I was saying, he’s a grump, prickly as a cactus in desert heat, but he’s also levelheaded. And if he’s half the man I remember him to be, he’ll know what he’s lost. Maybe you should reach out?”
“And say what? I love you, but I need to stay in Dallas to finish pastry school.”
“Yes,” she says through an exasperated laugh. “You do this for you, because you need to put yourself first for once, and then—and, hear me out—you finish school, and go home to Red River Canyon.”
“That’s six months away. And I have the agent shopping leases. You know it’s always been my dream to own my own bakery, and even though I’m not qualified yet, retail space like that doesn’t come up every day.”
“Dais, do you really want to open your dream bakery in Dallas, a million miles from your family, or do you want to do that where you’re happiest?”
“You’re family, and you live here.”
“Yes, but I’m not fucking you.” She laughs and I do too, and then her tone turns more serious, “You’ve wanted a big family your whole life. Now you have it, and you’re walking away from them?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, it’s not just up to me, and the fact that he’s not calling probably means he’s done. I broke his heart, Hadley. I don’t think West forgives that easily.”
“You’ll never know unless you call him.”
“Why do I feel like you’re just trying to get rid of me?”
Hadley shakes her head, fat curls swaying.
She tucks a coverall-clad leg underneath her.
You can take the girl out of the country.
“I love having you here, both of you, but if you don’t call that man and tell him you weren’t leaving him but just trying to better yourself, I might just kick you out so you have no choice to return home and tell him in person. ”
“Like you can talk. What about Mr. Dark and Dangerous at your firm who’s always flirting with you? When are you going to make a move?”
She shrugs and sips her wine. “This is not about me.”
“Oh, I see. Little hypocritical of you, isn’t it?”
“Not at all. You know, now that I think about it. I miss home too. Maybe I’ll move back to Red River Canyon and date West myself. You said he was big, right?”
“Oh my god!” I shriek and toss another cushion in her direction. We dissolve into laughter loud enough to wake Waylon, and the sober reality of my situation hits me. I miss West so much it hurts to breathe, but he’s there and I’m here, and the fact that he hasn’t reached out tells me everything.
I broke his heart, and I’m not sure I deserve his forgiveness.