Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (53 page)

He let him go, stepping back, his hands trembling, and his eyes flaming with rage and hurt. Pete recovered quickly. He laughed tauntingly.

“
Pete, stop it!” Nina snapped.

Aiden paced like a panther in a cage. He hadn’t spoken a word. The ladies stood between both men. Pete threw his hands up and walked away. But Aiden kept pacing, and pacing. “Aiden, please calm down.”

Finally, he did look to Daisy. She reached for him, but he turned and walked out.

“
Aiden!”

“
Why did you do that? Why?” Nina snapped.

“
He attacked me. He’s violent, demented, and he won’t be around my child. You hear that, Daisy? Do you hear me? Aiden Keane will never be around her again.”

Daisy walked out, leaving them both behind. In the hall, she looked for him. He was gone.

Chapter Nineteen

"So, you’re not speaking to me?” Pete asked.

Nina tossed her purse. It tumbled over the bed covers and fell off to the floor. She rubbed the pressure points of her temple. The intake of breath did little to stay away her headache. From the center of her skull and reaching to the root of her brain stem, it pulsed and throbbed in a repeated rhythm that left her teary. And this day would never end.

“
I’m talking to you, Nina.”

Yes, she knew he was. That didn’t mean she would answer. After the results were read, she and Pete had to drive Daisy home.
Aiden was gone
.

That ride was the longest and most uncomfortable of her life. Daisy said little to nothing, only offering directions to her house when Pete made a wrong turn. She sat in the back of the car, fingers punching at the number pad on her cell phone. Nina didn’t have to wonder who she was calling. Each time she sighed, it was clear. And Pete played his part.
The victor
. Each time she glanced at him, she caught the smirk to his lips. This satisfied the
I-told-you-so
that broke her heart.

He didn’t really understand what this battle for Daisy and Amy was doing to him. And he didn’t understand why it pained her so. Her biggest fear was never that he’d leave her for Daisy. In fact, she kind of expected it, had learned to live with the threat of it and braced for it at every turn when something brought Daisy and the past they shared to the surface. After all, it takes a lot of growing to get ahead of the acne riddled girl in glasses and believe herself worthy of a crush she had since puberty.

No, her biggest fear was Pete being changed and losing hold of all things she loved about him. That scared her to death. The more this battle between him and Aiden Keane waged, the more she felt the Pete she’d known all her life, slip from her.

“
Nina?”

“
In a minute. You’re right. I don’t want to talk to you now,” she mumbled choosing the outside deck as her retreat. But she heard him behind her. His steps hard and determined. He would have his say whether she liked it or not.

“
I didn’t start that fight. I didn’t start any of this. Aiden Keane picked me. He chose this the day he saw us in his hotel. He did. So don’t look at me cross-eyed when I don’t break a sweat because he got what he deserved. Nothing.”

“
No, Pete, it’s not your fault,” Nina conceded. Her man had suffered a lot of bruises thanks to Aiden Keane. To be honest, she despised Aiden for the way he mocked Pete. Still, for her, Pete was the better man. She finally looked at him and watched as he paced a short path before her.

“
Have you forgotten the asshole attacked me?” he whirled. “He’s out of control. Why the hell am I the bad guy?”

“
You’re not the bad guy. I never said—”

“
Did you see her and how she acted? Standing there in the parking lot looking for him. She actually believes that son-of-a-bitch cares for her. Pathetic!” He paced some more. “It's as if she actually thought he’d stick around. Yeah, she’s selfish, but she—” He stopped and breathed, hands to his waist. “This wasn't about winning. He’s the gambler, not me. He lost.”

“
And you won. Right, Pete?”

She said too much and pushed too hard. But she wanted an answer to her question. So she held his gaze and refused to take it back.

“
What do you mean
I won
? Are you even listening to me?”

He didn’t hear her. In defeat, she looked away. She scanned the packed lot and looked at the sinking sun. The tears for her evaporating bond with him burned away from her eyes before they fell. Nina rested her chin on the inside of the palm of her hand and stared directly into the fiery orange ball of light. Dark storm clouds moved in, and the heavy muggy damp smell of a fresh rain filled her lungs.

“
Nina, answer me.”

“
I’m going home soon, Pete,” she said softly.

“
What? Now?”

“
Now.” She turned her face to him with an exasperated expression. “I can’t do this. Not with you acting like this.”

“
Wait. Wait a damn minute!”

“
I told you to make a choice. You obviously have.”

“
Not so fast. I did make a choice. I chose you, our child and our life. But I have a daughter who thinks of me as some strange man with a frisbee. My flesh and blood and, Nina, I’m fucking human. Is that okay? I've tried to be the hero in all of this. I’ve played it by the rules, but I want Amy to know who I am and that I want her.”

“
Nobody wanted you to be the hero. That game was between you and Aiden, good versus evil. It’s something you two created.”

“
We’ve been over this already.”

“
There’s a child caught in between. Did you see Daisy and the pain on her face when we dropped her off? She loves that man that you hate so much, and she’s your daughter’s mother. That means Aiden will always be there, Pete.”

“
He left.”

“
He’ll come back.”

“
He’s gone.”

“
He’ll come back, and she’ll let him into her life and into Amy’s life. You'll go too far! You’re already down that path.”

“
Not going to happen,” Pete said, with forced restraint.

“
Yes, it will.”

“
Even if Daisy would, he won’t come back. The games are over, Nina. You saw him. He didn’t want anything to do with her. It’s done. I say it’s the last of Aiden Keane.”

“
Fine. Then stay here and play daddy. You do what you have to do.” She rose. “And so will I.”

He wouldn’t let her pass. She was forced to look into his eyes, and when he touched her face, she weakened. It never ended. This hold he had over her and her faith in him was bonded even though now it was being tested.

“
I love you. I haven’t shown it enough. Blame me for that. I got plans for our life, Nina. I’m gonna buy you that house off Dunwoody, the one we pass on our way to church. The one you keep noticing that no one has bought will soon be yours.”

Nina turned her head, ashamed that he did know her desires. He touched her chin and bought her face back up to look her directly in the eye. The action worked because those blues were clear windows to his soul. And she could see how genuine he was. “I know what you need, and I plan to give you that.”

“
It’s not all I need.”

"I’m going to marry you. You will be the mother of my children. You’re the mother I want for Amy.”

She stepped back, but Pete didn’t budge. “We’re going to have it all. You and me.” His hand reached out and his palm opened as it pressed into her lower abdomen. “I’ve been trying to think when we made him, our son. When do you think that was?” he smiled. “I’m sure it was one of those nights when I couldn’t let you go or one of those days when I couldn’t get you out off my mind. Like now.” He leaned in and kissed her. Nina closed her eyes and responded. But she gently pushed back when the kiss became more passionate.

“
Then let’s let things cool off. You don’t mean what you’re saying. Everybody is on edge now. Let’s go home and get some perspective.”

“
Don’t ask me to choose between you and Amy. I’m doing what I think is best. I’m not leaving here until I’ve worked this out.”

“
No, you’re not. If you were, I’d support you a 100%. Now…now you’re acting—”

“
Like?”

“
Like Aiden Keane. You do hold the power now, Pete. The scale tipped in your favor, but abusing it is not you. Amy doesn’t need you to bulldoze into her life and snatch her from her mother. She just needs you.”

“
I’m only trying to protect her.”

“
Not this way, Pete. Please… not this way. Okay?”

She hugged him before he responded, and he hugged her back.

****

He hadn’t called. He wasn’t answering his phone. Once again, Aiden was making her crazy. Daisy dug her nails into the cushion of the sofa. Her gaze bounced off the smiling faces of her sisters. Photo albums were open and displayed out on the coffee table. They’d turn the book to ask a question about Amy, and she’d nod or give a simple reply––half listening and half caring. Her eyes constantly moved around the room, never focusing on one thing too long and all the while she fought the urge to go. But where? She didn’t even know what hotel he was staying in. For all she knew, he was on his jet.

Damn it.

“
Daisy, you have to see my little Clifford. He’s four. I can’t believe we were pregnant around the same time,” Denise shared.

Daisy half smiled. “Yeah, me either.”

“
And I had a baby six months ago. Did Janette tell you? Glad daddy held her,” Sandra said giving her a pointed look. Daisy caught the meaning in her words but didn’t react as she thought Sandra wanted her to. Her sister’s eyes softened. “She’s a girl. I named her Katherine. We call her Kit.” Sandra smiled. Daisy returned the smile. What was she to say? She missed all the important dates in her sister's lives and they missed hers. There was no going back. If anybody knew that, it was her.

She ran her hands over her lap and tugged at her dress, adjusting the skirt over her knees, her eyes again drifting to the phone.

“
So where is that man that was here earlier?” Sandra asked casually. Denise looked up at her, and Daisy looked away. Janette cleared her throat, pointing out something in a picture to draw away the tension.

Daisy was on the verge of an outburst, cut deep from within out of sheer frustration. If she unleashed it now, it would shock them all, send her mother running and scare her baby. It would make them think her insane. So as the coil around her heart tightened and the muscles beneath her skin constricted, she did nothing and said nothing. Right now, she just waited. She hoped for the phone to ring, for him to show up at the door to demand she let him in with more daisies in his hand, begging her forgiveness.

He’d try to convince her he was worthy of another chance. She’d let him have it for walking out, for folding and throwing in his hand before the dealer left the table. She wanted him to face her family: March right in there and tell her mother that he loved her, respected her and wanted to make her his wife. He’d tell Pete to go to hell. He could be Amy’s father but he wouldn’t dictate their lives.

She smiled to herself, seeing that green blaze in his eyes as he’d return to her arms and ask her for a reward. Aiden loved her, and she’d loved him. There would be nothing between them.

“
Daisy?”

“
Huh?” She snapped out of it.

“
I asked you if Amy sucked her thumb,” Denise smiled.

Daisy nodded. “Yeah. She does.”

“
Just like you did, baby-girl, all the way into high school.” Sandra’s eyes smiled but her tone mocked her with false sincerity. Sandra hated the way everyone called her ‘baby-girl’ since they were so close in age. Any time she used the term, Daisy knew what was behind it. She rolled her eyes, remembering the painful days of sixth grade where she’d had to wear braces from years of sucking her thumb. Sandra teased her unmercifully the entire time. She would break her baby out of the habit in due time.

Her sisters chuckled, exchanging memories and debating who Amy looked like the most in the Johnson family tree. The unspoken question lingered, hovering over them like the dark storm clouds moving in over the sea. She braced for it. That question behind the questions was of who Aiden Keane was and where did he disappear to. She saw it in her mother’s eyes when she stumbled through an excuse for leaving her daughter’s party just as it began to wind down with Aiden, Pete and Nina following. Then there were the silent observant stares that greeted her at the door when she returned, alone. They knew. For now, she was sure of it, but they spared her the questions. The phone rang.