Falling for Fitz (23 page)

The certainty she felt, combined with
hearing his words in her head, made her start crying all over
again, and she thought about asking the cab to turn around and go
back to his apartment, but decided against it. It was like being
drunk when they were together, and he probably needed a few hours
of time for rational thought as much as she did. They could both do
a little thinking about what they really wanted and then talk… talk
when? Tonight. Of course. She’d make sure he was coming to Family
Dinner tonight and they could talk afterwards.

For Daisy’s part? With every passing
moment, she was more sure: She wanted to move in with him. She
wanted to have his baby. She wanted to marry him and have a couple
more. She never wanted to sleep another night without him beside
her, or ever wake up away from his arms again as long as she
lived.

She took her phone out again,
disappointed that he hadn’t responded yet, and opened another text
box.

I’m sorry I left. I’ll be
at dinner tonight. See you there? I love you.

Then she put her phone back in her bag
and rested her head on the window as the cab drove the rest of the
way to her aunt and uncle’s house.

***

Fitz wasn’t the sort of person to mope
around his apartment, but he indulged in a little moping after
Daisy stormed out. He made himself coffee and sat on the couch
where they’d lain spooned together, happy and carefree, the night
before as she casted the English Brothers movie. He stood in the
doorway of his bedroom smelling her scent everywhere. He finally
picked up his clothes off the floor, surprised when his phone
tumbled out of the back pocket of his jeans, battery dead. He
plugged it in and decided to take a shower, where he did his best
thinking.

He meant every word he’d said. He
loved her. He loved their baby, if one was growing inside of her
right now. Just the thought made him blink furiously, grateful none
of his brothers were around to call him a pussy for crying. That he
and Daisy could be parents in nine months would be like a miracle,
an answer to prayer, a dream, their second chance. Especially if
she was his wife by then, too.

What tortured him the most was the
words “You need to let me go,” which replayed in an endless loop in
his head.

She had, for all intents and purposes,
said the same thing so many years ago when he told her that he
still wanted to marry her. Well, actually that time she’d thrown a
ring at his head and told him never, ever to contact her again… but
it felt terrifyingly similar, and he rubbed his burning eyes as hot
water sluiced down his back. After finally having her back in his
life, he couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Whatever it
takes.

That’s what he’d promised
and her, and her words came back to him:
That’s how this works, Fitz. We settle the past to clear a
path to the future.

This was his chance to change the
past. This time, he wouldn’t sit back and be supportive as she
scraped through this alone, making decisions on her own. He loved
her. He loved that she might be pregnant with his child. She’d
interrupted him before he could tell her that he’d wanted to marry
her since he was twenty, not out of duty of obligation, but because
that’s how long he’d been in love with her.

He could change the past. He could. He
would.

And it might take some time, but
eventually she’d see that he wasn’t going anywhere and she wasn’t
alone. He loved her and he was never letting her go. One day, she’d
believe that and when she did, they could move forward
again.

He stepped out of the shower and while
he was toweling off, he heard the light ping of his phone. Rushing
into his bedroom, he grabbed it, checking out the two new texts.
And his heart, which had felt so worried and grieved a few moments
before, unclenched in a wave of relief.

He looked at the clock on the phone
before setting it back down on the table to continue charging. It
was almost ten o’clock.

Fitz had a few important things to do
before tonight.

***

Daisy checked her phone frequently as
the day wore on, but there were no messages from Fitz. And aside
from feeling lonesome for him after spending every moment together
since Friday night, she started to worry that one, she may have
lost him by running away, or two, he may have taken her so
literally, so seriously, that he was halfway to Timbuktu. She
debated sending a message detailing the exact way she’d meant the
words “I need you to let me go”—in that she needed to get out of
his apartment and think for a while, not break-up—but she had also
said “I love you” twice via text. He probably needed his space now
as much as she had needed hers this morning, and she had no right
to deprive him of it.

So she passed the day feeling
miserable, watching the minutes tick by. By one o’clock she
couldn’t stand the silence and drove into Haverford to visit her
Dad, who ended up taking her out for lunch at the Haverford Diner.
They stopped by her new shop, and he told her how proud he
was.

“
Daisy-doo,” he said,
admiring her new pink paint, “the bakery’s going to be just great.
But if you don’t mind my saying, you’re not yourself today. Want to
talk to your old Dad?”

Daisy had launched herself at her
father, crying on his shoulder as he rubbed her back, finally
maneuvering them both to the floor where they sat with his arm
around her.

“
Oh, Dad. I’m in love with
Fitz English.”

“
Well, that’s old
news.”

“
What do you
mean?”

Her father shrugged. “He came to the
hospital when you had that accident all those years ago. Stormed
into your room while you were still out of it, told me he was your
fiancé, and he wasn’t leaving.”

“
He was. My
fiancé.”

“
And then he wasn’t.” Her
father looked her straight in the eyes. “I don’t know the details,
and I don’t want to, Daisy. But, I know something happened between
you two kids, and it’s happening all over again now.”

Her father had no idea how alarmingly
exact his words were. He continued, oblivious to her own musings,
pulling her against his bulky side.

“
I figure some people are
just meant to be together, poof. Just, poof! It happens. It’s
right. You can fight it, and you can’t escape it. Wasn’t ever that
way for me and your mother. I’d known her since she wore diapers,
and we still weren’t right for each other. Your Uncle Felix sees a
pretty girl painting in a garden outside of Paris and poof! Love
story of the century. He writes to me two weeks later—he’s married
to Susannah. They been together for what?” He scratched his jaw,
thinking. “Going on forty years now. And I think it’s got to be
like that for you and Fitz English, too.”

“
I guess it is,
Dad.”

“
You don’t ‘guess,’ honey.
You know.” He looked down at her. “It’s written all over your
face.”

“
I want to marry
him.”

“
Well, nine years is an
awfully long time to decide to say ‘yes,’ but I have a feeling Fitz
has been waiting for you, Daisy. Best not make him wait much more,
eh?”

“
Yeah,” she said, grinning
at her Dad while her eyes swam.

Her father checked his watch. “We got
an hour until the family dinner. Best head back to Felix and
Susannah’s place and dry those eyes.”

They stood up and Daisy’s father
clasped her in a big hug. “Some people are just meant to be
together, Daisy. Wasn’t anything you could do. Plus, I never liked
that dentist fellow anyhow.”

If Mr. Edwards was confused as to why
his daughter’s head whipped back in shock, followed by a burst of
surprised laughter, he was smart enough not to ask.

***

An hour later, Daisy walked
up the driveway beside her father, aunt, and uncle, desperately
hoping to see Fitz’s silver car in the driveway and her heart
dropped when she didn’t.
Maybe he’s just
running late
, she told herself, checking
her phone for messages and trying not to lose hope.

When she’d gotten home from
seeing her Dad, she’d checked her phone to find one message from
Fitz which read, simply:
Okay
.

What did that mean? Okay, I’ll let you
go? Okay, I’ll see you at dinner? Okay, I love you too? Okay,
everything’s going to be okay? She fidgeted with the zipper on her
jacket. She was wearing skinny jeans, a white buttoned-down shirt
and a tailored, black, cropped boiled wool jacket with a zipper and
velvet collar. She didn’t want to overdress, but in case Fitz
showed up, she wanted to look nice.

Eleanora greeted them at the door,
ushering them into the massive front hall of Haverford Park. A
ballroom-sized marble floor was dominated by a grand staircase that
split into left and right stairs on a half-story landing. Daisy
flashed back to the first time she’d ever been inside Haverford
Park. Fitz and Alex had invited her and Emily over for a movie. She
didn’t realize they were going to watch a first-run movie
downstairs in the English family movie theater, complete with
swivel chairs and a popcorn machine. Her jaw had dropped when she
finally understood the sort of stratospheric wealth of the boys who
had become her summer friends.

“
Why, Daisy,” said
Eleanora, smiling approvingly at her jacket. “How lovely to see you
again.”
“I hope I’m not imposing, Mrs. English.”

Eleanora wrapped Daisy in her Annick
Goutal embrace and Daisy breathed deeply, telling her nose to
memorize the smell of fifteen-hundred-dollar perfume.

“
Not at all, dear.” She
glanced at Felix, Susannah, and Daisy’s father, who lingered
awkwardly behind. “You’re family. All of you.”

Daisy followed her family and Eleanora
into the study where Emily and Barrett sat side by side on the
couch chatting with Tom English, and she was surprised to see Alex,
Stratton, and Weston all in attendance.

Alex, who Daisy hadn’t seen at the
benefit last Friday, approached her immediately. “Hello,
gorgeous!”

Daisy beamed at the charming Casanova,
all but forgetting what Fitz had told her last night about him
spying on them, dazzled by his panty-dropping blue eyes that
twinkled with constant mischief.

“
Alex English,” she said.
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

He gave her a warm hug, but pulled
back to grin at her. “But I don’t always mean it.”

“
Hey, Daisy,” said Weston,
from behind Alex. She’d said a brief hello to Weston on Friday
night but she’d been so nervous waiting for Fitz to show up, she’d
barely noticed how much he’d changed in nine years. She was right
on casting him as Alex Pettyfer—he was brutally handsome, young and
buff, and if his older brother, Alex, didn’t watch out, Weston
would soon be giving him a run for his money with the
ladies.

“
Hey, Weston. When’s the
bar again?”

“
February,” he said with a
wink. “Why? You need a lawyer, Daring Daisy?”

She chuckled lightly at the old
nickname. “Not yet, but I’ll keep you posted.”

Stratton gave her a warm smile, and
Daisy grinned back, but now that she’d said hello to his brothers
with no sign of Fitz, her smiles were starting to feel forced.
Every English brother was here but one. The one she loved. The one
she desperately needed to see.

“
Need a drink, Miss Daisy?”
asked Tom English, passing her with a beer in each hand for her
father and uncle.

“
Uh.” She thought of her
possible condition. “No thanks, Mr. English. I’ll just have some
water.”

She watched as he gestured to a young
maid, then took a deep breath, looking around the room. Her father
was talking with Tom and Felix. Susannah was sitting beside
Stratton, who looked comfortable and relaxed as he only did with
close friends and family. Weston and Alex were in the corner,
probably trading tips about their latest conquests, and Barrett was
on the couch talking to his mother on one side, with his arm around
Emily on the other. Emily, who Daisy hadn’t noticed until now,
looked jumpy. She stared down at her knees like she was gathering
momentum to do something and just as Emily started to stand up, it
occurred to Daisy that her cousin was about to—

“
Daisy Edwards!”

The whole room went silent as Daisy
turned toward the sound of a familiar, beloved voice, calling her
name. She looked at the doorway of the room where Fitz stood with
his hands by his sides, unbearably handsome in jeans and a navy
cashmere sweater, his blond hair tousled, and his blue eyes focused
unerringly on hers.

Her heart fluttered as a lump rose in
her throat. His expression gave away nothing—he could be furious or
thoughtful, anxious or determined. He didn’t necessarily look
happy, but he didn’t look angry either. Daisy felt rooted to the
spot where she’d turned to face him from the center of the room,
her pulse speeding up as he approached her purposefully.

“
I have something to say to
you,” he said when he was about a foot away.

No one in the room said a word. Daisy
wondered if they were even breathing anymore, but she couldn’t look
around. She couldn’t look away from Fitz, who had her utterly
trapped with the intensity of his gaze.