Page 98 of A Doctor for Daisy

“I do,” she said. “Both of you girls are great. Being an only child, it’s fun to watch you together.”

“See, Dad,” Erica said. “We’re fun. So much fun and since I’m being the grouch everyone says I am, dinner is my treat. And Daisy gets to pick the food. I’ll buy.”

“You guys pick,” she said. “I’m not fussy at all. Neither is Theo. He tells me all the time.”

She burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?” Harmony asked.

“On our first date, Theo wanted to go on a picnic.”

“Awww,” Harmony said. “That is a nice first date. Where did you get that gene from? It’s not Mom or Dad.”

“I came up with it on my own,” he said proudly.

“Because he said he was stressing about picking the wrong place,” Daisy said. “Be honest with your family.”

“I did say that,” he said. “And then Daisy told me I was horrible for saying I wasn’t fussy because she was taking care of the food and didn’t know what to make. She was stressing about that like I was over the restaurant.”

“That’s kind of like those sickly romantic things that Harmony likes to talk about,” Erica said.

“It is and I’m not embarrassed to say it. So what was decided?” Harmony asked.

This didn’t bother her to talk about. It’s just the way they were asking questions and drawing the line at what to ask rather than what her mother did.

“She made two kinds of sandwiches, two each in case I picked the one she wanted and she didn’t have to give it up.”

“Good for you,” Andrew said.

She wasn’t sure she understood that response but figured Theo would tell her later. “Then I made him a tortellini salad with veggies that he could pick out. I knew he liked ravioli, so the tortellini was close.”

“Nice and considerate,” Harmony said. “Can I use this story in my blog?”

“No,” Theo said. “It makes me sound like a wuss.”

“I guess that is your answer,” Daisy said.

“But if Theo said yes, you’d say yes too?” Harmony asked.

Andrew cleared his throat. “You got your answer, Harmony. One said no, so the answer is no.”

“Fine,” Harmony said. She was starting to wonder if that dynamic was part of Andrew’s marriage to his ex. One said no and the other did it anyway.

Something her mother never had to worry about since she did it all alone.

Maybe Theo was right. Her mother lost her childhood and made decisions based on her experiences and Daisy had to learn not to judge or hold it against her.

34

Best For You

“What is this I hear you’ve got a girlfriend and everyone has met her but me?”

Theo listened to the voicemail message again. The tone of his mother’s voice got harsher the more she talked.

He was in New Haven on Tuesday, finishing with his only surgery of the day and then was going back to his office to see a few patients and hoped to get out on time today.

Daisy was working late. She’d already texted to tell him that one of the girls in the shop was supposed to stay until seven and had an emergency and she said she’d cover those two hours.

He grabbed his bag to leave and walked out to his car. He was debating calling his mother and talking to her on the drive back. It’d get it out of the way. There was no avoiding this and he wasn’t sure why he was trying.

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