Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (71 page)

“
Did you do something? Have you done something?”

Donovan shook his head. “I could only—” He gripped his chest. Aiden frowned. He stepped back as Donovan dropped to his knees. At first, no one moved. Donovan fell forward on his hands, wheezing and mumbling something incoherent. Then he fell over to his side on the floor, gasping for air, his face turning red as a beet.

“
Call an ambulance!” Aiden yelled at his men, dropping down. He loosened Donovan’s tie. “No! No!” he grunted, slapping his face, pounding on his chest. “Don’t you die on me you son-of-a-bitch!”

****

“
Chew, baby. Here… let me cut that for you.” Daisy took the knife and fork, cutting the pancake in smaller squares. She glanced up to see Pete staring at the ring twinkling on her finger. His eyes lifted to hers then back to his breakfast.

“
Thank you, mommy,” Amy said. She sat close to the table, trying to reach for the syrup. Daisy assisted and then returned the fork to her little girl’s hands. Amy ate, sending Pete mouthful of grins.

“
Good?”

“
Yes!” she giggled, kicking her legs. “Yours good?” she asked.

Pete stared at his cold eggs. “It’s okay. I should have gotten the happy face pancake with the whip cream.”

“
Told ya!” Amy nodded.

“
That you did.”

Daisy couldn’t help but smile at how easy things were between the two of them. She nodded for Pete to continue. Not sure if he was looking for her to take the lead.

“
Amy, do you know why I wanted to eat with you?”

“
You hungry?” Amy asked, picking up her milk and drinking.

Pete chuckled. “Yes, I guess I was. But I really just wanted to see you. I have so much fun when we’re together.”

“
Me too. Like at my party.”

Daisy sipped her coffee. She and Pete’s eyes met once more. He sat back, smiling and nodding. They spoke only briefly before leaving the house. Neither had a game plan. This was going to be hard.

“
Yes, your party was cool. I had a lot of fun.”

“
Me too.” Amy looked at her mother. “Mommy, Pete put my dollhouse together. He did it with me.”

“
That was nice of him. Thank you, Pete.”

Pete smiled. “Amy helped. She’s quite a helper.”

“
I am,” Amy nodded in agreement.

Daisy cleared her throat.

Pete started, “There’s something that we want to talk to you about.”

“
Okay.”

Just as he started stumbling through how things happen unexpectedly, she felt her hip buzz. Daisy’s eyes dropped to the cell phone sticking up out of the top of her purse. The LCD flashed Aiden’s number. The urge to answer was strong, but she resisted. Pete continued, “I’ve always wanted to meet you. To see you. It’s been really nice getting to know you, Amy, because—”

“
Because Pete is someone that mommy always wanted you to meet. Someone you always asked to meet.”

Amy looked from Pete to Daisy. “I did?”

“
Yes, baby. He and I used to be friends long time ago.”

“
Boyfriend and girlfriend. Grandma said so.”

Daisy’s mouth opened in shock. She looked at Pete. “Well, yes, he was my boyfriend. I loved him and he loved me.”

“
That was before you met daddy?” Amy asked.

Daisy stroked the back of her daughter’s head. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Aiden isn’t daddy. I’m sorry, baby, for telling you he was your daddy. He isn’t.”

“
Why not?”

“
Because I am,” Pete said. “I’m your daddy.”

“
No you’re not!”

“
Amy.”

“
No.”

“
Sweetheart.” Daisy pulled her close as Amy threatened tears. “Shh… it’s okay.”

“
Amy, listen to me. Hey, can you look at me?” Pete asked.

Her face pushed into Daisy’s breasts. She looked over at Pete, eyes brimming with tears. Pete reached across the table for her hand, but she refused. “I know it’s confusing. I understand, but I really can’t be sad. You know why?”

“
Why?” she sniffed.

“
Because I have waited a long time to meet you. I wanted so much for a daughter just like you.”

“
What about Daddy, mama? He gone?”

“
No, sweetie. He’s not gone.” Daisy looked to Pete and he looked away. “He’s going to come and talk to you too. But Pete is your daddy.”

“
So I have two daddies? Can I have two daddies?”

She looked to Pete. He bit down hard on his bottom lip. His focus flipped to Daisy’s ring then to Amy’s questioning eyes. “Yes, princess, you can have two daddies as long as I can have you,” he winked.

Amy withdrew from Daisy looking down in her plate, bottom lip hanging.

“
Amy?”

“
Yes,” she said sadly.

“
You have a lot of people that love you: a mommy, a daddy, grandma. We all love you, baby,” Daisy said.

“
I thought you and I were friends, Amy. Was I wrong?” Pete asked.

“
No, I like you too.”

"Whew!” Pete said with a big grin. “Thanks. I was worried kid. I sure would be sad if you didn’t.”

“
You would?” she asked looking up at him.

“
So very, very, very sad.”

Amy gave him a weak smile. “I like you and your freebee. I like you a lot.”

“
So can I get a hug?” Pete asked.

Amy looked over to Daisy, who eased out of the booth to let her out. Her daughter walked over to Pete, smiling. He reached for her immediately, wiping the tracks of tears from her cheeks. “I love you, Amy.”

“
I love you too, Pete,” she said, hugging his neck. Daisy smiled. She looked down at her purse, the phone ringing once more. Daisy ignored it.

****

“
Mr. Keane,” the doctor said from behind him. He slipped his cell phone in his pocket. “Yes?”

The doctor’s eyes switched between him and the darkly dressed brooding entourage that surrounded him. “I’m sorry. We weren’t able to save him.”

“
What do you mean you weren’t able to save him?” Aiden asked, his jaw clenched and chest tightening.

“
We did all we could. We weren’t able to revive him.”

Aiden stepped back. “He’s dead? You're saying Donovan’s dead?”

“
Yes sir. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

Aiden sat. The news resonated somewhere deep in his heart. He was furious with Donovan. In fact he was going to make the old man pay dearly for crossing him. Still, Donovan McBride was the only family he had. His death hit him in a place he didn’t want to go.

The doctor walked out. Every man in the room that worked for him stood in respectful silence.

“
Dead. He’s dead,” Aiden mumbled.

"No! No! Did you say he was dead?" A woman shrieked.

Aiden looked up. Walking fast, Clara Andrews hurried down the hall. Donovan's daughter was with her. Aiden wasn't sure who shared the news or how they got there so quickly. He looked on, confused, as Clara demanded answers, then held up Donovan's kid who collapsed against her.

What was she doing here? Did he know Donovan at all?

****

“
Pete, I’m sorry it went that way. I guess it’s confusing to her.”

“
All the more reason I need time with her, Daisy. I want you to bring her to me. I want her to come to Hollow Creek. The sooner the better. She needs it too.” Pete looked to the back window of his car where Amy sat. He pressed his hand to the window and she pressed hers to his. “I need some time with her.”

“
Okay. We’ll work it out. I promise.”

“
So, that ring?”

“
We’re engaged. Getting married.”

“
Yeah, I kind of figured. Congratulations.”

“
Do you mean it? After everything? Can you try to… can we try to put it behind us? For Amy.” She took his hand. “For our daughter.”

“
I’ll do anything for her. You know that.”

“
Even let her believe in two dads? That was big of you, Pete, putting her before your pride.”

“
That’s what dads do. And trust me, she will know I’m her daddy soon enough. Right now, I just want an inroad into her life.”

“
How did you get to be such a good guy?” Daisy smiled.

“
I fell in love with a really beautiful smart girl that forced me to grow up and be a man.” He pulled Daisy to him and touched her face. “We can try to put it all behind us. But I’ll never forget what we meant to each other, Daisy. What you meant to me. Never.”

Daisy put her hands on his waist. She leaned into him and pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth. “I’ll never forget either, Pete. Never.” She slipped her arms around him and embraced him.

“
I want you to be happy. Nina loves you. I can tell. You two are perfect for each other,” she said with her cheek pressed to his chest. Pete held her.

“
I do love her. I plan to go home and make sure she knows it."

“
Good.” She stepped backed, looking over to Amy. “We did good, didn’t we, Pete?”

He smiled at Amy. “We did good, Daisy.”

“
Let’s go. You have a plane to catch.”

He opened the car door for her to climb in. With a heavy heart at the thought of leaving once more, he walked around the car. Mostly, he felt the joy of a new beginning: felt it and held tight. “Yeah, time to go.”

Chapter Twenty-four

“
Everything okay?”

“
That’s strange.” She removed the phone from her ear and checked the LG display. “He’s not answering. Goes to voicemail.”

Denise leaned in, neck careening, eyes stretching, blatant in her nose dive into her sisters business. “Who you talking about…
your fiancé
?” she asked drawing out the word
fiancé
.

Daisy giggled. Her sister elbowed her, smiling.

“
Yeah. Aiden.
My boo-boo
. He blew me up at breakfast. Now I can’t reach him. Guess he’s pouting. He gets testy when he doesn’t get his required dose of Daisy ‘
lovin’
.”

“
Gurl, get over yourself.” Denise gave an eye roll but chuckled.

“
He probably ran off with some Vegas stripper or showgirl,” Sandra teased.

“
Pray he’s run off to get his life right with Christ instead,” Martha said as she walked down the aisle between the sisters. Denise and Daisy on one side, Janette and Sandra across, Martha had Amy at her side; hand held in hers they headed for the bench seats closer to the windows. The remark was caught by all. Daisy felt the appropriate sting. She gave her mother an impatient frown.

Martha settled into a row facing her girls, her posture unapologetic. Amy broke free of her grandmother and bolted for the bay windows, pressing her hands flat to the glass. She oohed and aahed at the private jets parked along the airstrip.

Daisy and her mom were doing better, but in truth, Martha Johnson would always have to be Martha Johnson. When Sandra snickered through the tension, Daisy cut her a threatening look. “Not funny.”

Sandra shrugged, “Bring Aiden home. Let Deacon Clarke lay hands on him. Bet that’ll get mama off your back.”

“
Gurl, Deacon Clark is a drunk. If Aiden really wants to know the Lord, he should see the new pastor at Mt. Claire. Now he brings the word!” said Denise with a big grin on her face. Sandra’s eyes narrowed like a cobra ready to strike. Denise was the sweetest non-combative one of them all, and Sandra, the bully, always laid traps that she easily walked into.

“
Mt. Claire, huh?” Sandra smirked. “Denise, you got issues.”