Daisy Does It All (Clover Park, Book 2) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (11 page)

“Yes, that’s what I was just about to say,” Daisy said, nodding vigorously. “We’re all out. Sorry, no soup.”

Jessica stared at her blandly. “Okay, let’s see this famous grilled cheese.”

“Sure,” Daisy said. “I just need to get the bread.”

She opened the breadbox on the counter and found a collection of Pez dispensers all lined up inside. She slammed the lid down and heard the clatter of
Kiss
, the Simpsons, and what appeared to be the Founding Fathers taking a dive to the counter. She turned to Trav. His eyes darted to the refrigerator.

Daisy opened the fridge. “I forgot I moved the bread to the refrigerator to keep it fresh longer. Yes, here it is. And the butter and cheese too. Perfect!”

She pulled half the loaf from the store bag, grabbed the package of sliced cheese and butter, and set it all on the counter next to the stove.

Jessica stared at the cheese. “I didn’t know they made organic American cheese. Isn’t that processed?”

Daisy snatched the cheese off the counter, hiding the label. “Not this kind. We get it from a health food store nearby, Gary’s Greens & More.” She decided to put in a plug for her dad’s friend Gary. “That’s also where I buy natural grape soda and the most delicious chocolate cookie sandwiches.”

“You think soda and cookies are healthy?” Jessica asked.

“They are at the health food store,” Daisy said as she spread butter on some bread. She glanced around the kitchen, trying to decide where Maggie would keep the frying pan. There were a lot of cabinets. Well, most people kept it in a cabinet near the stove, right?

She opened the cabinet to her right and quickly shut it.

Troll dolls. Each one next to an empty beer bottle. Little troll party in there.

She tried the cabinet to the left. Tin baking molds—camel, pig, chicken, weird doll-like people. Her eyes widened. Was that a giant—she slammed the cabinet. What was wrong with Maggie? Didn’t she own a frying pan? Her heart kicked up, and energy shot down her legs. She would not bolt. She could still pull this off.

“Looking for something?” Jessica asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Daisy turned to Trav. “Honey, did you put the frying pan in a different place the last time you washed the dishes?”

Trav leaped forward. “Yes. I stuck it in the oven to dry since the oven was still warm.” He fetched it from the oven and handed it to her. She never would’ve thought to look there. She was very afraid to find out what else lurked in Maggie’s cabinets.

“Thank you,” she said.

He surprised her by giving her a quick hard kiss. “You’re welcome.”

She stared at him, momentarily forgetting her grilled cheese mission.

He smiled widely. “I’m a huge distraction. Let me step out of the way.”

Jessica wagged her finger. “Oh, I think I know what’s going on here.”

“You do?” Daisy asked.

Trav stood, frozen in place.

“Your Darling Husband is the secret chef around here, isn’t he? That’s why you don’t know where things are.”

“He is,” Daisy agreed immediately. “He helps out a lot. It just makes me love him more.”

“Thank you.” Trav kissed her hair. Thank goodness he didn’t kiss her on the lips again. It left her mind a complete blank. “But the grilled cheese is her specialty. I’ll leave her to it.”

He made a fast exit.

“You have him trained well,” Jessica said with a sly wink for the cameras.

“No training needed when you have a solid marriage based on mutual respect,” Daisy said, surprising even herself with that statement. She was starting to believe she was in some perfectly dreamy marriage.
Lie long enough and it starts to feel like the truth
. Trav played the part so well. Was this what marriage to Trav would be like? She had to admit it was kind of wonderful. It almost made her forget the man who stood silently off-camera bringing her troubled past front and center. Almost.

She focused on the task at hand and cooked up a very respectable grilled cheese on store-bought whole wheat bread.

Jessica only ate one bite.

Chapter Nine

Trav watched off-camera as the interview continued. Daisy was telling Jessica how she enjoyed making every day special, like a holiday. People actually believed this shit? They sat at Gran’s dining room table drinking tea, a plate of Milano cookies untouched in front of them. He’d done his part playing the adoring husband. They’d just finished the longest lunch of his life while the cameras rolled. He’d kept busy feeding Bryce chicken and rice while Jessica kept asking Daisy questions about “small-town life.” Daisy grew up in Clover Park, but she’d lived in the city for years and traveled a lot too. He knew she’d lived in Israel for a couple of years and spent a summer in Costa Rica. Daisy said none of this, instead letting Jessica paint her as just a small-town girl.

If she wanted to come off that way, fine. But that guy Max…not cool. Max watched Daisy the whole time, looking like a lovesick cow.
Bastard
. Didn’t the fact that Daisy was married
with a kid
register? Trav didn’t know exactly what went down between Daisy and Max, but from Daisy’s reaction to seeing him today, he knew Max must have done something really bad. Something that fifteen years later could still shake Daisy up. He couldn’t wait to kick the asshole to the curb.

“Cut,” Max said.

Jessica raised an eyebrow and turned to Max. “What’s the problem?”

“Fifteen-minute break,” Max said, rotating his hand in a gesture to the crew to break. “Daisy looks like she’s getting tired.”

“Seriously?” Jessica demanded. “She’s fine. Aren’t you fine?”

Daisy stood. “I would like to stretch my legs a bit and check on Bryce.”

“Fine,” Jessica said with a fake smile that reminded him of a kid getting underwear for a birthday present. She stood and hissed something at Max that Trav didn’t catch before she walked like she had a pole up her ass from the room.

Daisy stretched her arms over her head, arching her back. Damn, she was so hot.

“You okay, Daze?” Trav and Max asked at the same time.

Trav glared at Max. The man was slippery. He didn’t trust him one inch.

Daisy looked only at Trav, which suited him just fine. “I’m just going to take a little walk.”

“You can’t,” Trav and Max said at the same time. They stared at each other.

“Go on,” Max said. “You’re the husband.”

“Damn right,” Trav said. “Daze, it’s starting to flurry. The wind is picking up, and it promises to be a world-class blizzard. You should stay indoors.”

Daisy took a step toward the door, plainly ignoring him.

“It could mess up your hair and makeup,” Max said. “We’d have to redo it, and that would put us behind schedule.”

That got her attention.

“Okay,” Daisy said. “I’ll just check on Bryce, then.” She left.

Max watched her go. “You’re a lucky man. Hold onto that one.”

“I plan to,” Trav said with enough bite to make his position clear. “This storm is gonna be bad. If you don’t hightail it back to the city, you could get stuck on the road.”

Max lifted one shoulder up and down. “We can always take the train. Anyway, I know Jessica, and she likes to really dig deep with her interviews. Get to know the person.”

“She’s been digging deep for more than two hours already. What’s there to know? She’s a
wife
and mother living the small-town life, making a good home for her family.”

“That she is,” Max said quietly. “We’ll be out of your hair soon. Just a little longer.”

“I get the feeling you had something to do with getting Daisy on
Mornings with Jessica
,” Trav said. “What do you want from her?”

“Nothing,” Max said quickly. “Daisy’s blog caught our attention just like any newsworthy item.”

Trav narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t see it in the news.”

Max’s eyes darted to the side. “We watch trends. Excuse me. I have to check in with the office.”

Trav lifted a hand in the air. “Please do.”

Max headed off to the kitchen. Trav decided to go upstairs to see Bryce. He met Daisy already on her way down.

“Your grandmother got him to nap,” she said.

“That explains the quiet.” He turned and followed her to the kitchen.

Max sat at Gran’s table, staring at his cell.

Daisy helped herself to some water and looked out the window at the snow, which was starting to stick now. No way was he leaving the two of them in here alone. He wouldn’t let Max hurt her again. He joined her at the window and slipped an arm around her waist. She elbowed him.
Dammit
. He was trying to play the perfect husband.

Max spoke up. “You’ve made a nice life for yourself here, Daze. I envy you.”

Daisy turned in surprise. Trav nodded.
She does have a nice life, not that it’s any of your concern, ex-husband
.

“Don’t envy me,” Daisy said. “I’m living a life no different than millions of women. Do you have a family of your own?”

Max shook his head. “Never met that special someone. But you two. Wow. You look good on camera together.”

“We are a good match,” Trav said. “Daisy and I knew each other as kids. Back then—”

Gran walked in and pulled a bottle of milk from the fridge and popped it in the microwave. “Bryce woke up a little fussy. I think some milk will settle him right down.”

“Should I go up there?” Daisy asked.

“No need,” Gran said. “I’ve got this. You just keep on being the fabulous TV star.”

WAAAHH!!!!

“I should go,” Daisy said.

“I’ve got it,” Trav said. “Finish the interview.” He gave Max a dark look. “Wrap things up before the snow gets worse out there.”

“It’s fine,” Daisy said. “I’ll go.”

WAAAHHH!!!

Jessica appeared in the kitchen. “Can someone quiet down the noise from upstairs?”

Daisy’s mouth formed a straight line. “It’s not
noise
, it’s a baby.”

“Relax, you two,” Gran said, pulling the bottle from the microwave. “I can handle the boy.”

“Good,” Jessica said. “Max, let’s get the crew and get back to work.”

“I’ll take him,” Trav said. He knew he could get Bryce calmed down quickly. Daisy could go back to her interview, and then Max and all of the
Mornings with Jessica
people could get the hell out of town.

“He’ll calm down faster with me,” Daisy said, turning to go.

“What do you think I do when it’s my day to have him?” Trav asked in pure exasperation.

Daisy stilled.

“
Your
day?” Jessica asked. She exchanged a look with Max. “Are you two separated?”

Shit
.

“Of course not,” Daisy said.

Trav rallied. “I’m talking about when I have him for daddy-son day so Mom here can relax.”

Daisy smiled and nodded.

WAAAHHH!

“Coming, Bryce!” Trav hollered. He grabbed the bottle. Max gave him a mock salute as Trav walked by that made him want to slap his pretty-boy face. Then he jogged up the stairs to quiet the bellowing little man.

~ ~ ~

“Can we please continue?” Jessica asked, gesturing for them to get out of the kitchen and back to the dining room, where the cameras were set up.

Daisy twisted her wedding band around her finger. She was ready to end the interview—she could only hope to keep up the charade of perfect wife and mother for so long. And she wanted Max out of this house.

“We’ll wait for Trav and Bryce to get back,” Max said.

“I can work on Daisy in the meantime,” Jessica said, her lips forming a pout.

“Take five, Jess,” Max said.

Jessica’s ice-blue eyes flashed at him. “Five minutes. No more. I didn’t come all the way to this podunk town just to sit around waiting on other people.”

She stormed off.

“I don’t know where she thinks she’s going,” Maggie commented, watching Jessica go. She turned to Daisy. “How’s it going? I know Jessica can get some spicy confessions out of her guests. I still remember when Justine Baxter admitted she used to be a man. What a shocker!”

Daisy cringed.

“That was a big show for us,” Max said.

“But good for Justine, I say.” Maggie patted Daisy’s shoulder. “Don’t you be like that.” She glanced at Max. “Don’t worry, Daisy’s all woman.”

Daisy sputtered, unable to think of a suitable response to Maggie’s assurance that she was indeed a woman.

“I never doubted,” Max said with a huge smile.

Maggie crossed to the breadbox. “Now what happened here?” She righted the Pez dispensers and pulled out two
KISS
members—the Demon and the Starchild. “We’re fans,” Maggie explained. “Of both the band and the candy. I’ll be upstairs. Jorge’s got on a show about the Greek Islands. Might be our next trip!”

Silence fell after Maggie’s departure, and Daisy felt the kitchen shrink around her as Max crossed the room to her side. It was just the two of them for the first time. They had nothing to say to each other. Why couldn’t he look horribly lonely and aged? Instead age had only sharpened his appeal. He’d grown into his lanky six-foot frame and filled out with muscle that was clearly defined through his black mock turtleneck and jeans.

Why are you here?
The question throbbed over and over in her mind. He must know she’d moved on. She had a son, an almost husband. Even if it wasn’t official with Trav, even if Trav didn’t love her, Max didn’t know that.

“I missed you,” Max said in the deep, husky voice that used to make her go damp just from the sound. Of course she’d been a horny eighteen-year-old the last time she’d heard it. Today, nothing.

“It’s been a long time.” She busied herself refilling her glass.

He rested his arm on the counter, barely grazing her hip. “It’s no accident that I’m here.”

Yeah, I’m getting that.

“I saw your blog and convinced Jessica that you’d be a boost to the show.”

She turned to him. “You read my blog?”

He flushed. “I Googled you. Wanted to see what you were up to. Then I couldn’t stop reading.” He smiled, showing some laugh lines around his eyes.

Good, he has wrinkles.

“You’re very entertaining. When I saw it rise in popularity, I knew we had to have you on the show.” His voice lowered back to that scraping, rough register. “Plus I’d get an excuse to see you again.”