Page 52 of Almost Always

Roe shrugged, head tipped back against the mirrored wall. “Cut back on classes until I can find someone else.”

“Happy to put up a flyer at The Patch if you want?”

“Once I draw something up, you’ll be the first to know.”

Their phones buzzed and both of them reached for their devices; hers was a calendar notification about an upcoming event that she swiped away.

“Okay, now tell me what’s going on with Rafferty. Who by the way I need to meet soon.”

“Scoping out the competition?”

Roe gasped, hand on her chest. “I didn’t know I wascompetingwith this man!”

“Well, he was my first best friend.”

“Is he still?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted softly and stretched her legs out. “We’ve been…flirting, I guess? After Frankie’s wedding, I went to see him and stayed the night. It felt good to talk, youknow? All this time apart, so much to unpack and share with each other.”

“Is that all you did?”

“Stop it. We’refriends.”

“But you want to be more,” Roe said with a grin.

“Maybe? I do feel like that teenager when he’s around. Starry-eyed and light on my feet because of the way he looks at me. But he’s a single dad and we’re so different from how we were back then.” She paused and glanced at her best friend. “He made a comment about how if we could have been together this whole time and maybe had a kid together and…”

“Oh, shit.”

Daisy sighed and covered her face with both hands. “Iknow. Ugh. I shut down and instantly reacted. It was messy and I haven’t spoken to him since.”

“Why not?”

“Because I felt bad about my response and he’s in New York this weekend.”

Roe hummed and squeezed Daisy’s shoulder. “Do you know what you want to say when you see him next?”

Nodding slowly, she leaned back. “Had a session with Anastasia today, so I know what to say, dunno if I want to.”

“If you need some moral support, you know where to find me.”

“Under your husband?”

Roe wiggled her eyebrows. “At least I’m predictable.”

Daisy laughed and bumped shoulders with her best friend. She knew how lucky she was to have met Monroe and for their friendship to keep growing every single day. She’d never been the most friendly or outgoing person, but she liked people. It was really hard to make friends when everyone already had their groups and didn’t have time or anything else. Then Monroe walked into her life and never even thought about walking out.

“Coming to Food Fling this weekend?” she asked and Roe shook her head.

“I’ve got a class on Saturday and Wyatt’s back that night, so I’m tying him to the bed all of Sunday.”

“I mean…yeah, good call.”

“Eat all the dessert on my behalf, though.”

“You know I most certainly will.”

When she got back to the Patch afterwards, the last person she expected to see was Oakley. Once she heard about the fight and the break-up, she figured that he would be hiding out, but he was there and looking for help. She made sure to call Ginny and they listened as he recounted everything that happened with Clementine. Her heart broke for the man, because she could see how distraught he was. Even before he finished telling them everything, including confessing his love for the chef over and over again, Daisy had decided that she was going to help him get her back.

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