Page 52 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
Scoffing, she shot back, “No, you go get ready for your date. I don’t think he’d appreciate you showing up in something sotrashy.”
Throwing the insecurity back in Candace’s face, the words hit their intended mark. Too well, perhaps. The woman hugged her arms to her chest while a deep, scarlet flush radiated over her fair skin. Daisy hoped for anger, maybe even a little embarrassment, to shame Candace.
The raw hurt was surprising.
By the time Daisy opened her mouth to walk the comment back, it was too late. She went for a swipe and landed a gut punch. Who would stick around for more?
Candace made a clean pivot on her heels, pavement clacking beneath them as she beelined for her glittery monstrosity. She peeled out from the quiet suburban street and was gone in seconds.
It took Daisy half as much time to miss her.
Chapter 13
Candace
Pasta Bolognese.
Gnocchi with vodka blush sauce.
Angel hair in a lemon and white wine reduction with clams.
Candace’s eyes scanned the bifold, leather-bound menu three times before she read a single word. Her mind was a million miles away, nowhere near the cozy, upscale Italian restaurant her body currently occupied. A body, she was proud to say, that did not look the least bit trashy.
It was not fair. Candace knew Daisy liked to push her buttons, and she deserved it after everything she had done. But did the prickly woman have to drive her thorns so deep?
After their rough start this morning, they seemed to be getting along. Candace did her best to be useful, and to make things fun while she learned an integral part of the business she jumped into. She thought they were connecting. The wayDaisy opened up, even if an anxiety attack spurred it, felt like progress.
Candace’s heart broke hearing the confident, talented woman spiral. She watched Daisy, day by day, work harder than anyone she had ever met. However, there was only so much one person could do alone. Daisy had been fighting the tide for so long, it was no wonder she was worn down.
And the idea that no one would want her because of her traumas… It took everything Candace had not to reach out and hug Daisy. She settled for the breathing exercise, and it had been so satisfying to see the method work. To physically feel Daisy calm under her hands, at least for a short while.
Then, her uncle and his ridiculous demands had to go and ruin things.
No, Candace thought. She ruined things herself by giving in to the manbaby. But what choice did she have? She owed him and, worse, she wouldalwaysowe him. It went deeper than money. Now, with her technically working against his interests, she needed to toe a very careful line.
Daisy did not understand Peter Perry the way Candace did. There was a world where he would find them working together amusing. As long as he thought they were not a true threat, he might be content to snicker from the sidelines and mock their struggle.
If he thought they might actually disrupt his plans? Daisy and Bagel Bombs! would see the full focus of a man with few limits.
Candace was playing a dangerous game. Her involvement could save Bagel Bombs!, but it could just as easily destroy it.
So, she would suffer through a date. An awkward one, at that. Candace knew from her end why the atmosphere was so stilted. Her tiff with Daisy, along with the little fact that she was not attracted to men, put Ted Cando in a tough spot. Still, she graced him with her best, lady-like air, and treated him like a premier business client from the moment she sat down across the candlelit two-top from him.
Candace was perfectly pleasant. Cordial, without invitation for more. Her date seemed inclined towards the same.
Lowering the menu so that she could peek over it, Candace observed the man. It was a bit of a shock; Ted had come out of his All-American shell. In high school, he’d been a very conservatively acceptable young man who looked like a love interest from aDawson’s Creek-type show. Tall, clean-cut, with blonde hair and baby blue eyes, he dressed in all the popular brands you could find at the local mall.
Now? He was still clean-cut and well-dressed, but there was something different. It was not just his fashionable earrings, his neatly-tailored floral-patterned shirt, or stylish chinos that matched his belt.
As a young man, he’d been a loudmouth and a bit of a bully. This older version was nothing but polite. Unlike other dates with the opposite sex she’d been subjected to, he tried to make conversation rather than talk about himself. When Candace could not muster the will to chat, and he did not seem to want to delve into his personal life, they drifted into a silence broken only by the occasional interruption of their waiter.
Candace mused aloud, “You’ve really changed, haven’t you?”
Ted set his menu down and flashed an almost shy smile. “I could say the same about you. I didn’t think you’d ever come back to Wonderwood.”
With a light tilt, Candace told him, “That was the plan, but here we are. For the time being, at least.”
Ted let loose a genuine-sounding laugh as he shook his head. Behind him, Candace made eye contact with a gorgeous woman who glared at the noise.
