Chapter 1
CHAPTER 1
MARCH, PRESENT DAY
“ Y ou don’t go there, but maybe you could fit here,” Daisy murmured to herself as she worked. The cube of green foam sitting in front of her had holes everywhere from constant poking and prodding. She moved the stem of carnations from the back to the front and tilted her head as she examined the arrangement again. There was something missing and she was at a loss for what it might be. “What else do you need?” she asked the flowers with a heavy sigh. Her words were echoed by a similar question in the deep breathy voice of one of her favorite male narrators in her audiobook. Twisting her lips to the side, Daisy yanked everything out of the foam and spread the flowers across the table.
I guess today is not the day to try something new .
As the queen of multitasking, Daisy Heroux could do three things at once if needed. That afternoon, however, she settled on two. She was listening to an audiobook and completely engrossed in the story of a firefighter falling in love with the single dad she’d saved a few days ago. They were having sex for the first time and the narrators were doing such a good job of keeping her hooked. Usually, whatever she was listening to helped her focus on the other tasks at hand. But she was struggling with this bouquet. She didn’t know why the flowers weren’t working together or looking the way it did in her head.
To most people that might seem like a lot at one time, but Daisy thrived in this kind of environment. The busier she was, the better for her mind. When things got quiet, she tended to overthink and worry. Anxiety had been her constant companion since she was a kid, but with regular therapy and medication she’d found a way to deal. Almost . Multitasking was the best way to distract her mind, even if her therapist liked to remind her it was a form of avoidance. There were only so many times she could think about her childhood and not fall apart.
The audiobook cut off mid-sentence and her phone started ringing. She smiled at the photograph of her father filling the screen and answered the call.
“Papa Bear.”
“Flower girl,” he said with a soft laugh. He’d called her that since she was a kid in New York, when he’d come home after work trips to find her with wildflowers in her hair. Daniel Matthew insisted she’d been named after his favorite flower and while she’d never seen him with a single daisy her whole life, she believed him.
In the years since, flowers had become the biggest part of her life. Thanks to the first boy she had loved.
Her heart lurched at the thought of him and she touched the bill of the faded mustard cap with the tips of her fingers and dragged them around to trace the three letters embroidered onto the back—REA.
“How’s it going, kid?”
“It’s…going,” she replied with a chuckle. “Where in the world are you right now?”
“Casablanca.”
“Is it as beautiful as all the pictures say it is?”
Her father laughed. “It’s better. I wish you could have come with us.”
“There’s nothing fun about being a third wheel with your dad and his wife.”
“Maybe next time it’ll just be you and me.”
“Maybe. Now, tell me everything!”
As her father talked about his holiday, Daisy thought back to the day she met Olympia ‘Pia’ Jacobs. Her father had been through so much—saving her from the clutches of her abusive mother, settling into a new life in New York, then in South Carolina, supporting her through an eating disorder and a devastating divorce—and all she wanted was for him to be happy. Even when he insisted love wasn’t necessary for happiness, she knew better. Her various sneaky attempts to set him up fell through because her father was always one step ahead of her.
The day after graduating from business school, she was at IKEA with her father and Clarke, her ex. They were shopping for furniture for their new apartment and the shopping cart was heavy, but her father insisted on pushing it despite veering all over the place. Clarke offered to help a few times, but got shot down with an embarrassed chuckle. Her father wasn’t prideful, but he believed that as her father , he should be doing the heavy lifting. During one of those swerving moments, he crashed into the cart of a woman who was struggling just as much. They joked about the size of the boxes and the lack of weight distribution, and ended up in the food court for hours.
Pia and her dad moved in together after six months. A year later, they were married. Daisy was the maid of honor.
Now they were retired and spending their money wisely by traveling all over the world—they’d finished a huge chunk of Asia and were in Europe. She envied their joy and lifestyle. Not that she wanted to retire or had anyone to travel with, but the freedom with which they moved through life and the world was beautiful.
“We’re heading to Chefchaouen in a few days, so expect a postcard,” Pia chimed in. “It’s so wonderful here, sweetheart. If your dad doesn’t take you, maybe you and I can go on a girl’s trip.”
Daisy chuckled. “I’d love that. It’s been a while since I’ve gone anywhere. My last trip was to Springfield for a wedding.”
“As your father, I believe it is my right to remind you that you work too hard.”
She scoffed. “I know, Dad. Until I find someone to travel with, this is what I’m doing with my time.”
“No eligible folks in that town of yours?” Pia asked and Daisy could hear the hope in her voice.
“Sadly, no.”
“What happened to that woman you went on a date with the other day?”
Her father sighed at the change in topic. “I’m going to excuse myself while you ladies talk. Love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too, Papa bear. Keep sending all the pictures!”
“Now that it’s just us girls—” she heard shuffling and whispers of I love you before Pia’s voice came back on the line “—what happened?”
She sighed and started to rearrange the flowers on the table. “The date was fine, the woman was interesting. But something was missing. She dropped me home at the end of the evening and neither of us reached for the other. I didn’t even care that she didn’t walk me to my door. It felt like we were out together because we’d agreed to meet and for nothing else.”
“Oh, honey. That’s not fun. I’m sorry.”
“Eh. Even the men I’ve gone out with have been lacking something .”
“And you still don’t know what it is?”
She shrugged, even if her stepmother couldn’t see. “Not really. It’s not like they’re boring or terrible. I never want to leave the date early, I just don’t need a second date. If that makes sense.”
“That’s how it was with all the dates I went on before I met your father. I didn’t even realize he was exactly what I was looking for until he was crashing into my cart.”
“I’m glad you two found each other. You make him so happy.”
It might have taken her father a long time to accept companionship, but he was the happiest she’d ever seen him. Pia had everything to do with that.
“You’ll find your person, sweetheart. Gotta deal with all of the ones who lack it first,” her stepmother said with a sigh.
They chatted about the trip some more and when her dad started to rush them, Pia told her not to give up hope before the call ended. There was a split second break before a low voice filled her ears and Daisy startled, forgetting that she was listening to an audiobook. Restarting the chapter, she settled her racing heart and closed her eyes.
It wasn’t a conscious decision to compare every person she met to the two people she had loved. One had been her childhood best friend and her first kiss. Three years older, Rafferty had been her entire world and the owner of the cap she was wearing. When she and her father left New York, she pitted everyone against the memory of him. Nobody brought her flowers in Greenville. Or called her Hero , because she hadn’t been able to properly pronounce her surname as a kid. Or protected her from the bullies and Southern princesses that made her life hell. It had been twenty years since she’d laid eyes on him—it took a lot of effort not to look him up in the time they’d been apart—but the version she’d created in her head was competition for every date.
Then she met Clarke. Different from Rafferty in every way, they were blond and brown-eyed, and snarkier than they looked. She loved everything about them. She knew it was a good thing that she’d found someone to love and love her in turn, because for a long time Daisy thought going back to New York was her only hope. However, even Clarke found a way to disappoint her, so maybe she hadn’t been entirely wrong in expecting more from everyone else.
And yet , the people she met didn’t even measure up to them.
Sighing heavily, Daisy turned off her audiobook and pulled out her AirPods. She’d missed the entirety of the chapter and her head wasn’t in the right place for it anyway. She started to gather the flowers when someone said her name. She looked up to find Frankie Willows of Wildes Events the one element that would elevate the final product.
“Shit, forgot to call Bear,” she muttered, gathering her hair on top of her head before reaching for her phone.
“I’ll never get used to you talking to yourself,” a lilting voice said and Daisy smiled at the blonde on the other side of the table.
“You should try it sometime, it’s quite liberating.”
Eden snorted. “Thanks, but no thanks. You good?”
“Yeah.” She gestured to Eden’s apron-less form. “Heading out?”
“Got a date with my couch and reruns. Need anything from me?”
“Nope. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Eden tapped the table with her knuckles and walked out, the sounds of the shop coming back into focus around her. In the time she’d been daydreaming, the store had been cleaned up and everything put back into their right place. Soft indie folk rock still pumped through the overhead speakers and the refrigerators hummed quietly. She dialed the number for Bear’s Botanics, her main distributor, and got his machine. She left a quick message reminding him about her dwindling stock. Once that was done, she gathered her things, locked the front door and flipped the sign to closed . As she walked to her office, she turned off the big lamps. Standing in the doorway to her small office, she looked at her shop one more time.
I’ll never get sick of this view.
The Patch was one large room with the main wall covered in racks and shelves to hold the flowers. Opposite that were tall windows that brought in natural light. At one end was the Flower Station, a long high table with matching stools. Hanging off the sides of the table were small baskets with scissors, ribbon and other decorative tools. A new addition, it was one of her favorite things about the shop. Especially when kids came in and wanted to work with flowers. Alongside that was the table where she held most of her meetings, tucked against the wall to provide a little privacy.
The remaining furniture that filled the middle of the shop was covered in pots and planters for purchase, along with succulents and smaller indoor plants. While flowers were her primary focus, she knew offering more was always a good idea. A lattice screen blocked off the other side of the shop, where her staff worked on walk-in orders. Four glass door refrigerators took up the entire back wall.
She’d poured her heart, soul and life savings into the shop after her divorce, building something for herself to distract from the misery. And she was so proud of the beautiful space it had turned into.
Her phone started buzzing as she was walking out and knew who it was. Swearing under her breath, she locked the back door and hopped into her blue pick-up. They’d been friends long enough that she knew exactly what the contents of the texts were without looking at the screen.
“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m late,” she said out loud, as she drove to the newest bar in town, One Trick Pony.
Pulling into the remaining spot in the parking lot, she smoothed down her hair, swiped on lipgloss and mascara before hurrying inside. It took her eyes a minute to adjust to the dull lighting, and saw her best friend. Seated at one end of the counter, Monroe Bower was nursing a beer while talking to the pretty bartender. Her best friend was her complete opposite—blonde hair cut into a messy bob, green eyes, white skin peppered with freckles, nose ring and zero tattoos.
Somehow they seemed to fit just right.
She climbed onto the stool, gesturing at her friend’s drink with a smile at the bartender.
“You’re late.”
“Had a meeting and got distracted,” Daisy said with a sheepish smile. “But I’m not that late.”
“If you responded to my texts, you’d know that’s not true.”
Chuckling, she thanked the bartender and took a big sip of her beer. Setting the bottle down, she nudged her friend. “Was the trip everything you hoped it would be?”
“Better. We didn’t leave the room for three days.” Roe—only Monroe to strangers—smirked, taking another sip of her drink. “I thought I was bendy, but that man can do things with his body that I don’t think is possible.”
“Usually, I’d be eager for more information, but I cannot hear this and look Wyatt in the eyes later.”
Roe laughed. “All you need to know is my husband planned the best trip, gave the best dick and still thinks the sun shines out of my ass. Which, by the way, he put out a few times.”
“Oh my god .” She snorted. “If you could leave out all your sexcapades, I’d appreciate a debrief of your trip.”
“Well, you’re no fun.”
“When I’m getting dicked down again, I’ll happily listen to your adventures.”
“That bad, huh?” Roe asked with a pout.
“I think I’ve met all the single people here and I don’t know if I want to travel elsewhere for sex.”
“Your Wyatt is around the corner,” Roe said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
A few months after her divorce was finalized, she signed up for a singles mixer. Lonely, bored and feeling sorry for herself, Daisy thought she deserved a distraction. The first person she met that evening was Monroe. As two of the only queer women at the mixer, they got talking over drinks. It became clear pretty quickly that while they thought the other was attractive and interesting, they weren’t the right match romantically. Instead, an incredible friendship was born.
Roe met Wyatt soon after and announced that she was going to marry the man. At the first meeting, Daisy could see why Wyatt was a winner—he worshiped the ground Monroe walked on, looked at her like nobody else was in the room and treated her with so much respect. A year into dating, they eloped. Ten years in, they were still one of her favorite couples.
“I’m glad you two were able to get away for a bit. But I’m really glad you’re back, because I missed you.”
“Aw, boo. I missed you too. What kind of shenanigans did you get into while I was gone?”
Daisy arched an eyebrow. “In all the years you’ve known me, have I ever indulged in shenanigans ?”
“You’re so boring without me.”
“I like my simple little life.”
“You spent the whole time in your greenhouse, didn’t you?”
Shrugging, she finished her beer and called for another. “I had to make sure everything was doing okay after winter.”
“I think I know what the problem is,” Roe said very seriously.
“What problem?”
“We need to find you someone who gives a shit about plants!”
She laughed loudly and patted her friend’s arm. “When you find them, I’ll let you set me up on a blind date.”
“For real? I’ll enlist Wyatt, he knows people.”
“One day we can double date.”
Roe narrowed her eyes. “Now you’re fucking with me.”
Daisy smiled. “I’m grateful for you, Bower.”
“Right back atcha, Heroux.”
They clinked their bottles with wide grins and Monroe continued talking about her sexy getaway.