Chapter 36 Daisy
The reunion show is in the books, done and amazing just as I thought it would be, and it feels unreal how everything is just falling into place.
The band is back together, with Miles happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. While rekindling our relationship was what he wanted too, there was always this small piece that was missing.
Performing.
It’s what Miles does best. It’s what he was made for, and if he never tours again or only plays here on the islands, it feels like it will be enough for him and the band.
I have no idea what happened on tour, but obviously, it wasn’t just that the band broke up. I can see it in Lacey’s eyes. I can see it in the way the guys look at her—protective yet concerned. Maybe one day the story will come out, but for now, they all seem content to be together.
“That was the best show I’ve ever seen you perform,” I tell Miles as we drive back to our house, his equipment packed in the car.
It reminds me of when we were kids, driving from bar to bar, open-air amphitheaters and then stadiums. I was with him every step of the way, then watching him leave for his first real tour on the mainland.
I wish things would have been different. I wish I had gone with him and that we never broke up, but we wouldn’t be where we are today if that had happened. I have to be grateful for our time apart and the way it built us back stronger and more supportive of each other.
“Thanks, babe,” Miles replies, a sweetness to his tone that sends goosebumps dotting my skin. “It felt like the best show I’ve ever played. That we ever played.” He corrects himself, giving credit to the band, and I can’t agree more.
They were so in sync, each one of them smiling and playing their heart out, and it felt like it did when they first started the band.
“I think it felt even better knowing Isaac couldn’t show up and ruin it,” Miles adds, and I swallow hard at the mention of his name.
I nod softly, Miles reaching over to take my hand. Giving it a gentle squeeze comforts me, but I know that it won’t be enough to move past what happened.
Sloane and I have talked about going to therapy, needing it to help us both overcome not just the fire, but all the shit that’s happened in our pasts. Things we’ve pushed to the side, things we’ve been told to just “get over,” but it’s not that simple.
I want to be able to sleep at night without the fear of my house being set on fire. I want my business to thrive without the constant worry that he could show up and ruin it all. And adding to this is my fear of abandonment; I don’t want it creeping in and causing issues between Miles and me.
“Everything feels better knowing Isaac is in custody,” I reply, a quiet whisper to my words, still wrought with guilt over ever getting involved with him.
“None of what happened is your fault, Daisy, and I will spend forever reminding you of that.” Again, his hand tightens in mine, and that feeling of safety and comfort radiates through me.
“I know.” I keep saying this in the hopes that one day I will begin to believe it myself. “It’s hard, but I’ll get through it. I think I’m going to start therapy after the bakery is open,” I admit, and Miles looks over at me, giving me a simple and sweet smile.
“That sounds like a great plan.”
We drive in silence for a few minutes longer, pulling up outside the bakery. He stops, the headlights casting a perfect spotlight on the building, and it’s hard to believe that just last week, I thought it was gone forever.
Isaac had used gasoline to start the fire, dragging a line of it along the back and front entrance and lighting it.
It’s the reason the building wasn’t fully damaged, only catching where the gasoline touched, and with the arrival of the fire department so quickly, it was put out before it could destroy the bakery.
He wanted to trap me inside the building, wanting it to go up in flames without any way to escape, and really, he did accomplish that. But Eli and the rest of the fire department did exactly what they were supposed to, and it’s what I think about when the intrusive thoughts edge too close.
“It’s gonna be amazing, Daze,” Miles says, and while I’m nervous, it’s also paired with an excitement that has my heart racing and my mind swirling.
“It is.”
Both Miles and I fall asleep quickly, the busyness and excitement of the day getting to us, and it’s not going to stop for the next few weeks.
Miles has a couple of gigs lined up here on Maui, and once word gets out that Silent Daydream is back together, I’d bet the bakery they’ll be playing larger places than just local bars.
Especially judging by how crowded Lisa’s place was last night.
Bars here can’t accommodate those kinds of crowds, so it will move to amphitheaters and stadiums.
“Let’s do this,” I say to Miles before the sun has even begun to rise. It’s early, but that’s how owning a bakery works.
I’m dressed in a T-shirt with Daisy’s Flour Shop logo across the front and a pair of jeans, and hanging on a hook in the bakery kitchen is my apron.
Miles is wearing the same T-shirt, determined to help me however he can, and while he isn’t the best in the kitchen, he will certainly be great behind the register.
My heart is racing as we leave our house, making the short walk to the bakery.
I’ve been buzzing with nervous energy ever since I woke up this morning.
A part of me wonders if we shouldn’t have gone surfing first to burn some of it off, but I’m not even sure I could have concentrated on anything else.
We enter through the back door. The cement outside the door is still blackened from the fire, but everything else looks as if nothing happened. It’s a small reminder, and when Miles notices where my eyes have fallen, he whispers, “I’ll take care of that.”
Pulling me to him, he kisses my temple, and we stand together on the spot where the fire started, almost as if we’re both trying to make a better memory.
“This will be the first and last time we walk through this door on opening day,” Miles tells me, and I feel him smile against my hair. “After this, it will just be a regular morning at work.”
“And it all happened because of you,” I reply, holding him closer, forever grateful for everything he has done for me.
“But you made it happen, Daze.”
He pulls back, sweeping his thumb along my cheek, catching the tear that begins to fall. I’ve cried so much over the past few months, but this time, it’s out of happiness.
He says nothing more, just the quiet reassurance that he will be here, that he’ll always be here, and that’s enough for me.
Taking his phone from his pocket, he holds it out in front of him, grabbing a selfie of us. In the background, there painted on the door in Nate’s perfectly matched script to the design Sloane created, are the words Daisy’s Flour Shop.
A forever memory of the day we opened this place. Something I plan to frame and hang up, a reminder that we did this together.
Miles takes a few more: us smiling at the camera, him kissing my cheek, us pointing at the sign. All of them filled with that nervous excitement shining in our eyes.
I push the key into the lock, opening the door to the dimly lit kitchen, and I flip on the lights fully now, bathing it in a bright glow that shows just how pristine and new and clean everything is, something that will change in a matter of minutes.
We have a lot to do to get ready to open in the next two and a half hours. Six-thirty will be our opening time, every day except Mondays. Closed on Mondays.
I love the smell of the bakery. It’s soft and light, a clean smell of sugar mixed with floral, and I close my eyes, taking in a deep breath.
And when I open my eyes, Miles is down on one knee in front of me.
“Miles,” I gasp, my eyes wide, my heart hammering so loud I can barely hear his words.
“Daisy, you are my everything, and I will not lose you again, so here in this place we created together, I’m asking you to marry me.” His words are shaky, along with his hand that is holding a small blue box, and I have no idea how he did this with all the craziness of our days lately.
He’s adorably nervous, something I can’t even believe. He knows I’m going to say yes. I’d have said yes to him at fifteen years old if he had asked. I’d have said yes if he had asked before leaving to go on tour, and I’d say yes a million times over.
“Yes!” I call out, the tears spilling over, falling down my cheeks in warm rivers. “Of course, yes!” I add, and he opens the box, revealing the most gorgeous ring.
A large round center stone surrounded by a halo of smaller diamonds, sparkling under the lights, and it’s everything I’ve dreamed of and more.
Jumping into his arms, wrapping my body around him in a hug that holds him so tightly that I worry he won’t be able to breathe.
I’ve wanted this for as long as I can remember, and pairing it with this day makes it even more perfect.
“The girls helped me pick it out,” he admits, and it’s like they were waiting for their cue because the next thing I know, they’re surrounding me.
Alana, Sloane and Sage are all here, the lights now turned on in the main part of the building.
Along with the girls are Kai and Nate, Eli and Flynn, all here to not only celebrate the opening of the bakery but mine and Miles’s engagement.
My mom and my sister, Miles’s parents, Tanner and Luna, and I couldn’t have asked for more.
“How did you all keep this a secret?” I question, swiping away the tears, but they just won’t seem to stop.
“Miles threatened to break all our surfboards if we said a word,” Kai chimes in, the crew letting out a collective laugh, nodding in agreement.
They all move to congratulate us—hugs and kisses, laughs and shakas in every picture—and we move to the front of the building.
“We need a picture of all of us,” I tell everyone as we stand out front, a crowd already beginning to gather for the opening.
I’m completely shocked that people are already forming a line, and when I admit this out loud, Miles leans in close, his mouth next to my ear, his words a soft whisper. He says, “Daisy, that’s because you are amazing.”
And I realize it’s not just the bakery that’s bringing people from our little community.
It’s me and Miles and the fact that we’ve lived here all our lives.
We’re family to these people, and here, we support family.
They want people to succeed because if I do, it means more tourists, more people visiting local restaurants and bars and retail shops, like The Pipe Dream. It means everyone benefits.
Posing out front are all of us—my friends who have supported me through this entire journey: Eli who helped keep my building from burning down, and Sloane who created the most perfect design branding, and Nate for hand-painting logos and menus. All of them mean the world to me.
After a few pictures, they step away, leaving just Miles and me, a ring on my finger now, standing next to my fiancé. We take a picture out front.
It’s a picture that proves we can do anything together. It’s a picture that I will hold close and remember this feeling for the rest of my life.
I look at the crowd, all of them watching Miles and me, smiling and celebrating us, and I do something even I don’t expect, because I’ve been nothing but nervous about this opening.
“I’m opening early! Come on in!” I shout, and the crowd of people cheer as Miles looks at me, his head cocked to the side in question, and I nod.
“Open the doors! Let’s do this!” I add, carried away by the excitement and nervousness.
And that’s how I open my bakery, surrounded by my fiancé, my best friends, my family, and my community.
This is our happily ever after.