Page 35 of The Girl I Once Loved

“I see you still don’t know how to knock,” I chastise, shaking my head disapprovingly while keeping my eyes shut.

“What can I say? Old habits are hard to break,” she teases, jumping onto my bed behind me.

“Kind of busy here, Daisy,” I mumble when I feel her getting comfortable, stretching her legs on the duvet until her bare feet graze my knee.

“Don’t mind me. Just do your thing, squirt. I’ll wait.”

I bite down on my bottom lip, forcing myself not to say anything in return, determined to finish my meditation in the hopes that it will balance me out for the day ahead.

But when I hear a familiar flick of a page, all my senses skyrocket in alarm.

“Hey!” I exclaim in outrage after catching my sister reading the notebook I always keep on my bedside table. It’s the same one I scribble on in the middle of the night when my thoughts and ideas get too loud for me to sleep, needing me to purge them out of my brain and onto a blank page. “Don’t read that!” I order, pulling it out of her grabby hands. “That’s private.”

“Sooooorrrrry!” she says exaggeratedly. “It’s not like it had a ‘don’t touch me’ sign on it. Geez!”

“It doesn’t need one. This is still my room, Daisy, which means everything in it is hands off.”

But instead of getting upset with me, Daisy bursts into a fit of giggles, leaning forward on the bed just far enough to place her chin on my shoulder, and hug me from behind.

“I know it’s silly, but I missed this. I can’t remember the last time you told me not to touch your stuff.”

A warmth spreads through me at her innocent confession, destroying whatever furious indignation I had before. I cover her clasped hands with mine and tilt my head to the side to gently press against her temple.

“I missed it, too.”

“Yeah?” she whispers expectantly.

“Yeah.” I nod.

The beaming smile she offers me in return works better than any meditation possibly could. If I wanted to find some solace, an inkling of peace, I should have known I’d find it in my sister’s company. Daisy is still that ray of sunshine that has the power to cast away any stormy cloud. It shames me how much effort I had put into forgetting that about her.

But then again, it was never her I wanted to forget.

It was him.

“You’re here early this morning,” I state, not wanting that sullen thought to ruin the perfect moment we’re having.

“I know. I thought you might like to come to the farmer’s market with me this morning.”

“Farmer’s market?! Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” I laugh.

“Stop.” She giggles, hugging me tighter. “I know it’s not my thing, but it’s for a good reason. Tonight is the big Fourth of July party on Main Street, and Derrick signed us up as volunteers to tend to the corn on the cob booth. Can’t have that if there’s not enough corn to sell. That’s why I need to go to the market this morning and buy some more, just to make sure we have enough for tonight. And since Derrick is busy with today’s big boat race, I could use another pair of hands to help me out. What do you say? Want to come with me?”

“Sure. Why not? Sounds like fun. Let me just grab a quick shower and get dressed, and then we can go on your corn hunt. I’m curious to see my big sister try to haggle an ear of corn from one of the vendors.”

“It will be like stealing candy from a baby.” She beams, releasing her grip from me so she can lean back on the bed, holding herself up by her elbows. “All I’ve got to do is flash one of these,” she points to her wide grin, “or flash them one of these,” she adds mischievously, shaking her shoulders in a way that has her breasts doing a little dance.

“I very much doubt that your fiancé will be thrilled to learn that his soon-to-be-wife is shaking her goodies for a discount.” I giggle teasingly.

“Nah, Derrick won’t mind. He knows it’s all harmless fun, and that at the end of the day, no matter who I flirt with, I always end up in his bed. It’s been that way with us since the very start. Trust me, Derrick is used to it by now.” She grins with a wistful sparkle in her blue eyes, as if reminiscing about those first few romantic encounters between them.

I won’t lie. I’ve always been curious about how Derrick and Daisy ended up together in the first place. Not that I’ve had much success in figuring it out. Daisy has always been a private person when it came to her love life, but with Derrick, she’s like a locked vault, keeping every little nugget to herself, not wanting the outside world to influence them in any way. I’ve only ever been able to catch a few little breadcrumbs here and there over the years, but I don’t need to know the whole story to know they are meant for each other. They might be polar opposites, but somehow, they make sense. Most importantly, Derrick has a knack for always putting a smile on my sister’s face. He makes her happy, unabashedly so, and that’s enough for me.

"Hmm, I don’t buy it. Are you saying Derrick doesn’t get jealous? Ever?" I ask with an arched brow, calling bullshit on that scenario.

"Oh, he gets jealous alright," she admits with a hooded gaze. "But that’s half the fun. Because when D gets jealous, then Big D comes out, and he’s very possessive, if you get my drift." She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

"Ew. I don’t want to hear how you two freaks get it on. Not before I've had my morning coffee at least.” I laugh.

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