Page 134 of Almost Love

Daisy

Chaos demon.

She laughed as she pocketed her phone and turned to Freya. “I’m going to find those two wildcats. Call me if you need anything?”

Freya nodded, smiling like a proud mother. “Have fun.”

With a roll of her eyes, she walked over to where Ginny and Daisy were drawing the attention of every person in the vicinity. As they always did. The day before, she’d worn pants with the intention of looking professional. She’d also pulled on one of her signature pastel chef coats for the same reason. Except halfway through the day, she’d gotten rid of it and decided to dress comfortably. So now she was wearing a long dark blue skirt, with a slit up the left side, a white tee that readYes, Chefand her well-worn sneakers. She’d bought the T-shirt after Oakley started saying ‘yes, chef’, but had never worn it before. This felt like the right time.

“Yes, chef!” Ginny hooted when she was a few feet away from them. Daisy whistled loudly and she glowered at them, hoping that they would shiver in their shoes.

They did not.

“Is all that leg being exposed for us or….”

Flipping them both off, she barely had a moment before she was pulled into a hug. Her body tensed briefly, then she settled, wrapping one arm around each woman. When they pulled away, she smiled at her friends. They were unexpected and yet, two of the best people she’d welcomed into her life.

“Just so you know, I’m in the process of printing T-shirts for us. Snap, Crackle & Pop tees,” Ginny announced, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

“Oh, I love that. Is it the word thatyouassigned to us or the full statement?” Daisy asked.

“The word that isperfectlyassigned to you, obviously.”

Clementine turned to Daisy. “Who is Rafferty?”

Ginny snorted. “He’s a hot piece of meat, covered in tattoos, smolders like all the time and is madly in love with our friend.”

“Stop it,” Daisy mumbled as they walked, but Clementine saw the hint of a smile on her friend’s lips. “He’s an old friend from New York. Just moved to town.”

Ginny added, “I believe that he’s here for our flower queen, but she says no.”

Clementine nudged Daisy. “Would that be so bad, Daze?”

“No? But also…I don’t want to get my hopes up. We were best friends and I was secretly in love with him most of the time. But he was so important to me, so I didn’t say anything.”

“But?” Ginny urged her to continue and Daisy huffed.

“The night before my dad and I left the city, I kissed him. He kissed me back and…that was the last time I saw him until a few weeks ago.”

“So what? He’s here now, this is your chance to try again,” Clementine countered.

“I dunno, maybe.” Daisy shook her head. “Anyway, today is not about me. How are you doing? Is this everything you thought it would be?”

She looked around the park, taking in the number of stalls and people. “This is way bigger than I expected. I see photographs every year, but it’s a whole different experience when you’re smack in the middle of it.”

“I bet. But hey, we overheard at least twenty people raving about your stuff.” Ginny bumped into her gently.

“That’s because my stuff is fucking amazing.”

Her friends laughed as they squeezed through a small gap between stalls and headed towards one of the coffee vendors. She let all of this soak in, let it feel real. Because she finally had the kind of friends she always dreamed about.

“But how are you holding up after…you know?” Daisy asked, voice quiet.

“Miserable. I’m thinking of going to see him after we wrap today. I thought he might show up, but I was terrible enough that he’s giving me space.”

Ginny hummed, frowning at her phone before tucking it away. “There’s nothing wrong with a little space.”

“I guess. I hate how we left things, because he was one of the best things to ever happen to me.”

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