CHAPTER TWENTY
THE PAST
I looked at my reflection, smiling. Today was a big day. An important day.
Oliver was taking us to his cabin. It was a long drive, and I should have dressed down, but I wanted to impress him. His gaze always lingered when I put effort into myself.
Today, I wore a summer skirt and a white floral crop top. I had the bags packed by the door. We’d be gone for the long weekend, and Rowe was so excited. I could hear him racing around the little unit, his sweet voice filling the air.
“You have the perfect life, don’t you?” June asked, appearing beside me in the bathroom.
Unlike me, she wore a large T-shirt. It was actually one of my old shirts. The kind of bum clothes we used to wear during our late-night sessions in front of the television.
It had been months since I’d watched anything, and it didn’t bother me. I didn’t miss the television. Not when I had Oliver to fill my time.
I didn’t want to tell her that, yeah, life had been coming together for me this past month because it was completely the opposite for June.
She was overworked, understaffed, and always counting pennies to make rent and pay the bills.
We used to share our stresses, especially the money part, but Oliver was helping me make ends meet, insisting the only thing I should stress about was school.
“No one has the perfect life,” I said, smiling sweetly as I leaned over to slip a pair of butterfly studs into my ears. “You just have to make the most of it.”
She eyed me for a few moments. Her voice was dry when she said, “It’s easy to make the most of it when someone else is taking care of you.”
I stilled as my eyes darted to meet hers. “June.”
She sighed and shut her eyes for a long moment. “I’m sorry. That came out rude.”
I put the next earring in. “Why are you upset with me?”
She shook her head. “I’m not upset with you. I just…”
“Just what?”
“How did you get him?” The question flew out of her mouth like she couldn’t contain it any longer.
I slowly turned to face her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She looked panicked for a second, like she might have regretted asking, but then her eyes filled with wariness. “He’s handsome, educated, and obviously rich.”
My heart picked up. “What are you saying, June?”
“Think about it. Why did he chase you?”
My eyes ached as her words settled into me. “Why do you sound suspicious of him? You don’t think I could find someone like him—”
“No, that’s not what I said—”
“It’s exactly what you meant.”
She paused, and her hands came together. She squeezed them anxiously, her eyes also filling with tears. “Maybe I’m jealous, then. I’m sorry, Daisy. I shouldn’t have asked that. I just have this horrible feeling.”
“What feeling?”
“Like you’re going to end up heartbroken.” She was shaking now, and my heart hurt at seeing her distressed. “I love you so much. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
“Oliver treats me right.”
“He does. He really does. He’s a good man.”
I stared at her for a few moments, lost for words. “So it’s me, then. You think I’m going to mess this up.”
She shook her head again, but no words came out.
Oh, my God.
Anger rushed through me. I swallowed down my vicious words and walked past her.
I didn’t want to say something I might regret.
She had taken me in after our mother died and we lost the house to the bank.
June helped me with Rowe and loved him. I knew she loved me, too, but she’d seen the other sides of me growing up.
The ones I was too ashamed to even think about.
The side of me with thoughts I would never utter aloud.
Maybe she was right, even though she technically hadn’t vocalized it. The message was loud and clear.
Oliver was too good for me, and I was going to mess this up.
But she didn’t have to bring this to me now, right before I was about to leave on a weekend getaway with the man. She could have let me have this moment. This adventure with him. This one good thing in my life.
Tears slipped from my eyes as I busied myself. In the middle of adding a book to the packed bag, I heard that familiar deep voice in the air. It was so out of the blue, I didn’t have time to recover.
I blinked up and saw him come through the door. Rowe had let him in, though I hadn’t heard him knock. Oliver patted his head, laughing at whatever Rowe was saying.
Then he looked up, and his gaze caught mine.
He stilled, and his happy expression vanished. “Daisy?”
I offered him a wobbly smile. “I didn’t hear you knock.”
“He knocked forever,” Rowe exclaimed, and then he took Oliver by the hand and tugged. “Want to see the tower I builded?”
Oliver’s expression warmed as he looked down at Rowe. “I would love to see it after I speak to your mom for a few minutes.”
The second Rowe returned to his toys, Oliver was in front of me. “What happened, Daisy?”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing, Oliver. I promise.”
He frowned, and his hand grabbed mine, squeezing gently. I looked back up at him.
“It’s not nothing.”
“Just something my sister said, but she didn’t mean anything by it.”
Except I wasn’t certain of that.
Oliver didn’t respond, but I felt his gaze on me as I finished packing. He helped me gather Rowe and then paused outside my bedroom.
When I turned to look at him, I saw June standing outside her room, looking straight at me. She looked sorrowful.
“Daisy…” My name hung in the air.
I frowned. “I’ll see you later, June—”
“Can we talk?”
“No,” I bit out. “I don’t want to talk right now.”
“Please, Daisy, let me explain—”
“You said enough, June—”
“Calm down, ladies,” Oliver cut in, physically coming between us. He looked back and forth between us, his brows pinched together. “Let’s take a breather, and we can sort this out.”
My eyes were still filled with tears when I looked at him. “Please, Oliver, I don’t want to talk to her right now.”
His lips pinched together, and he drew closer to me. He lowered his head and whispered, “Then let me do the talking for you. Take Rowe down to the car. Keep him chirpy and excited.”
With that, he handed the keys to me. “I’ll grab your bags.”
I gave him a grateful smile.
“There she is,” he murmured, brushing his thumb beneath my eye.
The words soothed something raw inside me. I picked up Rowe and darted out of the apartment.
I threw one final look over my shoulder. Oliver was speaking quietly to June, and she was staring up at him with tears in her eyes.
Irritation flickered through me.
Was she going to use her tears on him?
Oliver was sweet—too sweet. He’d take one look at her crying and believe she didn’t mean to hurt me.
Which wasn’t a lie, per se, but I felt June needed to take accountability for her words. To tell me she meant them in some way instead of building reasons around saying them. I would prefer that she admit she thought I didn’t deserve him rather than take back her words and make me doubt her.
I didn’t want her to have an out.
I wanted her to face the noise and live with the aftermath that came with it.
Oliver’s car was easy to find in the parking lot. I loaded Rowe in, noticing Oliver had packed only one duffel bag. Maybe I had packed a little too much, but the car was spacious, and Oliver wasn’t the kind of man who minded something like that.
We didn’t wait long before Oliver returned. By then, my tears had dried, and I had calmed down.
I expected him to fill me in on what was said, but he grinned brilliantly at me instead and slid into the car.
“Are we ready to have some fun?”
Rowe let out an excited shout, and Oliver laughed.
I smiled at him. “Thanks for this.”
He winked. “Are you kidding? This is my happiness. I get to have you all to myself in my favorite place.”
As Rowe continued screeching, I motioned toward him. “Almost all to yourself.”
He chuckled as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “You and Rowe are a package deal. He’s equally as important to me as you are.”
I blinked back tears and promised myself I would be mindful.
I would not mess up this trip.
I was unusually tired. The argument with June exhausted me more than I thought. I fell asleep in the car. Oliver would later laugh about it with Rowe. About how I had literally curled into a ball in my seat and hadn’t stirred for hours.
By the time I woke, half my face was red with indentations from the purse I’d been leaning on. My mouth was so dry that my throat ached. I blinked around, my vision coming into focus as I realized the car had stopped and Rowe’s voice sounded in the distance.
My heart hitched into my throat because he was screaming.
“Rowe?” His name sounded slurred as panic raced through me.
My door suddenly opened, and I let out a short shriek as Oliver’s laugh filled the air. “Look who’s up! We’ve been waiting for this moment.”
Rowe’s screams cut through the air again, but now that I was more alert, I recognized that he was excited.
Happy.
Not distressed like I’d feared.
Oliver leaned over me and unbuckled my seat belt. He planted a quick kiss on my forehead. “You got lucky. I was about to carry you out and put you in bed.”
I shook my head and rubbed my face. “I don’t know what happened.”
“Sweetheart, you were so tired.”
“I don’t know why.”
“You’ve had way too many late nights.”
“No thanks to you.”
He let out another deep laugh that made my skin tingle. My heart pinched in my chest as I looked at him.
He appeared so carefree and…
“You’re happy.”
Oliver’s dark eyes warmed as he looked back at me. “More than ever. This is my favorite place, and I’m with my favorite people.”
I slid out of the car with his help. His hand in mine, we walked down a short gravel driveway.
I looked around, dazed by the beautiful forest surrounding us.
His cabin stood among the tall trees. It was a modest-sized cabin built of weathered timber that blended effortlessly with the earthy colors of the old trees surrounding it. The roof was pitched and shingled, with hints of moss and lichen creeping across it, but it didn’t seem neglected at all.
Far from it, actually.