Page 71 of A Doctor for Daisy

“I liked him as a doctor. I found him serious but comforting. I’m not sure if that makes sense.”

“Complete sense,” she said. “But he’s funny too when you get to know him. I told you yesterday about all my insecurities with him and I know we said we wouldn’t let that get in our way anymore in life.”

“Words are easier said than actions,” Heather said. “I know that more than anyone.”

“That’s exactly it. But Theo’s actions yesterday and today helped me realize how silly I’ve been. No, I don’t have the same background as him and even said that to him on the first date.”

“What happened?” Heather asked.

“He said we should just put our pasts behind us and go on who we are today.”

“What’s going on with his past?” Heather asked.

She explained about Theo’s education and him being a teenager in college. How his mother had controlled all his decisions and even what happened with Theo’s sisters yesterday.

“Wow. That is a lot. I mean you don’t think of what other people have going on in their lives,” Heather said. “But I understand the controlling mother part well. Did you tell him that?”

“I did,” she said. “We talked a bit more last night and I told him how you’ve dealt with it and I’ve seen it. We agreed our mothers are as opposite as we are, but we are making it work.”

“That is very sweet. But what is going on with your mother? It’s the way you said that.”

She should have figured Heather would catch on. She filled her in on that conversation too. “I was so upset and I just wanted to know what she thought. I shouldn’t have. It only made me feel much worse. She’ll never see herself as a mother more than a friend.”

“You can’t change her,” Heather said, reaching her hand out. “You and your mother have a wonderful relationship. Better than I’ll ever have with my mother. I’ve learned to accept the way she is and know it won’t change. You need to do that too and embrace how well you get along.”

“I know,” she said. “I realized that too. I’m going to be twenty-nine soon. I don’t need a mother at this point in my life.”

“I think we all go through periods of time where we want our mother. Look at Lily, Poppy and Rose. They lost theirs so young, but they had each other.”

The three girls' mother was struck and killed by a driver when Lily was eighteen. Lily did what she could to keep the family together.

Daisy had to remind herself that there are a lot of people out there that had it much harder than she did.

Those three girls came from a single mother that struggled and yet every single one of them found a man from a different background than them and were making it work beautifully.

Why couldn’t she be or do the same?

Why couldn’t she find the acceptance in herself to find happiness?

And why the hell hadn’t she thought of any of this before she put her foot in her mouth with Heather yesterday?

“Just like us,” Daisy said. “We’ve got each other too. And I have to remember that. That where I came from shouldn’t stop me from finding out where I need to go.”

“That’s right,” Heather said. “No more secrets, right?”

“I’ve got one more. No one knows this. I think if I tell you, maybe you’ll understand a bit more.”

“Only tell me if you want to,” Heather said.

“I do. I’ve never told anyone before. I think it’s why I was so hurt by what my mother said yesterday.”

“Do we need chocolate?” Heather asked. “I can go get my stash.”

“I ate some of your stash the other day,” she admitted. “I was going to get more and forgot.”

Heather laughed. “We’ll get more together,” she said. “What is it you wanted to tell me?”

“When I was nineteen I thought I was pregnant. Maybe I was and lost it. I don’t know. I couldn’t bring myself to take a test or go to the doctor after. I was three weeks late and terrified and had no one to talk to. But then I got my period. I never wanted to know the truth so I was thankful my period came and just tried to put it behind me, but it always lingered too.”

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