Page 65 of Seven Summers Ago
It shouldn’t have been hard to let Charlie go with Beck. He is her father after all. But he still doesn’t know her that well. He’s never dealt with her having a meltdown or a spiral. And what if he can’t tell the difference? Between a typical child tantrum and an anxiety-induced spiral. Just because he lives with anxiety and panic attacks doesn’t mean he can see it in another person.
It’s only ice cream. They’ll be gone for an hour or two tops. She’ll be fine, I tell myself as I fix a charcuterie board for girls’ night with Stella and Daisy. The distraction will do me some good.
There’s a knock on the back door and after I open it, Daisy and Stella squeal and rush inside Dottie’s seaside cottage. Stella gives me a hug and holds out a bottle of wine. Daisy’s arms are full as she carries in ice cream and more wine.
We all go into the kitchen and Stella starts opening drawers. “Where’s Dottie’s wine opener?”
“Second drawer to the right of the fridge.” I point.
“Got it,” she singsongs, holding it up.
“Yum, everything looks delicious.” Daisy studies the goodies on the charcuterie board.
Stella twists the wine opener into the cork. “So do we want to watch a movie, or do we want to talk?”
“I don’t care.” I take the ice cream from Daisy and put it in the freezer.
“I’m up for anything. Have either of you seen that new rom-com on Netflix?” Daisy plops down on a stool at the kitchen island.
“Are you kidding? I haven’t seen anything that’s dropped in the past few months.” I pull a stack of plates out of the cupboard and set them on the counter.
“Sounds like we should watch a movie. Girl, you’re missing out.”
“I don’t even know how you find the time. You’re at Peace of Cake twenty-four seven.” Stella finally pops the cork.
“Not twenty-four seven. But yeah, I’m there a lot. Willow needs me more right now.”
“Maybe if her prick of a nephew had stuck around instead of ditching her and the business, you wouldn’t have to work so much.”
Daisy dips her chin to her chest, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. “It’s fine. You know I don’t mind. I love what I do.”
“And it loves you. You’re so good at it,” Stella says.
“I can’t believe Christian never came back.” A few high school memories play through my mind. “I guess I assumed he would’ve come back after college. That was his plan, wasn’t it?”
Daisy rolls her eyes. “Was—key word. Instead of using his business degree to come back to Golden Harbor and take over Peace of Cake as planned, he used it for evil. Got some hot-shot job in LA making the big bucks. Guess when you get used tolooking at an income with that many zeros, you no longer want to take over the family business.”
“Willow has been real sick,” Stella explains.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry, Daisy. I didn’t know.”
“She has good days and bad.” She sniffs.
“But if something happens to Willow, Peace of Cake will be in good hands.” Stella gives Daisy a pointed look.
I glance back and forth between them. “You?” I gesture with an empty wineglass at Daisy.
“That’s the hope. I’ve been there since practically day one. My mom and Willow have been best friends since college.”
“And she works her ass off.”
Daisy waves off Stella. “Anyway, bingeing my shows is all I have in this life.”
“Not true. You have us.” Stella pours the dark red wine into the glasses.
“For now,” I correct her.
“What do you mean for now? Stella said Dottie wanted you to move back to Golden Harbor and that she left you the cottage.”
