42. Daisy
CHAPTER 42
daisy
After that, we manage to break out of our little love bubble long enough to get dressed and head to Loren and Blake’s, though I suspect we’re only going because we’re worried about what might happen if we stay home alone any longer.
Blake greets us at the door, chuckling when we arrive with another pan of bread pudding. “Sorry, it’s all I’ve got for now,” I tell him.
“I’m just honored by your presence and pleasantly surprised the two of you managed to come up for air long enough to make anything at all,” he says with a smug smile.
Landry lifts a shoulder. “We have to eat sometime.”
Blake snorts and pats him on the back, and the two of them trade knowing looks as we walk inside. Loren studies me carefully once we make our way into the kitchen, and I offer her a reassuring smile before I ask after the twins.
“They’re napping,” she replies. “I figured I’d let their highnesses sleep until the others arrive.” As if on command, a baby cries out through the monitor on the counter, and Loren scampers off to retrieve her.
I turn to face Landry once we’re left to ourselves, and he flashes me a wolfish smile before closing in the space and pressing his lips to mine.
“Maybe we should have set a timer,” I whisper, giggling when he moves his mouth down to my neck for the umpteenth time today. Then I open my eyes to find that the rest of the dinner party has arrived.
“Landry, um, we’re not alone anymore,” I say quickly. He lifts his head before he turns to lean against the cabinet beside me, a smug look crossing his face, and I feel my cheeks heating up when I see Ethan and Caidence snickering in the background.
“Sorry.” He shrugs, making his apology less authentic.
“Are you, though?” Tenley asks, seemingly amused.
“You could have done that before you got here,” Loren adds dryly as she adjusts Penny in her arms.
Landry shrugs again and drapes his arm around my back. “Maybe we did. And maybe I just wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine, Lo-Lo.”
She scoffs, but Blake chuckles lightly. “Go ahead, Lando. I don’t mind if you and Daisy make out in our kitchen, so long as you remember that your sister and I have already violated every surface of this house.”
Landry rolls his eyes, and I stifle a laugh. But then I notice JD scowling at Landry and raising a hand as he speaks.
“I’m sorry. Maybe it’s none of my business?—”
“It’s not,” Landry cuts him off.
But JD shakes his head and continues, despite Tenley nudging him in the side. “Aren’t you married, dude? What about your wife?”
My stomach drops to the floor, and Landry’s hand tightens into the back of my dress.
“Relax, bro,” Ethan pipes up, slipping by to grab a cookie from a platter. “You’re looking at her.”
Tenley glances apologetically before shifting into a warning glower for Ethan. “Sorry. For some reason, this one thinks he’s grown enough to chime in on adult conversations.” Ethan rolls his eyes.
“You’re not … married ,” Loren declares after a while. “You can’t be.”
Landry clears his throat before he speaks. “Actually, Ethan’s right.” He pauses and loosens his grip on me. “Daisy and I are legally married. We have been for a while.”
Loren blinks at him. “A while?”
“Since August.”
She continues staring at him as she adjusts the baby in her arms, obviously having a hard time with the news. “You got married five months ago, and you never told us? Then, you attempted to sabotage my wedding while using the excuse that you were only trying to protect me from a man that didn’t believe in commitment?”
“I wasn’t trying to sabotage your wedding,” Landry replies, his voice thick. “And I’m sorry again about what I said in that toast. But none of that has anything to do with Daisy and me.”
Blake steps up behind Loren and places a comforting hand on her back. “Hey, it’s okay,” he says softly. “Maybe you should hear him out.”
“No,” Loren holds. “He’s been horrible to you since we were kids, and from the second he found out about us, he tried to convince me that you were only out to prey on me. Yet, here he is, the guy who swears all relationships are doomed, tricking someone as unsuspecting and innocent as Daisy into marrying him.”
Landry clenches his jaw so hard that I can see the muscles contracting beneath his beard. But he doesn’t reply. I imagine he’s probably weighing what he wants to say first, and I’m struck with a sense of pride again.
“For what it’s worth, Landry didn’t trick me,” I chime in. “If anything, I’m the one who trapped him.”
“Let me guess,” Loren begins, handing Penny off to Blake. “He found out you weren’t in the habit of giving away your milk for free, so he figured he’d get around that by buying the cow while it was convenient?”
Landry swallows hard. “I’m sorry for giving you and Blake a hard time, Lo. I really am. But I’m not going to stand here and let you talk about my wife like that.”
My lips part in an audible gasp, but I do my best to hide my reaction to Landry calling me his wife and defending me in front of Loren. I’m sure it was only a knee-jerk response, and I shouldn’t read that much into it. Still, I can’t help the small thrill it sends through me.
Everyone else seems to brush right over the comment, and Loren crosses her arms, her frown growing deeper. “Oh, so you can say whatever horrible things you want about my husband, on a freaking microphone in front of all of our closest friends and family, no less, but I’m not allowed to use a harmless euphemism in front of your wife ?” she rants bitterly. Then she turns to me and softens her expression. “No offense, Daisy. I didn’t mean the cow part literally. And even if you were a cow, you’d be a very lovely one—the prettiest and friendliest heifer there ever was, I’m sure.”
“Um, thanks, I think,” I offer quietly, but it falls on deaf ears.
Landry’s chest heaves as he continues staring Loren down. “You are a piece of work, you know that? I have spent the majority of my life taking care of you and trying to keep you out of trouble, while you’ve always gone out of your way to make my job harder.” He pauses and lets go of me to gesture in the direction of Blake before he continues. “Do you want to know why I’ve always hated him? It’s because Dad liked him more than he loved me, because even my own father recognized that I’d never measure up to the freaking Bourgeois brothers. Coach Reed only trusted me with two things as a kid: to play quarterback and to protect you. But as hard as I tried, I failed at both. And Blake just had to make sure everyone knew he could do it better. So where does that leave me, Lo? What use am I to the rest of you now that Mom doesn’t need me to babysit her, and you don’t need me to keep her away from you?”
The room falls silent except for the sound of Landry’s labored breathing. I reach out to take his hand again, but he pulls his arm away, and I feel my shoulders droop. Charley cries off in the distance, breaking the awkward silence.
“We’ll get that,” JD says flatly before shoving Ethan forward. Tenley and Caidence go with them, leaving the rest of us alone in the kitchen.
“What do you mean you had to keep Mom away from me?” Loren asks quietly.
Landry licks his lips and looks away. “Dad was always worried about her embarrassing you in public.”
“So you took it upon yourselves to stop her from being there for me, especially when I needed her the most?”
“It was for the best, trust me,” he mutters.
Loren shakes her head. “You didn’t have the right to?—”
“No, it was worse,” Landry says, cutting her off. “Dad made it my responsibility.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” she continues. Then her expression hardens, and her chin trembles as she chokes out, “Did you keep her from coming to my high school graduation?”
“No,” Landry replies. “She made that decision herself. But after the way she acted at mine the year before, you should be glad she stayed in rehab.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t get to tell people what to do and how to feel,” she says, and Blake comes up beside her. “And you don’t get to accuse others of the same shit you’re guilty of doing.”
“I’m not trying to do any of that. I just don’t know how else to show you I care,” Landry replies, already sounding defeated.
“It sounds like you’re just butthurt because we chose someone else to be the twins’ godfather and we didn’t get your permission to get married,” Loren mutters, and Landry scoffs.
“Lo, babe,” Blake finally speaks up, his voice thick. “I know you’re upset, but you’re saying some hurtful things—things you’ll probably regret later, when you know the whole truth.”
“What else don’t I know?” Loren demands.
“Do you really want me to say this now, in front of everyone?” Blake asks, lowering his voice. And I have to admit, I’m getting a bit curious myself. Loren nods, and he sighs. “I didn’t ask for your brother’s permission, but I did get his blessing before I proposed to you. And I’m pretty sure he married Daisy because she needed his help.” He turns to Landry. “Right?”
I cross my arms over my middle and look away, feeling embarrassed.
“How do you know that?” Landry asks.
“I work at the courthouse, remember? The clerks that filed your marriage license told me as soon as it happened,” Blake explains. “I already knew about Daisy’s epilepsy, and I noticed that she never drives herself anywhere, so I figured she needed you to be her emergency medical contact or something, maybe to bypass her family. Although I never understood why you had to get married for that. I could have just helped you with the power of attorney paperwork, had you asked.”
“Wait, you knew they were married this whole time, and you never told me?” Loren rears back.
Blake opens and closes his mouth a few times before he speaks. “Look, it wasn’t my story to tell, and I assumed they had their reasons for keeping it quiet. Not to mention, I’m literally in the business of not spilling other peoples’ secrets.”
“Or maybe it’s because you feel sorry for him. Now that you and JD have worked out your brother complex, you’ve started to think my shit with Landry hasn’t been so one-sided after all.”
“Maybe,” Blake says on an exhale.
Landry huffs loudly. “That’s great. As if it’s not enough that everyone barely tolerates me, now I have your pity on top of that.”
Loren stops shortly, looking wounded. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“I’m so sick of feeling like this,” Landry continues quietly, the sadness in his eyes making my chest ache. “Like I’m just a burden to the people I love most.”
I want to correct him, to tell him that he could never be a burden to me and that I can love him enough for everyone. But it’s not my place. It’s not my love he needs right now.
Loren sniffles and reaches up to wipe a tear from her cheek. “Landry, you’re my brother. Of course I love you, even when you say or do stuff that upsets me.”
He shrugs and looks downcast again. “I guess I’ve always wished someone could say that to me without having to add the ‘but’ at the end. You know, a while back I got this stupid notion I could fix that. I thought with Daisy’s help I could make it easier for my family to love me as much as I love them. But I’ve obviously failed at that, too, and this feels even shittier than being alone.” He turns to leave, stopping shortly. “I’m sorry, Daisy. Will you be okay to get a ride home?”
I exhale shakily, ignoring the urge to correct him again. It’s hard to believe a man who’s still worried about me more than himself needs to prove his worth to his family. But I know if I were to tell him again that I love him right now, he’d only convince himself that I pity him, too.
“You don’t want me to come with you?” I ask carefully.
“I think I need some time to myself.”
My chest tightens. “Okay.” I step forward to reach for his hand again. He lets me hold it for a second and shoots me an apologetic look before he drops it. “Will you let me know you’re okay?” I whisper.
“Yes,” he says stiffly, and I can tell he’s struggling to hold it together. So I nod and back away, letting him go.
“Don’t tell me you’re going after him,” Loren warns Blake. He frowns but lifts his free hand in surrender.
“I’ll go.”
We all turn to see JD walk into the kitchen with Charley in his arms. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.” Then he glances my way and mumbles an apology.
“No, I’ll go,” Tenley says on a sigh when she walks up beside him. She leans up and kisses JD on the cheek. “You’re all too extroverted to understand.”
I should probably be grateful she’s willing to help Landry, but jealousy swirls in my stomach instead. If Landry says he wants to be alone, what makes her think she can make him feel any better?
My eyes narrow as I watch her walk out the door.
“Whoa, you all right, Miss Daisy?” Ethan asks when he returns to the scene in the kitchen.
I clear my throat as I feel my face heating agin. “No, I’m not,” I reply after a second before turning to Loren, who’s still crying. “I needed health insurance,” I tell her. “I didn’t know that I wasn’t going to qualify for benefits until I got a permanent teaching position, and your brother literally saved my life by marrying me and putting me on his policy so I didn’t have to go without my epilepsy medication.”
Loren cringes. “Of course. I’m sorry.”
“Besides that, he’s been voluntarily driving me around because I was too embarrassed to admit I’d had a seizure. I knew my family would force me to move back home. That’s why he moved in with me, to make sure I was safe. Do you want to know the only things he’s ever asked for in return?”
She bites her lip, and I continue. “He asked me if we could be open and honest with one another, because he’s exhausted from a lifetime of trying to fit in and failing to read people correctly. He wanted me to teach him how to be nicer, especially to you, because he was so desperate to play a bigger part in your life. And he practically begged me not to fall for him, because he’d convinced himself he’d do me more harm than good. At first, I couldn’t understand why he was so stubborn and cynical about relationships, especially since he so obviously wants to feel loved and accepted and to have a family of his own. I think I get it now, though, and it has a lot less to do with your parents getting divorced than with the way his family has always treated him.”
“Wow,” Loren breathes after a second. “Thank you for settling the ‘am I the asshole’ debate once and for all.”
I shrug and smile. “You called me a cow first.”
“A cute one, though,” she reminds me, smiling through her tears.
My bottom lip trembles, and I step forward to wrap her up in a hug. She accepts it and murmurs “Sorry, Bessie” over my shoulder.
“So, um, I guess this makes us sisters?” Loren asks when I pull away.
“Legally, yes. But Landry and I haven’t been living as husband and wife all this time,” I admit. “Only as roommates. Well, until yesterday, I guess.”
“I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have started all that just now. And I’m happy for both of you.”
“It’s okay. But I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” I tell her.