Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (13 page)

“
Shamrock and, hell, almost all of Vegas. Yes, yes, I know him.” She blinked, thrilled, unable to hide her excitement. She mentioned once to Danielle that Mr. Keane was the sexiest bachelor moving on two legs while watching some special on the travel show. Danielle loved the Travel Channel. She gushed, Danielle just sat there quietly staring at Aiden Keane. Why that memory chose to surface at that very moment confounded her.

Donovan removed his hat and sat it on the table. “He wants to make you an offer. One that will make you quite wealthy and undoubtedly change your life.”

“
Me? You mean Jahi. Right?”

Donovan smirked, gave the person at the door a nod, and then fixed his eyes back on her. “No, Mrs. Andrews. I mean you.”

The door opened and Clara's gaze finally moved from the attorney to the other side of the room. Aiden Keane himself walked in. Tall, darkly dressed, his green eyes were compelling from across the room. He gave her a sly smile, walking toward the conference table with two of his security men lingering behind.

“
Clara Andrews. At last we meet.”

****

“
Amy is a very bright little girl, Mrs. Locke. Very bright and she’s more advanced than the other four year-olds.”

Daisy watched Amy holding her thick crayon, tracing the lines on her paper. She couldn’t help but smile. She was so proud of her. School was never Daisy’s strong suit, but Amy flourished under learning new things. “Thank you. She loves it here.”

The teacher had kind blue eyes. They always seemed to twinkle when she spoke. An older woman with graying temples, she formed her words in a soft whisper of a voice. Very soothing. Daisy felt comfortable with entrusting Amy under her care. That wasn’t easy for her. She’d rather have Amy with her 24/7.

The teacher lightly touched her elbow. “I would like to talk to you. About… well… over here please.”

Daisy followed her. They stepped over to her desk, out of the earshot of the children. She looked back to Amy, wondering what picture she’d have on her refrigerator after this evening.

“
Ms. Locke?”

“
Yes?”

“
I’m not certain. I don’t mean to pry, but Mr. Locke, well is he in Amy's life?”

Daisy paled.

The teacher quickly blushed. “Please, I make no judgments. I called you because you missed Parent’s Day here last week.”

“
I'm so sorry. I got my days crossed. I would never miss her day on purpose.”

“
It’s okay. It happens.” Mrs. Brooks waved it off.

“
Is something wrong?”

Mrs. Brooks looked to Amy then back to her. “Several kids had a single parent arrive. Mothers and fathers mostly, and well several didn’t… so we kind of mixed them up so the children could all be included. You understand?”

Daisy felt like an ass. She never missed Amy’s important dates. But she was so distracted with her father’s death that it got past her.

“
Mrs. Locke, Amy seemed more fascinated with the dads.”

“
Fascinated how?”

The teacher smiled. “Amy was very attentive to the other kid’s fathers. A little too clingy. She actually became upset if she didn’t receive equal attention from one parent in particular. Several times I had to instruct her back to her seat. Bryan’s father was very kind. He spent time with Amy too, and by the end of the class she asked to call him daddy.”

Daisy felt sick. She looked away. Amy asked her repeatedly about mommies and daddies, but she never thought her daughter suffered because of it. “I understand,” she said weakly.

“
She’s a bright young girl. She was fascinated by the fathers and since then, well I called you to come out today because she’s been telling the class of her father coming to her birthday. It seems very important to her. I’ve had to discipline her during nap time twice for it. I just thought you should be aware. It may be nothing but—”

“
Thank you, Mrs. Brooks. I understand. She’s four and curious. I’ll talk to her.”

Daisy looked to Amy and frowned. Her daughter rose from the tiny desk and ran over with her picture. “Look, mommy. See?”

She stooped and observed the coloring, mostly done within the lines. “Very good. It’s beautiful, baby.”

“
I know it.” Amy smiled, then turned in her little plaid schoolgirl uniform, bouncing back to the worktable. Daisy sighed. So now she had to have the daddy talk? She wasn’t looking forward to it.

****

Daisy looked up from her papers; Clara entered silently.

“
Hey, you back already?”

“
Ah, yea.”

“
How’d it go?”

“
Fine, fine, um… they want to meet.”

“
They?”

“
The investors. They want to meet with um, you.” Clara walked over to the office chair and sat. She fixed her skirt nervously. Daisy observed her. “Who are these investors?”

“
They’re through a company called McBride Associates.” Clara ran her hand back through her hair. Daisy wasn’t sure, but she thought her friend’s hand had a slight tremble to it. Clara flashed a smile. “They know that we’re partners. I can’t go any further. In fact, they want you to bring your… I mean our attorney. They want to do it in Tucson. Tomorrow.”

“
Tomorrow?”

“
Yea, we can get a flight out in the morning and be back before Amy gets out of school,” she smiled.

“
Who are they again?”

Daisy turned to the computer; she moved the mouse and clicked on her browser to do a Google search.

Clara leapt to her feet. “Don’t!”

Daisy blinked. Shocked, she moved her hand from the keys. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

“
Don’t bother,” Clara smiled. “It’s already taken care of. Jeffery has all their information and he will be putting it together for you to review while we, um, fly out. But here’s the news. Are you ready?”

Daisy nodded.

“
They will give us twenty percent off the asking price. They just want to do an investment so that their clientele have exclusive access to Serenity. They’re big fans of yours… I mean Jahi. Big fans. This is good, Danielle. Really good. Let’s go meet with them and…”

“
Whoa… slow down,” Daisy laughed. “You had me at twenty percent off.”

Clara let go a deep sigh. Daisy laughed, seeing her suspicions were right. Her friend was terrified. She was terrified that Daisy would shoot down the meeting idea. She was a little excited about expanding Jahi. Clara didn’t have anything to worry about.

“
You did it. Check you out, Clara!” Daisy rose from her chair. She walked around her desk grinning. “I’m proud of you, girl.”

“
Thanks,” Clara said, her smile dimming. Daisy hugged her. Clara returned the hug weakly. She let her go and laughed. “How about you come to my house tonight so I can cook dinner for you and Amy. You can tell me all about it. Oh and get this. I have to have the ‘daddy’ talk with Amy now. I’m not looking forward to it.”

“
Who is her daddy?” Clara blurted.

“
I beg your pardon?” Daisy turned.

“
Sorry, that didn’t come out right. I just never hear you speak of Amy’s father.”

“
That’s because he doesn’t exist. I’m mommy and daddy all in one.” Daisy winked. “You coming for dinner?”

“
Ah, sorry, can’t. Need to get home and feed the trash and take out the cat.”

Daisy frowned.

“
I mean feed the cat and take out the trash. You know, um…so I will get the tickets.” She began to back away. "We leave at seven in the morning. I’ll pick you up. It’s all arranged. So no worries. Okay? I’ll go check on everything… talk to you… um… soon.”

Daisy couldn’t get a word in. Clara was out the door in a flash. She stood there curious for a moment. Her eyes narrowed. Clara was so excited about Serenity it had her all buggy. Daisy could remember when she first opened the doors to Jahi. She was a wreck, afraid the police would show up any minute with her using a fake social security number and name. Afraid of many things.

“
McBride Associates, huh?” she plopped back down behind her desk and scooted to the computer. She typed in the name. It came up with a website. Daisy frowned to see it as a law firm. She moved the mouse to click through the site when her phone rang.

She answered, “Hello?”

“
Signora Locke, it is Magdalena. Amy wants to talk to you.”

“
Okay.” Daisy turned from her computer smiling.

“
Mommy?”

“
Hi sweetie,” said Daisy.

“
I don’t feel good.”

“
What’s the matter?”

“
Dunno.”

“
Okay, well mommy is on her way.”

“
Can you bring some ice cream?”

Daisy rolled her eyes and smiled. “I thought you didn’t feel good?”

“
Ice cream will make me feel better.”

“
What kind?”

“
Strawberry.”

“
Yes, I got it. Now let me speak to Magdalena.”

“
Signora?”

“
How is she?”

“
Amy’s fine. She misses mommy.”

“
Okay, I’m on my way.”

Daisy hung up. She gathered her things and clicked off her computer. The day was done anyway. And she couldn’t concentrate on business right now. Her little girl’s need for a father was wreaking havoc on her nerves. She decided to go home and face it, talk to Amy, and set her innocent mind at ease the best way she could. Picking up her briefcase, she headed out, not giving McBride Associates any further thought.

****

“
The latest.” Donovan hung up the phone. “Appears there’s an Amy Locke that is associated with Daisy too.”

Aiden’s brow lifted. “Amy Locke? Who is she?”

“
Not sure. The investigator says that the company has Amy down as a dependent of Daisy’s.”

“
Could be another cover and something she’s using if she wants to escape… I mean get away.”

Aiden narrowed his eyes. “What else?”

"It takes time. It’s only been 48 hours. I promise you before the meeting in the morning with Daisy you’ll have all the facts.”

“
And Clara Andrews?”

Donovan sighed. “Guess you’re right, friend. Everyone has a price.”

Aiden smirked. “Yes they do.”

****

“
Nina, I thought I asked you to have Mr. Conyers sent to radiology!” Dr. Johannes snapped. Nina didn’t bother to look up. She came to work to keep her mind off Pete. Dr. Johannes and his crap was just what she needed.

“
Doctor, I’ve asked you not to harass my nurses,” Bea said, stepping behind him. Nina turned away as the two ripped into each other. She walked out from behind the nurse’s station and headed to Mrs. Sheffield’s room. The older woman was always a treat to talk to. Halfway there, she stopped. The doors of the elevator at the end of the hall parted and Pete stepped out. Nina stared at him. The last person she imagined to see was him. He pushed his hands in his front pockets and stared at her for a second, then approached her.

“
Nina, can we talk?”

She nodded and pointed to an empty patient’s room. Her heart beat madly in her chest, rapid fire. She felt like she’d go into cardiac arrest if she didn’t get it under control. When she turned, she watched with dread as he closed the door.

“
How did you know I was here?”

He looked at her. “Went to the apartment. I figured you’d might come in.”

“
What do you want?”