Sway (21 page)

him grab his coat, hat and gloves and

walk out her door.

Then she let the tears come.

Mary walked in without knocking to

find her huddled in her bed, watching

Steel Magnolias
with a big box of

tissues and the nearly empty Ben &

Jerry’s pint clutched in her hand.

“Oh my god. I’ve never seen you

eat ice cream for a man before. And

Steel

Magnolias
?

I’m

crying

already.” Mary shook her head. “I

brought carbs. But you are getting out

of bed and we’ll go to Jules’s place.

Gillian will meet us there with a

fistful of non-weepers to watch. And

then we’re going out.”

“I am not company ready. Or

going-out ready, for that matter.”

Mary stomped over, ripped the

blankets off and glared. “This has

gone on long enough, Daze. We gave

you a week. You’re done. He’s not

worth this. Snap out of it.”

Cold now, she rolled from bed and

shuffled to her room to find

something to wear.

“Shower first,” Mary called out.

A very good idea given her current

state of messy tears and clogged-up

nose.

When they arrived at Jules’s

Gillian was already there. “You look

like shit.” Jules hugged her tight.

“You must really dig this guy to be

this upset. I’m sorry. Gillian and I are

thinking of heading into Seattle to

kick his balls.”

Daisy laughed for the first time in

a week.

“I’ll get over it. Right now I don’t

know how, but I know I will.”

Gillian took her hands. “There’s

our girl. Adrian says he knows a ton

of hot single dudes if you want to be

fixed up.”

“I found her with a nearly empty

carton of Chunky Monkey. She was

w atchi ng
Steel Magnolias
.” Mary

shook her head. “That totally calls

for some ball kicking.”

They all nodded and she felt

better. “It’ll hurt awhile, right? And

then it will hurt less every day and

then I’ll be over it.”

“Exactly. Now, I say we skip this

movie stuff and we all go shopping

and then to dinner and drinks.”

Gillian kissed Daisy’s cheek. “He’s

a total idiot to not love you right

back. A right prat.”

So she allowed them to dress her

up. She did her hair, a braid wrapped

at her crown and put on makeup for

the first time in a week.

“You look fabulous.” Mary hugged

her and they were all off for a day

out.

“Mind telling me just exactly why

you’re

being

such

a

grumpy

asshole?” Jonah asked him in an

undertone as they milled around a

cocktail party he allowed his mother

to fix him up for.

“I’m not being a grumpy asshole.”

Jonah rolled his eyes. “Not that

Carrie doesn’t appreciate all the

girly-type presents you’ve sent over

the last week, but maybe you should

tell me why you’re not giving

presents to Daisy and why you’re

here with Dyan when you clearly

don’t have a single romantic or

sexual tingle for her.”

“She’s a beautiful woman; why

wouldn’t I be here with her?”

“Um,

because

you

have

a

girlfriend already.”

“We broke up.”

“I figured that out when you

showed up to this event with Dyan

and not Daisy. What’d you do?”

“Why do you assume I did it?”

His brother snorted. “I don’t

question gravity either. It just is.”

“She wanted more than I could

give.” He shrugged.

Dyan made her way back over,

sliding her arm through his. But it

wasn’t the way Daisy did it. When

Daisy did it, she only saw him, let

him lead and fit him perfectly. This

woman wanted everyone in the room

to see she was with him. She wanted

everyone else to see him, though she

didn’t necessarily see him at all.

Jonah made small talk but when he

caught sight of his date, his daughter

who looked lovely and sweet as her

grandfather escorted her through the

crowd, Jonah put his glass on a

passing tray and said his good-byes.

Dyan spoke and he nodded, only

halfway hearing what she was saying.

He hadn’t laughed once the entire

evening. Daisy would have not only

made him laugh, but she’d have made

a few friends here. Dyan waited for

people to come to them.

And he was sure his mother

approved.

“I’m sorry, Dyan, but I’m not

feeling very well. Can we say our

good-byes and I’ll take you home?”

“You could stay over if you like.

You can rest of course.”

The memory of Daisy telling him

she didn’t fuck on the first date hit

him with so much force he physically

longed for her.

He’d move on. He had to of

course. But he didn’t fuck on the first

date and he was done fucking anyone

he didn’t care about.

“I appreciate your very fine offer,

but I’m afraid I’d be horrible

company.”

She shrugged. “My mother is here,

I can get a ride home from her. Give

me a call this week and let me know

how you’re feeling.” She kissed his

cheek. She’d been aiming for his lips

but he turned his head.

And he went home.

Two weeks passed and it hadn’t

stopped hurting. Daisy thought the

whole concept was utter balls. She

wasn’t supposed to be thinking of

him all the time anymore.

She was oh-so-lucky enough to see

a picture of him in the paper at some

swanky affair. In a tux no less. Christ,

how much was she supposed to take

anyway?

Still, she shoved it all into her

work. May as well use it, her

grandmother had said. So she’d been

working every night past midnight

and had completed two new pieces.

“That’s some dark shit right there.”

Mary looked the largest over. A

painting in dark blues and purples.

“I’m bruised. It sort of fits,” she

mumbled as she held two different

frame pieces up against it. “This one

I think I want to put in the show. I

sent Mark a picture of it and he’s

excited. At least there’s something.”

“I’m heading over to Tart. Come

with me. Jules will be there and she

and I both love your ideas.”

“All right.” She cleaned up and

headed out.

“Thank God for you guys. I’d be

wallowing in a pint of ice cream

right now if I didn’t have you.”

Jules put a mug of tea in front of

her. “Have some tea. He doesn’t

deserve your ice cream tears, baby.”

“He totally doesn’t.”

“So you know what I was

thinking?” Jules sat across from them,

Mary on the end of the little table.

Tart was closed for the night so they

had the place to themselves.

“Do tell.”

“If this place is going to be Mary’s

home base as well as mine and

there’ll be people in here in the

evenings as well as the daytime, I

need to spiff it up. Adult it up, I

guess. So, I think we need art.” Jules

looked at Daisy. “And you’re my

connection.”

“You want me to see what I can

find? I can see if local artists want to

have stuff up here? It can be on

display for a certain period of time

or until it gets sold. Good idea.”

“No! I want
your
art on the walls.

Look, I know the gallery is far off the

beaten path. I get a lot of foot traffic

so why not set up part of Tart as your

gallery? Hell, I’ve got five times

your current space.”

“So this place could be Delicious

central?” Mary grinned. “I love that.”

“Tart makes a decent profit. But if

we combined the space we would all

benefit. If I can wrest some of those

art people who sit and slug back

coffee up the street, my business will

improve and you’ll have customers in

here looking at your stuff.”

“We decided to do a minimal

lunch like you suggested.” Mary

perked up. “Something super easy

and limited, we don’t need a full

menu. But if we start small with some

bites and have them finish with tarts

or pastry? And seduce them with

your art? Unstoppable. And I think

we should continue to call this place

Tart. She thought we should change

it.”

“Oh don’t! Tart is a fabulous

name. It’s fun and sexy and flirty.”

They grinned and continued to plan

and for the first time in two weeks

her chest didn’t hurt.

He didn’t want to get up. So he

didn’t, calling in sick and trying to go

back to sleep. Which of course was

interrupted by his brother pulling the

bedding off him an hour later and

shaking him, hard.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He

tried to grab the blankets back but

Jonah had pulled them totally from

the bed.

“This is the third time you’ve

called in sick since you and Daisy

broke up. So you’re just going to let

everything
go to shit? Really?”

“You burst into my house to wake

me up and yell at me? Fuck off,

Jonah. Go home. It’s none of your

business if I want to take a personal

day. I have enough of them.”

“Your work is suffering. Your

writing is shit. Your attitude is shit.

Your house is a pit and for what? A

woman?”

“Go. Home.”

“No. What’s your damage, Levi?

Fix this thing with her. You’re a

miserable prick without her.”

“She’s

a

twenty-four-year-old

pinup, Lindy-Hopping artist with

tattoos. Oh and she’s built like a

brick shit house. I can totally see her

at fund-raisers with Mother at her

side. Do you know who her best

friend is engaged to?”

“Do tell.” Jonah tossed himself in

a nearby chair.

“Adrian Brown. Adrian Brown’s

teenage son builds snowmen in her

yard. Her friends are as funky as she

is.”

“So what? I mean, I like Adrian

Brown’s music. Why is her knowing

him a bad thing? Did she fuck him?”

“What? No, he’s engaged to

Daisy’s friend. Daisy wouldn’t ever

do that. I just mean she knows rock

stars. On top of everything else, she

knows rock stars.”

“Okay another thing in her favor.

Does she have a drinking problem?

Does she bang the neighbors while

you’re at work? Because that’s what

you had before. Though she looked

pretty on your arm at parties. Is that

all you want? So Daisy’s not that.

Yo u
had
a sad, mixed-up girl who

drank because she had no idea who

she was otherwise. And that worked

out well, yes?”

“Yes and I knew her at twenty-

four! Only I was twenty-six.”

“And she was a young twenty-four.

Kelsey was spoiled. Petty. Fluffy.

She didn’t think about anything

difficult or sad and she treated you

like shit.” Jonah straightened his

cuffs. “You’re missing the point and I

can’t tell if it’s deliberate or not.

This Daisy of yours is
not
a young

twenty-four. She’s got an emerging

career with her art. She runs a gallery

with her grandmother. By the way I

own three of her grandmother’s

paintings so again, knowing her has

perks, right? You said she works

with her friends and does marketing

too?”

“Why won’t you go away?”

“Manners. Anyway, so to cap,

she’s

a

beautiful,

intelligent,

ambitious, successful, sexy woman.

And you broke up with her why?”

Levi put the pillow over his head.

“You should just tell me. You can

never hold out longer than I can.

Forty years you’ve been my brother

so you know this is fact. So tell me

and once we’ve figured out a way

through it, I’ll take you to breakfast.”

The only person who could ever