Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Daisy
New York
Six weeks ago
“Okay, we’ve got five hours before the car is here to take us to the show. What are we all thinking?” Mom asks as we convene in the lobby of the luxurious New York hotel my brother and his band have taken over.
Sawyer’s head is on Mia’s shoulder. His eyelids are heavy with exhaustion from his big day in the city.
We’ve just come from Madison Square Garden, where he ran around with the other kids from the Hollow Knocks family during sound check.
He was in awe of it all, especially the other kids.
He got his very own ear protection and felt like one of the big kids.
It was touching to watch Knox walk him around the stage and set him on his lap behind the drum kit.
He was nervous, but most of all he was proud to have his child there.
We were all clutching our hearts watching father and son together. It was emotional for everyone, but Mia seemed overwhelmed. Angus never left her side and whispered what I can only imagine were reassurances into her ear the entire time. Now she looks as exhausted as her little boy.
“I think we’re gonna lay him down for a couple of hours so he’s good to go for the show,” Angus replies to Mom.
“I’m so glad you said that. I could use a nap myself. How about we all take a break and do our own thing, then we can meet down here for the car pickup. You okay with that, Daisy? Owen?”
“Works for me,” Owen replies. “I might walk around the city a bit. Daisy, wanna come?”
His invitation doesn’t faze anyone, and since he’s asking me to leave the hotel and not join him in his room, I guess it’s innocent enough.
“Sure, what the heck.”
“Okay, then we’re all set. You two have fun, and we’ll see you right here in a few hours.”
The four of them pile into the elevator, and I’m left alone with Owen. “So, sightseeing, huh?”
He checks the time on his phone. “We’ve got time to grab a slice of pizza, and then I have an appointment. You’re coming with me.”
“What kind of appointment could you possibly have?
“You’ll find out soon enough. But I need you there.”
“I'm so confused.”
He slides his fingers between mine, and we leave the hotel hand in hand as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
I should pull away, but I don’t. I let him guide me through the busy streets, my sole focus on the feel of my hand in his.
Not the hot August sun radiating off the concrete below and the skyscrapers above.
Not the random whiffs of sewer smell or the piles of garbage waiting for pickup.
Owen is the only thing I notice.
We’re able to get a window seat at a tiny pizzeria with world-famous pies. We fold our slices like we’re native New Yorkers and people watch out the window. It’s surreal to be out in the world with him like this. Like we’re a normal couple doing normal couple things.
It’s a dream I don’t want to wake up from.
In this dreamlike state, I don’t have to worry that being with him will ruin his relationship with my brother. Or that we’ll inevitably end. Right here, right now, we’re together, and I don’t want to waste a second of it.
When we each reach for our sodas, he lifts his paper cup to me and says, “To New York.”
“To New York,” I repeat back as our cups touch, and we take sips through our straws.
We make idle chatter about the characters who pass by our window, and once we’ve finished, he checks his phone. “It’s time,” he says with an excited lift of his brows.
“Where in the world are we going?” I ask we throw away our paper plates.
“Patience, Clover.”
“Why all the secrecy?”
“It’s more fun that way.”
“I think you just like being extra.”
He holds his phone up. It’s 2:22. This and the flash of his dimples are the only warning I get before he scoops me up into his arms in the middle of the hectic sidewalk and kisses me senseless.
Pedestrians walk around us as though we’re a traffic cone and not two people making out for all to see.
It’s romantic. It’s dreamy. And it’s typical Owen, to do something so over the top after being accused of being extra.
“Is this extra enough for you?” he asks against my lips.
“It’ll do.”
He chuckles, and I love that I can feel his laughter vibrate through me.
Much too soon my feet hit the ground, his hand is back in mine, and we join the rush of people. A couple of blocks later, he opens the door to a tattoo shop.
“Holy shit. Owen Swift is getting his first tattoo. Did you bring me here to hold your hand?”
“That is exactly why you’re here.”
“Happy to be of service.”
This appointment is a surprise, to be certain, but it’s also exciting, and so not, Owen. I swear, he never stops surprising me.
“Hi there. I have an appointment with Jade. Should be under Owen Swift.”
An adorable girl with piercings where dimples would usually be finds him in their system and says, “Yes, here you are. We got your design approval last week, so unless you want to make any changes, we’re all ready for you.”
“Great. Is it okay if my girlfriend sits with me? I’m gonna need to hold her hand.” He winks at the girl, and she blushes like most women do when his charm is at work.
Who am I to judge? I’m not immune. The word girlfriend coming out of his mouth makes me blush even more than the girl walking us through the shop. The heat on my cheeks is confirmation of that.
We’re introduced to Jade, who rolls over a stool for me to sit on while I hold the big baby’s hand, and then Owen pulls him to the side.
They chat and come to some kind of agreement, then Owen takes his spot on the reclined chair and asks if I’ll grab him a bottle of water from the fridge at the front desk.
By the time I return, the stencil is on his body, and they’ve already gotten to work. Owen’s shirt is off, and there is a large hoodie on one side of his chest while Jade’s hands cover what he’s working on.
“Sit here and face me, Clover.”
“You have got to be kidding me. You tell me you want me here, but you won’t let me see what you’re getting? Like I said. Extra.”
“Distract me,” he says with a wink.
“Your favorite kind of distraction might get in Jade’s way.”
The bald and bearded tattooist chuckles but keeps working.
“Talk to me, darlin’. How do you think things went with Sawyer today?”
And just like that, he distracts me from the art being forever inked onto his chest. The conversation flows about all the changes in my family, all while never mentioning Knox or the band by name.
The last thing my brother and Mia need is Sawyer’s paternity details out in the world because of the two of us. You never know who is listening.
It’s an unspoken rule that I don’t have to remind Owen of. He’s careful because he loves my family as much as I do. He would do everything in his power to protect those most important to me. Mia is my best friend, but Owen is hot on her heels for the title.
He was there for me and my whole family when we lost Dad.
Having lost his dad years prior, he knew what we were going through.
He’s always offering a shoulder to cry on, or a joke to bring levity to any situation.
His jokes may not always be appropriate, but they make me laugh.
I can talk to him about absolutely anything.
Years in law enforcement could have made him jaded and prone to seeing only the worst in people, yet he is the least judgmental person I know.
He’s a good man.
As we chat about anything and everything, the realization that he might be my person hits me. It’s taken a lifetime, but slowly... surely... he’s not only someone I can count on, but someone I want to be around more than nearly anyone in my life.
My heart is on a roller coaster ride, dipping and diving with the fear that comes with this realization. It’s as though I’m in a perpetual spiral of needing him and preparing myself to lose him.
“All done.” Jade wipes a towel over the patch of green ink covering Owen’s heart. “I’ll meet you up front when you’re ready. Take your time.”
When he steps away and the design comes into view, I gasp, my breath freezing in my lungs.
Releasing his hand, I stand to get a closer look. Tattooed on his heart is an intricate four-leaf clover. In the center of the clover is a daisy.
It’s me.
He has tattooed me onto his heart.
My heart, that had already been balancing at the top of another giant roller coaster dip of emotions finally tips and falls into its deepest dive yet. Plunging all the way to the depths of my soul. My stomach flips in unison as I stare at the declaration on Owen’s skin.
“There’s a proverb that says, a good friend is like a four-leaf clover.” Emotion thickens his tone. He clears his throat and continues, “Hard to find and lucky to have.”
My eyes finally look up to my favorite face.
My favorite person.
He is so beautiful. Inside and out.
Breathtaking.
When I don’t speak, his intense gaze locks me in place.
“Did you know each leaf represents a different virtue?”
I slowly shake my head no.
“Hope, faith, love, and luck.”
An unexpected tear falls from my eye, but he stops its journey down my face with his thumb.
“Don’t cry, baby. It’s okay.”
Is it though?
How can anything be the same again?
It’s one thing for him to tell me he wants to be with me. After all, his charisma, dimples, and pretty words have always served him well. It was easy to dismiss his claims, but now he’s taken action to prove his feelings. Ink is forever and I’m not sure what to do with that.
Owen is an optimist. He believes everything will be okay. Things will happen as they should. I, on the other hand, am a pessimist. Or, as I like to call myself, a realist.
My head is not in the clouds. Everything is not sunshine and rainbows. But it sure is nice to spend time in his make-believe world from time to time.
I’m still stunned quiet while he pays and still when we walk out the door into the blazing summer sun. The heat hits me like a wall, and breathing seems improbable.