Page 86 of The Christmas Keepsake
Daisy’s expression transformed from carefree to defensive. “So?”
“Did Mallory tell you that I’ve told her to stay away from that exact boy? Hollis Franklin, right? He’s not good for her, Daisy. But instead of acting like a parent, you encouraged your teenage daughter to sneak out.”
“It’s no biggie. I snuck off with boys at her age,” Daisy said with a shrug of her shoulder.
“And you think Mallory should follow in your shoes?” I asked, working to keep my tone as gentle as I could muster.
Fury lit inside her eyes, and I felt myself wanting to shrink away. “Hollis has a troubled past. He’s a good boy, but he has healing to do, Daisy. He’s nowhere near ready to handle Mallory’s heart. And Mallory has healing to do too.”
Daisy shot up from the bar stool she was seated on, nearly knocking it down. “Healing because of me? Because of her crappy mom, right? You’re judging this boy in the same way you’ve always judged me!”
Zero to one-eighty right before my eyes. Proof that Daisy wasn’t ready either. She was acting irrationally. Irresponsibly.
“Being a parent means sometimes you can’t be your child’s friend.” I was no longer talking to Daisy about how she interacted with Mallory. I was also talking about myself and how I had interacted with my child. I wasn’t a perfect parent. I could have been there for Daisy more. Could have been softer. Stricter. A better mix of both. I didn’t think any of her shortcomings were her fault. No, I knew for a fact that they were mine. More than anything, I wanted to help her, but at the moment, I needed to protect my grandchildren.
Hollis Franklin wasn’t the biggest threat in Mallory’s life. Not by a landslide.
Daisy’s eyes burned with tears. Her bottom lip trembled. “Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have told her to sneak out.”
“Mallory has never snuck out before. She’s never broken a rule as far as I can tell,” I said quietly. “She came home with her jacket smelling of cigarette smoke and beer.” I held up my hand. “I don’t think she was smoking or drinking, but she will if she continues hanging out with the wrong crowd and heading down the wrong path.”
“Like me,” Daisy said, the defensiveness gone. She looked more defeated than anything.
“Are you sober?” I’d been reluctant to ask before, but I needed to know. Daisy was an addict. She got hooked on anything that made her feel a tiny bit better in her own skin. Drugs and alcohol. Men.
“No.” She didn’t meet my gaze.
I swallowed hard. If I allowed myself to cry, I might not be strong enough to hold my ground. There were times when parents had to be the villain in order to be the hero. “Then you understand what I have to do.”
“Yeah.” Sniffling, she said, “They won’t understand why I’m doing this to them again. But… I do. I get it. And you’re right.” She rolled her eyes. “Wow. Never thought I’d utter those words.” She looked down at her hand, weaving her fingers together. “Mallory will take this the hardest.”
“She’s strong. Like you.” I was so proud of Daisy in that moment. She was putting her children first. And maybe that meant one day she’d be ready to be a full-time mother.
“I’m not so sure.” Reaching into her pocket, Daisy pulled out a handful of items and laid them on the table. A piece of gum, a business card, a picture of herself with some guy I didn’t recognize, and a ring. “This is all I haveof their fathers. They’ll ask and I wish I could tell them more. Mallory’s father was an actor.” Her gaze flicked to meet mine. “We had feelings. He gave me the ring.”
I noticed now that it was an engagement ring.
“Anyway, he had an accident and, well…”
The pain that struck my heart was immediate. All in a second, I understood that Daisy had fallen in love with a man. She’d been pregnant and she’d faced the same path that I had so long ago.
Picking up the ring, Daisy seemed to admire it one last time. “I said yes, and I was ready to give everything up for him. It didn’t even feel like I was giving up anything. It felt like I was taking on the role of a lifetime.” She looked up at me, my sweet baby girl. “Tell Mallory, one day when she asks, that I loved her father and he was destined to be a star. Tell her that her father was kind and creative. That he was a good man.” She placed the ring in my palm. “And give her this. It’s all I have of his. She should have it.”
I gave her a moment, waiting because there were more items on the table.
“Maddie’s dad was a stagehand. He was witty and strong. I never told him about her. Something told me he was the type of guy who’d do the “honorable thing.” I didn’t want to fall in love. I’d already been there, done that, had the broken heart to show for it. This is his business card, should she ever want to find him.”
“The gum?” I asked.
Daisy surprised me with a smile. “Leo traded me a stick of gum for a kiss.” The way her eyes sparkled, I didn’t need to ask which of the two men was Leo. The look of love is unmistakable.
“The penny?” I asked.
“Maddie’s father. Heads we have sushi. Tails we go back to his place.” Daisy shrugged and stood. “Tails it was. Maddie came nine months later.”
“Better than sushi.”
“I wish I had more to give them.”
