27. Daisy
twenty-seven
Daisy
In lots of ways, Silver Leaf is exactly as I remember it was when I was a kid.
The air smells the same—rich and earthy and open.
The shape of the horizon is the same, the mountains and valleys and the way the river carves its way through the land.
The sky hasn’t changed, and on late summer days like today, it’s the kind of blue that tricks me into thinking I’m still fifteen and the world makes sense.
Around the property, so much reminds me of my happiest days.
The drive up to the reception house, for one thing.
The rows of silvery olive trees that Mom and Dad planted when they bought the place now a crowning canopy from the front gate to the gravel drive.
The main house is the same too. We haven’t changed a thing about it in the decade since Dad died.
There are new rugs on the living room floor, and the television has been updated, but the furniture hasn’t been replaced.
Mom’s books and vintage teacups still line the display shelves.
Dad’s ratty old armchair still sits opposite the fireplace.
Dylan cooks on the same stovetop where our mom made us pancakes.
We sit at the same scarred timber table to eat them.
It’s like one day, they just left us, and time after that stood still.
It makes the ways things have changed hard to ignore.
Mom and Dad’s old cabin by the river won’t be the same for long.
Finn and Rosie have plans to renovate, making it more modern and suitable for a family so they have somewhere to stay when they visit.
My stable has been completely refurbished, and the barn house is contemporary enough to be unrecognizable from the structure it used to be.
We’re establishing a day spa that Poppy will run.
And work has already begun on the bridal design studio Chord is building for Violet so that when they move back to the ranch permanently, she won’t have to commute so often to her flagship couture store in San Francisco.
So there are changes. Visible, tangible changes.
And they all began with the house Chord built at one of the far edges of the Silver Leaf boundaries.
A beautiful stone and white-clad mansion with a fully equipped basement gym and a five-car garage, plus a wet-edge pool with its own pool house.
It’s perfectly put together, ridiculously expensive, and way over the top. Just like my big brother.
Chord’s house was the first domino to fall in the evolution of Silver Leaf, and it was the first time we knew that our world would keep spinning without Mom and Dad in it.
I wasn’t here when it was built, but I was kept updated.
That’s the way things work here. The five of us vote on anything that impacts the ranch.
We own it together, and we make decisions together.
Charlie is the driver, but we all have a hand on the reins and we all have a say in the direction we move.
I remind myself of that fact as I guide Chardonneigh up the driveway to Chord’s place, hitch her to the closest fence, then walk around back.
The plan is to let myself in, but I don’t need to.
Chord’s in the pool, swimming laps, and he’s not alone.
Finn is here too. He notices my arrival first and catches Chord’s attention the next time he reaches the end of the pool.
Chord slicks the water from his face and drags his hands through his dark hair while Finn pushes himself up out of the water and grabs a towel.
“Hey, Daze,” Chord says, standing so the waterline reaches mid-chest. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I perch on the edge of one of the pool loungers. “Can I talk to you?”
“Is this an A-to-B conversation or can I stay?” Finn asks.
“You can stay.” I glance back up at the house. “Where are the girls?”
“Violet’s in the city,” Chord says. “She had an appointment at the studio.”
“And Rosie’s at the cabin,” Finn adds. “She’s had a burst of creative energy coming into the second trimester and needed time alone to write.”
“I thought you did that kind of stuff together these days,” I comment.
Finn shrugs. “We do, but the creative process ebbs and flows, and she’s working on something for her new record. Plus, I needed a workout, and the old man here needed his ass kicked in the gym.”
“Fuck off,” Chord grumbles, setting his hands on the pool coping and heaving his heavy body out of the water.
Finn grins, then throws another towel at our brother.
At thirty-five, Chord’s hardly old, and as a professional athlete, he’s in excellent shape, but his retirement from hockey makes him a little sensitive about his age. Finn likes to make the most of that.
“You want to talk to me?” Chord asks as he dries off.
“It’s about Beau, isn’t it?” Finn adds, face wrinkling into a scowl.
Chord shoots me a sharp look, and I roll my eyes with an exasperated sigh.
“Yes, it’s about Beau, but if you two numbskulls can’t get over yourselves long enough to take me seriously, I won’t bother.”
I stand to leave, but Finn stops me with a hand on my arm before I can get past him. “Don’t go. We’re listening.”
I cut my eyes to Chord, waiting for him to disagree, but he’s solid and silent. With a sigh, I drop back onto the lounger. My brothers take two of the other reclining chairs, sitting on the edges and giving me their full attention.
I take a deep breath. “Fine. Here’s what it is. Chord, I want you to invite Beau to your retirement party.”
Finn snorts, and Chord’s eyes narrow at me. “Why?”
“Because I love him, and I plan to marry him—”
“Over my dead body,” Chord growls.
“I plan to marry him,” I repeat, “so if you want me to stay at Silver Leaf, I need you to make an effort. Move past what I said happened between us. Get to know the real Beau. Let him know you. Figure out a way to make him feel as welcome here as I’ve done to make Violet and Rosie feel like they belong. ”
“They do belong,” Chord says shortly.
I challenge him with a stubborn chin. “And so does Beau.”
“He’s done nothing to give that impression and everything to make me think the opposite.”
“What? What has he done? Bruised your ego? Called you out on your own bullshit? Made you feel bad about the choices you’ve made? The choices that led me to Beau in the first place?”
I glare at my brother, and he glares back.
“This isn’t about us,” Finn says. “It’s about you and what’s best for you, and Beau isn’t it.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because you said so!” Chord snaps.
I huff and cross my arms. “Well, I was wrong. Haven’t you ever made a mistake?
Haven’t you ever hurt someone you love trying to do the right thing?
Haven’t you ever wished you could go back and make better choices?
Because that’s what happened with me and Beau.
We both screwed up. We caused each other pain.
He’s got as much to forgive as I do, and we’ve decided the risk is worth trying again.
He’s it for me, like it or not. And if he’s not welcome here, then neither am I. ”
“Let’s just cool it a little, okay?” Finn says. “Nobody is going anywhere. But Daze, you have to understand how hard it is for us to let this guy in, knowing he hurt you.”
“I’ve been hurt a lot in my life,” I tell them.
“And not to be harsh, Chord, but you were drafted to Tampa when I was eleven, so you weren’t around for a lot of it.
And Finn, I was barely fourteen when you joined the military.
I’ve figured a lot of life out on my own, and this overprotective big brother routine feels a little like trying to make up for lost time. ”
This changes something in their expressions, and I know I’ve hit a sore spot.
“I appreciate it,” I go on. “And I love you for it, but I don’t need it.
I need you to see me as a grown woman capable of making my own choices.
I need you to love me and support me. And I need you to be there when I call, but not before.
Not when I’m really freaking happy and your interference threatens to destroy it. ”
Finn sighs and shakes his head, while Chord’s shoulders lose some of the fight.
“And what good will it do to invite him to my party?” Chord asks.
“It’s an olive branch,” I tell him. “A step in a new direction. I genuinely think you’ll like Beau if you give him a chance.
He’s smart and he’s sweet. He works hard and he’s not into bullshit—even yours.
He’s determined to be a good father figure for his nephew, and he’d be a great asset for Silver Leaf. I just need you to give him a chance.”
“You need us to forget all the reasons you gave us to hate him barely more than a month ago,” Chord says.
“I need you to consider that I was talking from a place of pain, and that wasn’t fair to Beau.”
“You’re asking us to put our faith in a guy who’s already proved he can’t be trusted,” Finn adds.
“No. I’m asking you to trust me and give Beau a chance to prove he belongs.”
My brothers grow still, and I think I might have gotten through to them.
A device pings nearby, and Finn swipes up his phone from a pair of shorts dropped onto the ground.
“It’s Rosie,” he says. “She’s craving peanut butter and pickles again. I’ve got to go.”
“But you’ll think about what I’ve said?” I ask.
“Yeah. I will.” He drops a kiss on the top of my head. “I only want what’s best for you, Daze.”
“Don’t you think I’m the best judge of that?”
He barks a short laugh. “Maybe, but I guess time will tell.”
Chord stands and wraps his towel around his waist. “You want a drink?”
“Sure.” I follow him across the yard. “I’ve got something else I need to run past you.”
He quirks an eyebrow as he opens the back glass sliding door and waits for me to walk through. “Another favor?”
“Sort of, and you can relax. This one’s got nothing to do with my love life.”
His mouth quirks. “Good.”
“It’s got to do with Charlie.”
He’s got his head in the refrigerator, but I still hear his groan. He turns with two bottles of water in his hands. “This isn’t going to be good, is it?”
I take a counter stool and crack open the water. “It depends on how you look at it. You see, I prefer to think of this as an opportunity. She may think differently, which is where you come in.”
“I’m listening.”
I explain the pitch I made Charlie earlier in the summer and the way things have been going in the stable. I tell him how I’m running everything and doing exactly what I promised.
“But Chord? It’s boring, and I don’t want to do it anymore.”
He shakes his head and leans against the counter. “Daze, I have to say, you’re not increasing my confidence in your judgment right now.”
“Hear me out! I made that pitch and all those plans when I was heartbroken about Beau. I was confused and angry and not thinking straight. But now he’s back in my life and I’ve got a clear head for the first time since Mom was alive.
I know what I want, and it’s not to be chained to a desk, generating spreadsheets and business reports. ”
His stance softens. “All right. So what is it?”
“I want to set up the glamping tours we talked about years ago. I want to expand the trail rides to overnight adventures. I want to create real immersive guest experiences. High-end overnight camps with expensive wine and good food and fancy tents and all the five-star extras. I want to take people out and show them the Sonoma stars. I want Silver Leaf to be the adventure it used to be. Before I ran away.”
He nods quietly. “Why did you run away, Daze?”
I think for a second, searching for the right words.
“Because Silver Leaf made me sad. It’s taken me this long to understand that I couldn’t run from that, and that there’s a lot of happiness here too.
The reality that one comes with the other is something I need to accept.
It’s hard, but the more I think about creating a life that would make Mom and Dad proud, the more the sadness seems a small price to pay for the kind of life they had. That we all had here. Together.”
Chord rounds the counter and pulls me into a hug. I wrap my arms around his waist, his bare chest still cool from his swim, and let myself feel loved by a brother who would do anything for me.
“Okay, so what do you need from me?” he asks as he lets me go. “You want my vote? You got it.”
“Well.” I wince. “This isn’t really a family vote thing. It’s a business operations thing, so Charlie gets the final say. But you’re back full time now, right? You and Charlie are going to work something out about how the place runs. You’re going to want more of a say about the business.”
“Oh, no.” He puts the counter between us again.
“No way. The transition to my being here full time is already going to be hard enough on Charlie. You know how protective she is of this place, and she’s already defensive about her leadership.
We just started getting along after ten years of tension.
I’m not getting in the middle of a business disagreement between the two of you. ”
“I’m not asking you to get in the middle! I’m just asking you to be on my side when I tell her I want to give up the operations stuff. I don’t want her to think I’m failing, but I’ve got clarity now. I know what I want, and this time, I’ll make it work.”
“How much money will it cost to set up these glamping tours?”
“I’m looking at the figures now,” I say. “I’ll have it all worked out soon.”
“And what about the stable and the horses? Will it mean hiring more help?”
“I’ll still be hands-on,” I say, fidgeting with the water bottle. “But I’m hoping that Beau can take the weight off as stable manager.”
Chord gives me a blank look. “Are you really asking me to go to bat for you and this guy against Charlie?”
“Not against Charlie. Just for me. For my future.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know, Daze. I’m not keen on jeopardizing my working relationship with Charlie before I’m even officially back on the Silver Leaf payroll.”
I scoff. “We’re paying you?”
He smirks. “Figure of speech.”
“Just think about it, will you?”
He sighs. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”
“And invite Beau to your party.”
“If you want him there, just bring him as your plus-one.”
“It’ll mean more coming from you.” I pout for good measure. “Please?”
His broad shoulders sag as he sighs. “Maybe.”
I jump from my stool and rush around to hug him. “Thank you!”
He grunts. “I said maybe.”
“Wish I could stay and talk about this more, but I’ve got to get back for the afternoon trail rides,” I say. “You really are the best big brother ever.”
I slip out of his arms and rush from the kitchen, then out the back door.
“I said maybe!” he shouts after me.
“Can’t hear you, bro!” I call back. “But I know I can count on you!”
I mount Chardonneigh and ride to the stable feeling like a weight has been lifted. Things are going to work out. I just know it.