Page 12 of One Week Wingman

“Right! Absolutely!” I say, my voice coming out in a squeak. I swallow and try to pull myself back in ‘supportive sister’ mode.

Besides, I have to hear this story.

“So how did you and Jason get together?” I ask, pouring us both glasses of Mom’s special iced tea. Special, because there’s a healthy dash of vodka in it. Which I’m going to need.

Between this and the rosé, I might need to check into rehab by the end of the week.

“Oh my god,” Daisy says, pressing a hand to her chest as if she’s about to swoon. “It was so romantic. See, I’ve been run off my feet with the cottage, getting it renovated. It’s like, a full-time job.”

She follows me out onto the back porch and sits beside me on the old swing. “Anyway, I got this guy to come and install this amazing rainwater shower. So beautiful. But it turned out he had absolutely no idea what he was doing and hadn’t properly connected the… pipe that leads to the drain?”

“Drainage pipe, probably.” I suggest.

“Yes!” Daisy nods so fast, her blonde hair bounces. “So the water started pouring through the light fixture in the hall and I was scared I was going to be electrocuted, so I called for help, and Jason showed up! He’d been in the office, and heard my name, and remembered me because of you. So he came straight out to the cottage and fixed everything. My knight in shining armor,” she adds with another swooning smile.

“That’s… Romantic,” I tell her.

“Right? So then I asked how could I thank him and he…” She blushes. “Well, he asked me out to dinner. I didn’t think it would be anything,” she adds earnestly, fixing me with that innocent look again. “Just catching up, it had been years since you two… You know…”

Were in love?

I bite my tongue, as Daisy finishes, “But I couldn’t help it, dinner turned into drinks, turned into… Well…” Another blush. “Did you know, I always had the biggest crush on him?”

I blink. “No, really?”

“The biggest,” she swears. “But of course, I was just a kid back then. So seeing him again, after all this time… It felt like fate! You know, I saw a TikTok about manifesting,” she adds. “They said you just have to call in what your heart desires, and it’ll appear. So I called in my soulmate, and boom! Jason showed up on my doorstep, just like that.”

“Just like that…” I echo. And any last lingering resentment for Daisy going behind my back like this melts away, because come on, it’s clear she’s totally smitten with him. Broken pipes, manifesting, soulmates… She’s built this up into the most romantic meet-cute of all time.

Who am I to stand in the way of true love?

“I’m happy for you,” I tell her again, and this time, I actually mean it.

“I’m happy for me, too!” Daisy sips her iced tea, young love written all over her face. “You know, it’s a shame Stefano couldn’t be here,” she says. “We would have the most fun. Double date!”

“Uh huh,” I say weakly. “A real shame. He’s just so busy, you know? Building the wells. For the orphans.” I bolt to my feet, uncomfortable with all the lies. “Listen, I’m going to go freshen up before we eat.”

“Great idea,” Daisy chirps. “Jason’s coming!”

“He is?”

“Uh huh.” Daisy beams. “Ooh, you can take some pics of us. I want to get some great ones of Jason for my feed. I’m soft launching him this weekend.”

“Soft what?” I blink.

“Launching!” she explains. “You know, when you start sneaking pics of your boyfriend onto social media, to soften things up for a full roll-out.” Daisy whips out her phone, as if the words that came out of her mouth mean anything at all to me. “I wanted to wait until you were cool with it. Because we are cool now, aren’t we?”

“Sure,” I answer faintly. “Launch away.”

Upstairs,I collapse onto my old quilt and stare at the ceiling. The week is just getting started, and already, I’m feeling serious imposter syndrome just catching up with family and friends. Daisy has Jason, Nita has Evan and the store, and even Jessica has little BJ Jr. to brag about.

And what do I have? Nothing but a kick-ass rendition of ‘All Too Well (Taylor’s version) (Ten Minute Version) (From the Vault)’on the acoustic guitar.

Not exactly skills worth shouting about.

And yes, I want to shout. Maybe it makes me a bad person, but after spending my teen years in this town with everyone so excited about my potential, I want to be able to make them proud. To have my mom look at me with genuine satisfaction in her eyes, the way she does when Daisy announces a new brand sponsorship deal. To have a quippy comeback to Jessica and co. that makes them impressed with my life, instead of smug and pitying. I know that back in New York, I’m perfectly content with how things have worked out, and it’s their problem not mine that they can’t respect my life choices, but still…

If ever there was a moment for Stefano to come breezing in and make it seem like I have my shit together, now would definitely be it.

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