Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 94585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Everything should have been perfect. It was. Almost. Taking Daisy's hand, I led her out the back door to the gardens behind Heartstone Manor.
“Are we going where I think we're going?”
“Wait and see,” I teased, though we were going exactly where she thought we were going. While the rest of the family had explored the watchtower, secretly, I thought of it as ours.
“Are you going to tell me what has you in such a good mood?”
Daisy's smile was almost blinding. Swinging our clasped hands between us, she spilled. “Grams brought me a partnership agreement for the bakery! Harvey drew up the papers for her. 50/50 partners.”
I stopped in my tracks, closing my hands around her waist and swinging her into a high circle. “That's amazing. I knew Eleanor was going to come to her senses. And it's what you wanted.”
“Exactly what I wanted. I convinced myself it wasn't going to happen. She's been so weird lately.”
I took Daisy’s hand again, and we continued down the path to the watchtower. “A little weird is normal after everything that went down.”
“True. And she said she forgave me for the money I took.” Daisy sounded surprised. I wasn't. Eleanor might have been swayed by Darren for a while, but she loved Daisy too much to hold one mistake against her.
“Now everything is perfect.” Daisy sidled closer to me, tipping her head against my shoulder as we walked. Not quite perfect, but close. Now that Eleanor had made Daisy a partner, there was only one thing missing.
Candlelight welcomed us as I pushed open the door to the watchtower. Protected by an ancient glass globe, the light swayed in the breeze from the open door, changing the familiar room into something out of a dream.
Scents drifted from above, savory and sweet, drawing us up the curving staircase. Daisy climbed through the trap door first, stopping at the top to take in the room, her mouth open in surprise.
“When did you do all of this?” she asked in wonder.
I followed her into the top level of the watchtower, grinning in satisfaction at the scene I'd created with the help of Hope, Savannah, and—oddly enough—Finn. Flowers filled the room. Roses, lilies, daisies, and everything in between. Some of the arrangements were formal, some little more than wildflowers stuck in a jar, but more than anything, they were abundant. As in every available surface was covered with flowers. Every surface but the bed and the small table set for two.
I moved to the bottle of champagne chilling in a silver bucket. “Champagne?”
Daisy's eyebrows shot up. “Yes, please.”
I wrestled with the bottle, popping the cork and catching the foam in a glass while Daisy strolled around the room, sniffing the flowers. She came to a stop beside the bed, freshly made with a mountain of pillows and a fluffy white duvet.
I handed her the glass and cleared my throat. Why this should make me nervous, I didn't know. Daisy was living with me. Maybe she hadn't finished moving out yet, but what did that matter?
I tried to tell myself that, but it did matter. I wanted more. I wanted it all. It was too soon for everything—we hadn't been together long enough for that— but I needed to move us one step closer. I just had to hope I wasn't going to scare her off.
“Let's sit at the table,” I said. I'd planned this out, but now that we were here, my plan seemed forced and awkward. I sat, waiting for Daisy to do the same. She did, dropping into my lap instead of the seat across the table.
That would work. Not like I was going to shove Daisy off my lap when that was exactly where I wanted her. Clearing my throat again, I reached into the picnic basket Savannah had left on the table and pulled out an envelope and a small velvet box. Daisy eyed the box with a flare of alarm in her brown eyes, then narrowed those eyes on the envelope.
“What's that?”
I handed her the envelope. She opened it slowly, brow furrowing as she read it. “A change of address form?”
Printed from the DMV website, it was the form she'd need to permanently change her address to Heartstone Manor. “I want you to move in. For real.”
Daisy laid the form out on the table, smoothing her hand over it, back and forth, saying nothing.
“You can do it online, I think, but I wanted to give you this, to show you—” I shut up. Where was all my charm? The change of address form had seemed like a good idea at the time. Watching her squint down at it, mostly it just felt lame.
I wasn't expecting her to lean in and kiss me softly, her champagne-flavored tongue tasting mine. When she pulled back, she was smiling.