Page 109 of Sunshine
Daisy wraps her arms around her body, giving herself the hug she rejected from me. “Poppy said she was afraid I wouldn’tthink she’sgood enoughfor my family and that shebetrayedme by falling for you. Doesn’t she know me at all? My best friend—the person I’ve never lied to, never kept a secret from, never pretended to be anything I wasn’t—doesn’t trust me enough to tell me she loves you and doesn’t know me well enough to know I’ll dance on the table the day you make her my sister for real.”
Chardonneigh snorts and shakes her head, and Daisy gives her a final pat before she steps out of the stall, securing the gate behind her.
“Daisy,” I say again, only now starting to realize that I had it all wrong. My sister isn’t upset because I fell in love with her best friend. She’s upset because she should have been there from the beginning. Supporting us and cheering us on. “I’m sorry. Seriously. I am.”
She stares at the ground beneath her feet. “I know,” she murmurs.
I sigh and pull her against my chest, and this time she doesn’t resist. “This might not be much comfort to you, but there are reasons we didn’t tell you. We never meant to fall for each other and never expected it to turn into what it has, but as soon as we knew things were serious, we made plans to tell you. We were going to explain everything this week, but then Annalise told me she was coming, and Izzy was anxious about her visit. I just…”
I sigh again. “I was scared for a long time too. What if Poppy left town again? What if I asked her to stay, and she said no? What if I let Izzy grow attached only for things to end? It felt safer to pretend that whatever we were doing was temporary and harmless. That way, when it was over, nobody would know enough to be hurt.”
Nobody but me.
“And it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything just for me or had something—someone—all my own,” I add quietly. “I’m not proud of it, but I wanted to be selfish. It was fun to makebelieve I had the freedom to do what felt good instead of what was right. I was wrong.”
“Not wrong.” Daisy pushes off me and swipes at her watery eyes. “Human.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” I duck my chin with a hopeful glance. “So, do you forgive me?”
Daisy watches her toes as she kicks her feet, then rolls her eyes toward me with a small smile. “Yeah, I do.”
I exhale with a relieved nod. “Good. Thank you. Now for Poppy…”
Daisy sighs. “I’ve been ignoring her calls,” she admits. “I needed some time to think. Is she okay?”
“Honestly?”
Daisy gives me an incredulous look that makes me laugh.
“Yeah, okay. Honestly. She’s scared. You are her safe place, and you’ve always been her safe place. Your friendship is the one constant in her life. Poppy is bright and brave, but she’s vulnerable, and it’s why she runs when things get hard. You know that. She’s survived a lot of hurt. Her relationship with her mom, her struggles in school, loving and leaving kid after kid as a nanny, and then there’s all the shit that went down with Wade. Plus, you know what happened with her dad last year.”
Daisy drags her bottom lip between her teeth, like she really hasn’t thought about why Poppy might have been scared to tell her the truth. “Yeah. He’s an asshole.”
“And from Poppy’s perspective, he’s proof that the people who are supposed to love her aren’t always the people who show up. You’re right. Sheisscared, but not the way you think. I think she’s afraid that the only way to resolve this conflict between the three of us is for you and me to push her out. And we both know that’s total bullshit. Right?”
Daisy stiffens with alarm. “Of course, it’s bullshit.”
I grin and pull her in for one more hug—the brotherly type that presses her face against my chest and makes her ribs groan.
She flails at me until I let her go, but she’s smiling when I do. “I need to see her. Is Poppy coming around to be with Izzy this afternoon?”
“I told her to take the afternoon off,” I reply. “She hasn’t slept and needed some rest.”
Daisy grimaces. “That’s my fault. I’ll go see her. I’ll take care of it.”
“Good,” I say. “And then I’m going to need your help.”
“My help?”
“Do you want to show Poppy how much she means to us?”
Daisy’s curious smile only makes mine stretch wider because now that I’ve fixed the last mess standing between Poppy and the future we want to build together with Izzy, nothing is going to stop me from giving it to her. And a plan is starting to come together in my head.
“Yes,” Daisy says slowly. “Of course I do.”
“Good. I’ve got a lot to do this afternoon if we want to pull this off. When you talk to Poppy, invite her to the house after her shift at The Tipple. Okay? Late. When it’s dark. Not before ten.”
“Wait,” Daisy says as I walk away. “What’s going on?”
