Page 69 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
Daisy crossed her arms. In her periphery, she continued to observe Candace; she looked uncomfortable, speaking to a group of people who had an uncanny-valley, over-polished vibe. But,damn, Daisy could not stop herself from thinking again how beautiful the woman was.
She heard herself say, “What’s wrong with fun?”
“Nothing,” Demi admitted with an edge. “As long as it’s in the right spirit. Like I said, Candace—”
“Deserves better,” Daisy finished. Breaking her fixation to face Demi head-on, she added, “I know.”
“Do you? I love that woman with all my heart, and the thing I want most is for her to be happy.”
“Why don’t you date her, then?” Daisy regretted the question as soon as it came out. But she started digging and could not stop. “If you care about her so much, you make her happy.”
“I tried.”
Daisy had suspected it, and yet, the confirmation was no less of a gut-punch. Nodding, Demi took a satisfied sip of her wine.When she spoke again, her lips curved into a wistful smile.
“I was so happy when she agreed to go out with me. She wasn’t out-out, but I knew she had crushes…acrush…on a girl, so I thought I had a chance.”
Around the lump in her throat, Daisy asked, “What happened?”
“Well, I wasn’t her crush, for one. It was always ‘Demi, let's go get bagels,’ or ‘Demi, have you seen so-and-so around school lately? What's she like?’ ‘Demi, have you ever thought about cutting your hair short?’ It was so annoying, I ended things before we even kissed.”
Daisy reeled at the implication that was slowly dawning on her. Without ever knowing it, she had been the third point on a love triangle. She mumbled out, “That wasn’t cool of her.”
“No. It wasn’t. But we were dumb teenagers, so I forgave her. I could never stop loving her. It just changed. I’ve been with her through everything.E-ver-y-thing.You know, her uncle used to do daily inspections of her room? Her schedule, her internet search history… herperiods.”
“She was a kid!” Daisy tamped down her anger as several nearby gala attendees looked up at her raised voice. Across the hall, Candace was gone. Demi shrugged, but it was more like a shiver.
“He’s sick. I don’t think he sees Candace as a person, just anotherthingfor him to control. When he can’t, he punishes her. Like after he found out about her crush on that other girl. See, the man isn’t religious, but his image hinges on him appearing to be. Candace being gay isn’t appealing to his circles.”
“Thatfuckingpiece of shit. It’sherlife!”
Looking up at Daisy, Demi said, “Until she was eighteen, legally, it was his. I think he misses that power over her. Being able to bend her to whatever he wanted. But he couldn’t break her. Do you… Maybe remember not seeing her in the summer of our junior to senior year?”
“I… yeah, I noticed.” To anyone else, Daisy might not have admitted it. “I always wondered.”
“Candace’s uncle sent her to a ‘leadership camp.’ For over a month, they drilled her on conservative values, etiquette, and being a subservient, traditional wife. It wasn’t a conversion camp, thank the Goddess, but I was so worried… You know what she asked me when she got home?”
Daisy shook her head. A resigned, happy smile curved Demi’s lips.
“She asked when we could go get bagels. Back then, I encouraged her to ask you to the beach party. I was so,sodisappointed by what she did to you. But I understood. What about you, Daisy?”
“... Me?”
“You. Normally, I’d keep this kind of information to myself. You’re a part of it, though, so I feel like you deserve to have the whole picture. So, Ms Bagel, now that you know the real Candace Perry, what will you do?”
A surge of emotions crashed over Daisy. She wanted to find Candace and steal her away from these monstrous people. She wanted to forget the pain from their past and move on to their future. She wanted to—
The hall quieted as a mic tapping sounded from the stage. A man introduced Peter Perry, and then Perry himself took the mic.
“... Wonderwood, I’m thrilled to announce the expansion of my amazing fun pier, along with a very special partnership with my niece. It’s going to be a whole new boardwalk when we’re through with it!”
Daisy heard the words and filed them away under“what the fuck”for processing. Her gaze shot from Candace to Peter Perry, watching his putridly self-satisfied grin as he dragged his niece to the dance floor. Something clicked inside Daisy—thiswas what real hate felt like. Handing her drink to Demi, she stalked after the pair.
The band was halfway through a rendition of Frank Sinatra’sMy Wayby the time Daisy caught up with Candaceand her uncle. It was a good thing they were in a public place because being within arm’s reach of the ugly excuse for a man made her blood boil. In a viper-strike, Daisy latched a hand around Peter Perry’s suited arm.
“I’m cutting in.”
Roving Daisy’s body, the conman’s eyes shone with excitement. Rage roiled with disgust as she realized he did not recognize herandthat he thought she was askinghimto dance. He released his hold. Before he could blink, Daisy took Candace and swept her away.
