Page 72 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
Linking arms with Candace, Daisy started to lead them around the balcony. Thankfully, they could saunter right out to the boardwalk and avoid going back through the world’s worst party.
“You can try,” Daisy told Candace.
And she would succeed. The woman was good at getting what she wanted.
The evening seemed set. Daisy decided once and for all that she wanted to get closer to Candace. She might even try her luck at a kiss. A little planning, deep confessions, followed by some oh-so-necessary stress release…. Where else could things go?
Then, on the way to retrieve their takeout, Candace texted Demi and Rio for ‘planning backup.’ She seemed shaken after the stunt her uncle pulled, so, of course, Daisy was not going to stop her from reaching out for support. And, equally predictably, both helpful humans jumped to the princess’s aid. Demi was excited for an excuse to leave the gala, and Rio happened to have the night off from their Wetlands Institute duties. They met up at Daisy’s house, looking like two happy clams as they shared a joint from Daisy’s hidden porch stash.
The charged, borderline romantic mood died with Rio’s greeting of, “What’s up, buttface?”
Daisy would be lying if she said she was not disappointed. Sharing Candace was bad enough, but having to split her sandwich added insult to injury. She cut hers lopsided and kept the bigger portion. They sat out on the porch where the screen wrap-around partition and flickering citronella candles (mostly) shielded them from the mosquitoes.
Daisy’s general lack of company meant that there were not enough chairs. Demi staked her claim on the two-person loveseat, and Candace took the place beside her. Rio had already been lounging atop Dad’s old Adirondack, which left Daisy to plop down on a cooler. While they tucked into hoagie rolls stacked with chargrilled pork strips and pickledvegetables, Candace recapped her uncle’s demands between bites.
Afterwards, Rio asked the obvious question.
“If he’s known this whole time you were working at Bagel Bombs!, why is he making a stink now? Seems like he would have put his foot down sooner.”
“Well,” Candace admitted, “he sent his lackey to try and scare me a little while back. And he’s been calling… threatening in his own, roundabout way by exerting pressure he knew I couldn’t refuse.”
The echoes of disbelief, including Daisy’s unfiltered curses, made her flinch.
“Why didn’t you say anything? You should have told me.”
Daisy hated the whine in her voice. She knew the real issue was that Candace omitted an important piece of information. Instead, Daisy was hurt by the fact that she had not come to her for support.
Candace murmured, “I know. I was stupid.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. You don’t have to deal with these assholes alone.”
Daisy’s instinct was to reach out to Candace’s hunched figure. She chickened out when she remembered their audience and turned the motion into a weird, wiggling gesture as if she were swatting a bug. Thankfully, Candace’s attention was on her plate. It seemed like she might descend into another self-deprecating spiral.
Instead, she took a page out of Daisy’s book and let loose some anger.
“I hate him. I hate that I’m related to him, that I look like any version of him, and that when people think of me, he’s in their head, too. That ugly smile when he knows he’s lying. The way he pretends to be all about family, when it’s really about controlling people’s perception of him because he has amassiveinferiority complex. He’s the fucking worst. A cruel, entitled grifter who has stolen or cheated to get ahead, no matter who he had to hurt.”
There was silence following Candace’s rant. Only the sounds of nature, the cicadas and grasshoppers, along with croaker frogs who lived in the nearby bay reeds, filled the air. Until Rio asked another question.
“I mean… Are there receipts?”
“What?” Candace was confused, but Daisy knew exactly where Rio was going. They always did say that they played rogues in theirDungeons and Dragonssessions.
“We’re bagel people, not blackmailers,” Daisy answered. “He’s not going to have a manila envelope labeled ‘crimes’ lying around.”
Candace made a thoughtful hum as she munched on a bean sprout that had escaped her sandwich. “Maybe nothing that blatant, but… Demi, do you remember those ancient computers we nearly ruined downloading music offLimewire?”
The other woman snorted. “I remember a lot of virus-filled porn. But yeah. Why?”
“The pier office isstillusing them. My uncle hates technology and has always insisted on paper records. His secretary even prints out his emails. It’s possible there’s some kind of paper trail… The problem is knowing what to look for. It’ll have to be something big, enough to make him back off for good without leaving him room to retaliate.”
“So, what…?” Daisy asked with bewilderment that was undercut by averysexy mental image of Candace in a skin-tight spy suit, “You’d be my double agent or something?”
“I suppose you could say that. It’s a long shot, but I don’t know what else we could do. Either I find some real, bottom-of-the-bog muck, or…”
Or, Daisy’s thoughts filled in the blank, they were finished.
“Maybe it’s for the best,” Demi theorized hesitantly, like she was poking at a bruise. “Candace, if you’re a part of this major pier expansion, it could set your career back on track. You might even be able to move back to New York. Isn’t that why you came to Wonderwood in the first place?
