Chapter 15
fifteen
DAISY
“Idon’t know why you keep assuming I know anything about babies,” I say as I pick up a cute, plush white lamb with long black eyelashes.
“And if you say it’s because I’m a woman and have breasts, I’m going to shove this toy up your nose.
” This man, with his big, strong build, buzz cut hair, fierce expression, and who is twice my size, looks so out of place in this beautiful store.
Yet, beneath the harshness, I sense a softness he probably wouldn’t admit to.
A man who does so much for a young mother and her baby must be extremely kind.
He pulls a face like he’s saying I’d like to see you try. I bet he’d have the toy removed from my hand before I could lift it.
“I still can’t believe they’ve kept the store open for us.” We arrived two minutes before closing time. Kade said a few quiet words to the store owner, who immediately let us in.
“If you pay the right price, you can make anything happen,” he says, like it’s something that happens all the time.
For him, it probably does. For normal people like me, I’d get told to come back tomorrow.
He puts the monitor he was holding down and picks up something round with what looks like a suction cap.
“What is this?” He holds it up for me to see.
Smirking, I say, “It’s a breast pump to express milk.”
His eyes go round, like it’s going to bite him, and quickly puts it back on the shelf. “That looks dangerous.”
Giggling, I say, “We should be looking at clothes.”
He nods. “Good idea.”
We head to the clothing area. I pick out rompers, onesies, socks, and every other item of clothing that I think she’ll need and add them to the cart.
Kade takes note of what I’ve picked and adds more of the same, but in different colors.
There are enough clothes for Remi to have five outfit changes a day.
“I don’t think she needs all of this.”
Kade adds six muslin wraps to the cart. “Better to have too many than not enough.”
“She’ll probably grow out of the clothes before she can wear them all.”
“Then we’ll donate what she doesn’t wear.”
At least they won’t go to waste.
“At the tattoo shop, I heard you mention you run a charity for kids?”
He nods.
“I’d love to know about it.” I search through rompers that I think will fit Remi.
“It’s called the Youth of Hope Foundation.
Me, Ash and Linc started it about five years ago.
It raises money for children in need of free counselling, funding for their education, job opportunities for the older kids, and basic necessities.
” His expression isn’t showing much emotion, yet I hear the pride in his voice.
“That sounds amazing.” I’m guessing, with his unstable upbringing, this is something he knows children in similar situations need. “I bet it’s helping so many children.”
He nods. This time, there’s a glimmer of pride in his expression.
I pick up a pale blue romper with tiny pink butterflies stitched into the fabric.
“This is so pretty. I hope one day I’ll get to buy such beautiful clothes for my baby.
” I run the soft fabric through my fingers.
Kade pauses, bath towels wrapped in his large arms. I don’t think Natasha’s foster father touched the baby stuff in the bathroom, but I don’t bother saying anything.
He’ll just add them anyway. I hold the romper to my belly.
“It’s so amazing how they fit inside. Do you want to have kids someday? ”
His face hardens. “No.” He drops the bundle into the cart.
I know it’s none of my business, but I ask, “Why not?”
We shuffle along to the tiny shoes. Not that I think a baby needs them, but I pick out a yellow and pale blue pair.
“I don’t want to ruin a kid’s life.”
“Why do you think you’d ruin a kid’s life?”
He picks up a cute, brown, fluffy bear. For someone who doesn’t know a thing about babies, he’s doing a great job in selecting things. “Because I’m fucked up. I never want a kid to live the kind of life I had.”
My heart breaks for the boy who had to live with foster parents who didn’t love and support him the way they should have. “Just because of what you went through doesn’t mean you’ll do that to your child. I’ve seen how you treat Natasha and Remi. I know you’d never do such a thing.”
Tossing the bear into the cart, he turns to me, his face blank of any expression. “You know nothing about me. Just because I’ve given a teenager and her kid a place to stay doesn’t make me father material.”
“We might’ve just met, but I know you’re kind, caring, generous and love the people in your life. You’ve even started up a charity.”
“Don’t confuse my generosity for kindness.”
Waving my arm around to take in the shop, I say, “Who would pay the owner to keep the store open, then replace all of Remi’s things even though most weren’t touched if they didn’t care?
Don’t get me started on how you protected her from her foster father.
” I poke him lightly on his chest. It’s so firm I could break a finger. “You, my friend, care a lot.”
He takes hold of my wrist and steps closer. I have to tilt my head back to look up at him. I swallow hard at the way he’s staring at my mouth, wanting so much for him to kiss me.
Someone clears their throat behind us, and I step back.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” the store owner asks. “Or I can take what you have to the cash register while you keep browsing.” Even with the massive tip Kade has probably offered her, she probably wants to go home as soon as possible.
Kade glances into the cart. “I think we have everything.” He turns to me. “Unless you can think of anything else?”
“This should cover it. If she needs more, I can always come back.”
The woman smiles, and we follow her toward the counter.
She rings up the sale, and I gasp at the total amount.
One tiny baby does not need to have so much money spent on them.
I make the mistake of placing my hand on Kade’s arm.
His muscles bunch under my palm, and he glances down at me, heat flashing from his eyes.
Quickly dropping my arm to my side, I say, “Are you sure you want to spend so much money?”
He raises an eyebrow.
Right. Dumb question. No amount of money seems to be too much when he’s buying stuff for Remi. And he reckons he doesn’t care. I inwardly scoff.
We take our purchases to the car and pile all the bags into the trunk. When we’re seated inside, Kade says, “Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”
I turn to look at him. “Natasha might need me to help her with the clothes.”
Kade pulls out onto the street. “Giselle can do it.”
“Oh… okay.” His dismissal stings a little, but I give him my address, and we sit in silence as he drives through the busy streets.
Fifteen minutes later, he turns onto my street and parks in front of my building.
“Thanks for the ride. Tell Natasha if she needs anything to please let me know.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. She has all the help she needs.”
Why is Kade being so cold all of a sudden? He had no problem with me staying with her the first night. Or my visits. Now I’ve helped him shop, I’m of no use to him? He makes my head spin. “Well… goodnight.”
I get out of the car and make my way to the building. Footsteps sound behind me, and I spin around, surprised to see Kade has followed me. “What are you doing?”
“Making sure you get home safely.”
“I think I can manage on my own.” As I’m about to step away, a dark figure steps from the shadows. Jeremy? My ex's gaze travels over Kade and then back at me.
“Jeremy, what are you doing here?” After our breakup, he stopped coming to church, and I hoped to never see him again.
“I came to see you.” Jeremy isn’t much taller than me and only comes to Kade’s chin. His slender body doesn’t come close to Kade’s muscular one. “Who are you?” he asks Kade, his tone sharp.
“He’s no one,” I say. Kade’s head turns sharply to look at me. “We had to help a mutual friend, and he gave me a ride home.” Kade’s gaze burns into me. That’s what you get for getting rid of me. “What do you want, Jeremy?”
“I… arhh… This is personal. Do you mind if I speak to Daisy alone?” he says to Kade.
Kade crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m not leaving. I told Daisy I’d see her into her apartment safely.”
“This is a private matter between Daisy and I. After I’m done, I’ll see she gets inside.”
Kade doesn’t move. He only stares Jeremy down.
“Are you going to let him stick around?” Jeremy turns to me.
I shrug. I don’t think he’d listen to me if I told him to leave. “Just say what you came here to say.”
He clears his throat and shuffles on his feet. “I want to try again. We can make things work. I’d love it if we could go back to how things used to be.”
I scoff. “I don’t want to go back to the way things were. You were too controlling and didn’t feel a connection between us.”
He scratches the back of his neck. “Oh… well… I’ll change. Do you think we could try again?”
I frown. “You’re not serious, are you?”
He runs agitated fingers through his dirty blond hair. “Yes, I am. You were the best thing to happen to me.”
This time, I laugh out loud with genuine humour.
I know his parents were just as pushy as my father for our relationship to work.
And I heard on the congregation grapevine that they were extremely disappointed we broke up.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re behind this.
“The best thing to happen to you? You called me vanilla. And that sex with me was ordinary.” My face heats up.
Not because I’m angry with Jeremy. I couldn’t care less about him.
It’s because Kade is hearing all this. I don’t want him to think of me as any more vanilla and boring than he already does. Maybe I should have asked him to leave.
Jeremy digs his hands in and out of his pockets. “I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it. I know I hurt you.”
“You didn’t hurt me. I needed to care more about you for that to happen.”