23. Daisy
***Daisy***
“You’re joking.” I threw my head back and laughed, doing my best to feel as unbothered as I was acting.
Flynn watched me the new way he’d been watching me, with focus and attention that felt purposeful, like he was studying me. “I’m not. His real name is Maximillian Richard Calloway.”
I snorted and then doubled over as I laughed harder. “Max Dick?!”
Wes came into the kitchen and frowned at Flynn. “Shouldn’t you be somewhere?”
“I am somewhere, big bro. I’m sitting right here, entertaining my favorite nanny with family secrets.” Winking at me, Flynn moved around the island to be closer to me and rested his hand on my lower back. The move felt like a claim.
Wes’ face went to a whole new level of grumpy. “Don’t you have a job?”
“I do. And while the kids are at day camp today, I talked Daisy into coming with me to see my marina and houseboat.” Flynn leaned into my space and brushed his nose against the shell of my ear as he did a stage whisper. “It’s parked in the very first spot. I’m a big deal.”
Before Wes could explode Max came in through the side door.
He looked as aloof as ever, as if the night before hadn’t happened to him at all.
It wasn’t fair. I could still feel the slight burn from his beard on my most sensitive parts and he was absolutely fine.
It made me want to push him, to poke at the proverbial bear until he looked as undone as I felt.
“Well, you’re getting a late start, Maximillian.” I took joy from how quickly his face soured. Pure, childish joy.
“What did you just say?” He glared at Wes and then Flynn. As soon as his gaze moved over Flynn he knew which brother had outed his name. “What the fuck?”
I casually stepped in front of Flynn without thinking, more focused on prodding Max than anything else.
It didn’t occur to me that I’d just slipped into the same position that had ended in Wes trying to fuck me through the cabinets.
“Don’t be mad at Flynn, Maximillian. I think it’s a lovely name.
I do think you missed out on creating your own superhero, though.
Just think. Max Dick could’ve been a great comic book star.
Have a crime you need solved but don’t want a talkative, fun PI? Just call Max Dick!”
Flynn gripped my hips from behind and let out a loud laugh that filled the kitchen and warmed a part of me that had fallen asleep cold the night before. “I should’ve told you his name a long time ago. This is fun.”
“Let go of her.” Wes’ voice was serious enough that it killed the laughter. Even Max, who was scowling at me, seemed taken aback by it.
Flynn’s hands tightened on my hips and the image it created hit me all at once. I connected the dots and realized exactly what Wes was seeing and thinking. Flynn didn’t. “Whoa, Wes. Who pissed in your cereal this morning? Relax.”
Being told to relax didn’t relax Wes, oddly enough. He took a step forward before Hank appeared from the open door and went straight to his feet. Hank settled like Wes hadn’t been walking and Wes had to stop moving or go down on top of my dog.
I used the distraction to slip away from Flynn and grab the two hefty lunch bags I’d packed for the two brothers I wasn’t going out with that day. I put them on the counter and forced a smile. “Don’t forget your lunches.”
Charlie ran in then, bringing down the temperature in the room. “Dad! Do you think Miss Maggie is going to let me paint my body this year? She always says we can paint anything we want and she never says anything about Billy Dearing painting on his dead turtle’s shell.”
Flynn shrugged. “You won’t know unless you ask. And that Billy kid is weird. I saw him drink from that shell once.”
Hank let out a long, pitiful howl and rolled off of Wes’ feet and onto his back. We all looked at him and it was like he waited to make sure his audience was watching before he farted. Charlie laughed so hard he went down to his knees.
“He wanted us to watch him fart!”
Flynn groaned. “Don’t get any ideas, kid. Just focus on painting your chest for day camp.”
“That’s not where I want to paint, Dad.”
Flynn choked on his coffee and ended up spilling half of his mug on himself. “Alright. I’m going to change and then take the kids to day camp so I can talk with Miss Maggie and apologize for encouraging Charlie to ask her if he can paint himself for the last three years.”
I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing. Nodding at Flynn, my voice was strained as I spoke. “I’ll wait here for you, then. I need to put in a call to the bakery before we head out anyway.”
“Head out? What are you talking about?” Max crossed his arms and took two steps closer to me. They were large steps and they allowed me to get a clearer look at his face. There were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and he looked pale under his tan skin somehow.
Flynn answered before I could. “I’m taking Daisy to my marina today. She wants to check out my houseboat. I’m going to impress her with my big deck.”
I thought Max was going to punch Flynn for a moment and I forced out a fake laugh before pushing Flynn towards the stairs. “Hurry up and take the kids. I’m going to call Kacey.”
Max turned his frown from his brother to me.
He looked like he had something to say but swallowed it down.
He turned just as Poppy ran into the kitchen and caught her in his arms when she jumped.
The strain and frustration on his face melted away and left a warmth that made my chest ache. “There’s my Poppy.”
She hugged his neck tight and then planted wet kisses on both of his cheeks and forehead before leaning back and opening her mouth wide. “I brushed! Smell!”
“I don’t know… Still kind of smells like Hank’s breath if you ask me.”
I watched as their normal chaos erupted, the kind of chaos I would’ve loved to grow up in, the kind I wanted to give my kids one day. It was loud and crazy and so filled with love that just watching them let me feel like I was a part of it.
I was so caught up in watching all three kids join in on an impromptu morning wrestling match with Max that I didn’t notice Wes was moving closer. He surprised me with a hand on my waist and a look I couldn’t interpret.
“You’re going on a date with Flynn?” He kept his eyes on Hazel as he asked but there was no hiding the fact that he clearly didn’t like the idea.
“It’s not a date.” I went to move away but he caught my arm and gently pulled me closer.
“I thought we were keeping boundaries to keep things from getting weird?”
My laugh at that was genuine. “I think we’ve all crossed that bridge, don’t you?”
“What? What do you mean?”
Because I was in a snottier mood than normal I patted his chest and smiled up at him. “I don’t mean a thing, Wes. Of course, we’ve all kept to our boundaries and not crossed any lines at all.”
His eyes darted to Max and then Flynn when he came back down the stairs. “Daisy… You mean… Flynn?”
“What, Wes? You want him to regret me the same way you do?” I kept my voice low enough that only he could hear me.
“Would it feel better for you if they looked me in the face and basically said they regret touching me, too? That way you don’t have to be the only jerk?
Well, congrats. You’re not alone. You and Max should start a club. Plus Tyler makes three, right?”
I twisted my face into something pleasant and stepped away from him. “I’m going to miss y’all today. Remember everything so you can give me all the details while we decorate cookies tonight.”
The kids ditched Max to give me hugs. Even Hazel gave me a side hug that felt like a gold medal after weeks of almost hugs. I planted kisses on the top of each of their heads and stuck my tongue out at Hazel when she pretended to wipe it off.
Flynn looked at Wes and then back at me. “Why don’t you come with us? I’ll drive to my marina with my head out the window so you can talk to Kacey in private.”
I felt Wes stiffen beside me and made up my mind. “You know what? I think that’s a great plan. We can take bets on how many bugs you’ll catch in your teeth. What do you think, kids? Fifty? A hundred?”
I didn’t look back at Wes or Max. The same itch to not leave things bad with anyone was there, it was less like an itch and more like a horse kicking me in the head.
That part of me demanded I turn around and make things better.
I already had a list of things I could do around the house running through my mind, a hundred different ideas for making them see that I was worth the trouble.
At the start of the summer, I would’ve folded.
I didn’t want to be that person anymore, though.
I didn’t want to be the person that got used up and cheated on and laughed at.
I gave my hair one last fluff on my way out the door. I had to be more than the person who made everything okay all the time.