Her phone rang and she quickly answered it, glad for the chance to escape the conversation.
“Hey, beautiful.”
She rolled her eyes and headed into the kitchen, as her heart felt a little lighter at hearing his voice. “You know, that has to be the cheesiest line ever.” She passed Paul carrying a gargantuan bowl of Froot Loops that was ready to overflow on her floor. He’d apparently found the hidden stash of dessert cereal, but right now, she wasn’t going to fight him on it.
“You can’t fault me for telling the truth.”
“So did you just call to inflate my ego or was there something else?” she asked and picked a couple of stray Froot Loops from the stool before sliding on. The counter was a mess of cereal and milk she’d deal with in a minute.
“What, a guy can’t just call to tell the person he’s engaged to how much he missed her today? And how much he enjoyed spending time with her the night before?”
“I guess not. We all had a pretty good time, too.”
“But I think you and I are going to need our own good time—alone. And soon,” he said.
It was hard not to feel her pulse speed up, the warm heat stir low in her belly at the promise in his voice. “Is that right? Are you saying Friday night isn’t soon enough for you?”
“Absolutely,” he said in complete sincerity.
She chortled. Although…yeah. She could kind of relate. But…responsibilities.
“Okay, I’ll have to table those thoughts for now. In the meantime, how’s the loan stuff coming? My offer still stands if you want my accountant to help you put anything together.”
“No, really. I’ve got it covered.” Because, truthfully, as exhausting as all this paperwork was, there was a sense of pride, of accomplishment, as she completed and checked off each item on that list.
“Okay. But just s
ay the word if you change your mind.”
“Mom!” Jenna shrieked from the other room. She jumped up and went in to see Paul’s bowl flipped over the coffee table and the floor. “Look what Paul did!” Jenna continued, pointing to her wet lap, milk dripping down her legs.
“Is everything okay?” Jack asked.
She smacked her hand to her head, taking a breath so she didn’t lose it. “Yeah. But I’ve got to take care of this.”
“I understand. Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.” The moment she disconnected the call, she spoke as calmly as possible. “Jenna, go run up and hop in the shower. Paul, go get one of those swim towels back out of the washer and let’s get this cleaned up.”
For a second she thought about Jack’s offer. To call him for anything. Daisy knew, if she let him, he’d swoop in and somehow take all her troubles away. And it would be so nice. So easy.
But there was still something for doing things on her own. The satisfaction and pride of knowing she could do it by herself. Not needing anyone to rescue her.
It was what she’d promised herself that day two years ago when she suddenly found herself all alone, with three terrified kids, and a bank account as miniscule as her credit score. She’d had nothing. It had taken two long years for her to finally become self-sufficient again.
She got to her knees, scooping what she could of the soppy mess back into the bowl, sure of one thing.
She wouldn’t let what happened with Leo ever happen again.
…
Jack was waiting inside the bank, chatting with the manager when Daisy arrived for their appointment late Friday afternoon. She’d come directly from work and he knew—by the tightness around her mouth—that she was stressed.
He wanted to take her hand, maybe give her a brief kiss for support, but she’d already been firm that today was about business. No public displays of any kind of affection would be okay. So he’d give her that.
“Jonathon, this is Daisy Sorensen. The future business owner.”
They shook hands, offering each other the usual niceties before Jonathan had them take their seats again in front of his desk. Although Jack hadn’t contacted the bank manager personally to handle their business today, he guessed Jonathan must have caught wind of Jack’s involvement, and because of an old personal connection, he’d decided to help oversee the loan.