Page 53 of Almost Always

It was startling to see someone wear their heart so boldly on their sleeve. Honestly, with Oakley, he was wearing his love for Clementineeverywhere.

Despite Ginny making Oakley sweat a little, they helped him plan the kind of grand gesture that would win over literally anyone. They enlisted Mack as well, so they could use the new shop space as the primary location. With everything in place, all they had to do was play their assigned parts and hope like hell it all worked out.

It was the second day of the Spring Food Fling and she was wandering through the park with Ginny and Clementine. They’d tried food and coffee from other stalls and found them all lackingsomething, but it was their way of keeping the chef distracted. It also helped to show face because as a local business owner, Daisy knew that it was important to attend these events. She so rarely had stalls at town gatherings, but everyone knew who she was. That was the perk of being the only florist in town.

They walked back to the Pretty Baked stall and she sat to one side, away from the chaos when her phone vibrated.

Rafferty

Cal asked me to bring him pizza, would you like anything from the city?

Just you, she said to herself. She’d left him on read since he started texting and felt guilty about it. But like he said in his texts, that wasn’t the place for them to be having this conversation. Face-to-face was the only option and she was anxious about him coming home for that reason.

Before she could spiral into more thoughts about seeing him, Ginny found a way to distract her. Apparently there were more stalls they needed to check out, more bakeries to intimidate. While that was definitely more Ginny’s speed, being around her friend was a really good way to keep her spirits up.

Until they returned to the stall, where everyone was gathered.

“Miss Daisy!”

“Mister Callahan,” she said, eyes wide with surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Staying with Indigo while Dad’s in the city.”

“Oh, did you have fun with Indigo?”

He nodded, grinning wide. “It was the best weekend. But I miss Dad.”

“I miss him too,” she admitted, but before she could say anything else, everyone was clapping. She turned to seeClementine and Oakley were walking towards them. “Look at them, Gin. We did it!”

“We did good, team,” Ginny said, holding her hand up. They slapped palms with a loud whoop before grabbing cookies for themselves.

Clementine stopped at the stall and pointed at the food in their hands. “I hope you paid for that.”

“I think I’m owed all the cookies I want for the rest of my life,” Ginny countered, reaching for another one and licking it.

Grabbing an extra cookie for herself, Daisy made excuses and left. As much as she wanted to hang around and celebrate with her friends, she was also exhausted. The combination of working long hours the past two days and thinking about how she was going to talk to Rafferty had worn her out. Except, she didn’t want to go back to a quiet house, so she walked to the Patch. Even though it was a Sunday, she’d given everyone the day off so they could attend the Food Fling, so the shop was dark when she got closer.

“Where are you?” she muttered, digging through her bag for her keys.

Once her fingers had wrapped around the bunch, she started for the main door when a large shadow moved on her right and a deep voice said, “Hey.”

CHAPTER 17

“Ihave Mace and a rape whistle!” she screamed, hands shoved deep into her bag.

Despite the laughter bubbling in his chest, Rafferty realized his mistake instantly. He stepped out of the shadow, hands up as lights came on. “It’s me. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What the fuck, Raff?”

“Sorry. The place was closed by the time I got here and I didn’t want to leave without seeing you.”

“Too young to have heart attacks,” she replied, attention still fixed on her bag.

As always, Daisy was glowing and the yellow light was making her shimmer even more. She was wearing a short black dress, the large denim jacket from the day he reconnected with her and white sneakers. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and even after a day of being at the food festival, she took his breath away. In comparison, he looked sloppy in his basketball shorts and ratty white tee. His plan was to drive straight home from New York, but the more he thought about it and all the advice he’d been given, seeing her right away was important.

She finally looked at him and gestured to the shop. “Let’s go inside.”

“Sit under the stars with me.”

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