On the bright side, his plans for expansion were steaming ahead, and the youth center looked like it would become a reality soon. At least that was something in the huge ocean of nothing his life had become.

He shook his head firmly. God, he was turning into a morose fucker. It was time to get his life back under control. And he would start with Carlotta “Charlie” Carlisle. A fourteen-year-old little wiseass who had seen way too much shit in her life wasn’t about to get the better of him.

Daff was at Daisy’s later that evening, helping her sisters and mother with seating arrangements for the wedding, when Mason came striding in. Charlie was idly fidgeting with the little magnetized cards, looking bored out of her mind. They all—with the exception of Charlie—sat up expectantly and watched Mason’s face closely. His expression gave nothing away and he dropped a kiss on Daisy’s neck on his way to the refrigerator for a beer.

“Well?” Daff prompted when he twisted the cap off, leaned against the kitchen counter, and took a thirsty drink, still without saying a word.

“The project got the green light,” he said with a grin, and the women squealed in excitement. Daff’s eyes went to the front door, looking for Spencer. He would be thrilled and shouldn’t be left to celebrate this momentous occasion alone.

“Where’s Spencer?” she asked. “He must be ecstatic.”

“Whatever that looks like,” Charlie droned, and Daff shot the girl an irritated look, even though it was probably exactly what Daff herself would have said just a few months ago.

“Watch it, Carlotta Carlisle,” she warned, and the girl glared at her. Daff had sussed out pretty early on that Charlie absolutely hated her given name—join the club, sister—and had filed that useful bit of knowledge away until she could use it.

“He stayed behind to go over a few additional details with the committee.”

“What was the overall reaction?” their mother asked.

“Pretty good. A few naysayers as we expected, but when Captain Van Breda wholeheartedly backed the project, saying he was all for something that was likely to keep problem teens off the streets, most of the town got behind it, too.”

“That’s fantastic,” Lia exclaimed. Daisy couldn’t stop grinning, and Daff felt quite uncharacteristically giddy with happiness. She knew how much this meant to Spencer and had desperately wanted it for him. She’d wanted to attend the town meeting and voice her encouragement but had promised Daisy ages ago that she would help with the seating arrangements. They’d considered changing their plans, but Spencer wouldn’t hear of them postponing anything and their father had promised to be very vocal in his support of the project.

“So how’s this going?” Mason asked, coming up to focus on the seating chart on a mini whiteboard. “Need my help?”

“Not this time,” Daisy said with an easy smile. Mason had proven invaluable when they’d been struggling over the same task for Lia’s wedding. Because of her asshole ex-fiancé’s extended family and her need to please everyone, Lia had invited some problematic guests, and it had been a nightmare trying to find the right tables for them. Mason had sorted it out with admirable efficiency.

Fortunately, Daisy’s guest list was smaller and her guests less complicated. Everybody started discussing the wedding again, and Daff bit back a frustrated groan. She wanted to hear more about the youth center and to ask what Spencer’s reaction had been. It was annoying that everybody else seemed to have moved on from something so momentous.

She got out her phone and checked her messages. Nothing from Spencer. Why hadn’t he texted to tell her his news? Surely he’d want to share it with her?

Congratulations! So happy for you!!! She sent the message hastily and waited. But the message remained unread. Disappointed, she watched the screen a moment longer before shoving the phone into her pocket. And then dragging it back out a second later to check it again. Still nothing. She checked the alert volume and put it back into her pocket.

The next half hour dragged by, and even though Daff constantly checked her messages, Spencer didn’t contact her. She knew he was probably busy with those “additional details,” but it was killing her not to talk to him about this. After six weeks of hearing about all the hopes he had for that place, for it to finally come to fruition . . . Daff wanted to share in that joy with him. It almost physically hurt her not to be there with him right now.

“Daffy,” Daisy exclaimed, and Charlie sniggered when Daff glared at her sister. “What’s going on with you? You’re squirming like you have ants in your pants.”

“Well, you’d know what that looks like, wouldn’t you?” Daff scowled. Daisy and Lia burst into laughter.

“Yeah, sorry not sorry!” Daisy hooted, and Mason frowned.

Tags: Natasha Anders Alpha Men Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net