Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) Read online

  “Well I’ll be damned,” Nina mumbled.

  It took Pete three years to give up on his search for her, and still Nina knew part of him remained locked in the past. He shared with her. It all happened in Vegas, what he and Daisy did. A man named Aiden Keane entered their lives and destroyed their love and Pete's faith in Daisy. When Nina heard the story, she had a different take on it. She'd never tell Pete, but for her it wasn’t Aiden Keane that divided him from his first love. It was Daisy. Anybody but Pete could see how starry eyed and money hungry Daisy was. She put down everything in this town along with that motor mouth best friend of hers, Jessiemae.

  Nina was a freshman in college when Pete and Daisy ran away. By the time she returned home, the scandal had lost its hold, and Pete had become one of the walking wounded. It broke her heart that Daisy would treat somebody as sweet natured as Pete that way. From the look of her now, Nina surmised, Daisy was still chasing dollar signs.

  Even in school, things came easy for Ms. Daisy; cutest boy in the Hollow, popular in everything she chose. Daisy Johnson was Ms. Perfect, and they all had to live up to the standard she set. Now her family was in crisis for nearly two weeks and she decides to return? Yes, Nina feared this moment. She started smoking again to try to convince herself it wouldn’t come. But she saw it with her own eyes. Daisy Johnson was back. What would that mean for her and Pete?

  ***

  “I understand. Visiting hours may be over, but I really, um, I have to see him. Please.”

  “I’m sorry. The rules are the rules. Come back in the morning.”

  “I can’t,” Daisy said. Her voice was strained and a little too desperate. She was prepared to beg. She’d given up her pride before, for monetary gain. She’d surely sacrifice it once more for her beloved father.

  Wiping at the sting of moisture building in the corner of her eyes, she chewed on her bottom lip, and then nervously clenched her hands. Why couldn’t she have encountered someone neutral?

  Susanne smirked up at her with a smug look of disapproval and open judgment. She was sure that by morning the rest of Kentucky would know she was home from the mouth of this gossipy bitch. Worst yet, was the accusation in Susanne's eyes, as if her pain was staged. There was no need in guessing; Pete had probably shared with the town what happened between them in Vegas. Yes, this one, Susanne, was related to Pete by marriage. In the Hollow, everybody was related somehow.

  “I can’t let you up on the floor, Daisy. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Susanne. Let me take her to him.”

  Daisy turned to familiar friendly eyes. It was Nina Stevens, a girl she remembered vaguely from high school. She was a year younger, kind-of geeky. Not anymore. She had changed. Nina had toffee brown skin and her hair tapered low to her face and neck with tiny curls. She was an inch or two shorter than Daisy. Somewhere along the way, Nina had ditched the thick glasses to reveal her best feature, her hazel brown eyes. Dressed in pale blue hospital scrubs, Daisy assumed she worked there. They weren’t friends. In fact, Daisy was almost certain she and Jessiemae made fun of her and a few other girls like her during their mean girl days. Hopefully, time had healed any grudges Nina might carry.

  “Hi, Nina.”

  “Hi, Daisy. Come with me.”

  Susanne shot up off her stool, knocking it over. “Nina… you know that Bea won’t allow it.”

  “I said it’s okay. I’ll clear it with Bea.” She tossed back over her shoulder, giving Daisy an understanding nod. It was a touch of kindness that Daisy was ever so grateful for, because it helped to ease the pressure pounding at the back of her skull. Her flight into Louisville was exhausting. The ride to Hollow Creek was equally draining. Being turned away would have certainly killed her.

  Nina pressed the button to the elevator. Together they stood, shoulder-to-shoulder, in silence and boarded the same way.

  “How is he?” Daisy finally asked.

  “He hasn’t come out of his coma.”

  Daisy said nothing more. She just stared ahead. She could feel Nina's eyes on her.

  “He’s a hero,” Nina spoke up.

  “He saved a lot of people. I read that.” Daisy stopped herself. She sure as hell didn’t want to share that she visited The Hollow Creek Tribune weekly via the Internet to see what was going on in her hometown.

  “Oh, yes. He saved my cousin too. He wouldn’t stop until he got them all out. Even went around the firemen. They don’t know what caused the fire. Bible study that night was in the basement and choir practice in the sanctuary. Many were trapped, but all got out. It’s Reverend Johnson who saw to it. We all love him, Daisy.”

  The elevator doors parted.

  “Me too,” Daisy said, sadly. “Me too.”

  Daisy hoped she wouldn’t have to be paraded before others who would regard her with the same silent shock that Susanne gave.

  “Let’s go this way,” Nina smiled. As if she read her mind, Daisy followed. Together they walked down the halls, her heels clicking over the linoleum squares polished to a shine. It was the only sound between them, that and her racing heartbeat that thundered in her ears.

  “Take all the time you need.”

  “Thank you,” Daisy mumbled, never looking her way. She pushed open the door and went inside.

  Chapter Two

  Charles Johnson was a strong man. Daisy forced herself to remember that strength. He was also a loving father. She recalled how she and her sisters would sneak in their parent’s bedroom. Daddy would be asleep, mouth open, snoring. Mama would be downstairs in the kitchen baking. Daisy was given the task of being the lookout. She'd put her fingers under her father's nose to feel him breathing as they searched his favorite chair in the room. It was the one he sat in on Saturday evenings and wrote his sermons. Her sisters would dig between the seat cushions to collect loose change, then hot tail it over to Ms. Ana’s for a frozen cup and penny bubble gum.

  He’d come downstairs later and say:

  “Martha?”

  “What is it, Charles?”

  “Think we got a squirrel in the house.”

  “Why’s that Charles?”

  “Something round here digging in between the pillows of the chairs. That’s why.”

  “Interesting, Charles.”

  Daisy and her sisters would giggle. They’d laugh and run out of the back screen porch swearing they fooled him. She remembered every sweet experience with her family. The thoughts ranged from popping bubblegum and drawing a new game of hopscotch in the dirt to playing with bottle caps.

  I remember daddy. Daisy closed her eyes. When she opened them, she forced herself to take comfort in the fact he was there, alive. “Hi, daddy.”

  She walked toward the bed. Thankfully, he wasn’t connected to too many tubes. There was only an IV in his hand and some wired pads on his chest under the covers. He was breathing on his own. The papers said that he was in a coma. How did that happen? Why would God put his mighty disciple to sleep?

  “Look at you. Got ‘em all fooled, huh?” She set her purse down at the foot of the bed. Charles Johnson made no movement. He lay perfectly still with skin ashen and pale and his coal black hair now a knotted mass of grey that grew down his long sideburns over his cheek. Five years had changed him and aged him, or was it she that added years to his life by staying away?

  “I've missed you, daddy. Every day. It feels so good to see you again.” She moved around the bed to where his hand lay. Easing hers under his cool palm, she gently stroked his skin. “There’s so much I want to say to you. I hope you can hear me.”

  Her voice faltered. She swallowed and tried to steady it. “I never meant to disappoint you. I never meant to hurt you and mama. Things got confusing, and I was so ashamed. I should have handled it differently. Now all I want is a chance to explain myself to you, to pray again with you. I want to hear you say it will be okay.”

  Daisy’s eyes swept his still form. The thin blanket was tucked around him. Daisy watched his chest rising and falling from h
is uneven breaths. Can he hear me? She couldn’t share her burden, her secrets, and stress him that way. How would that be just? But there were so many things unsaid between them.

  “I do pray, daddy, every day. Just like you taught me. I got a blessing from my prayers too. A little girl. Her name is Amy. Oh daddy, she is so much like me. Stubborn!” Daisy smiled. “She’s why I didn’t come home. Not because I didn’t want her to know you, daddy. The truth is, I didn't want her to know me. I couldn't bear for Amy to learn how selfish I was to leave you behind and mock the things you taught me. It took some time but I learned a lot. I know who I am, and who I'm not. How can I make you understand? I don't know. All I can say is, I grew up. And I love you so very much. "

  She dropped her head and sighed. There was little comfort in squeezing a listless hand. What she would give to have him hold her just once more, call her his sweet pea and tell her that the Lord didn’t make mistakes. People did, and all could be forgiven. Her sweet daddy. How she ached for him.

  Daisy’s voice lifted once more. “I’ve changed. I have my own business. I did it on my own. You should see my company, my house."

  “Daisy?”

  With a jolt, she looked to the room door. It was her mother. Daisy had intentionally waited until she thought she saw her drive away from the hospital. She had planned to stay in the shadows to be sure that this reunion wouldn't happen. But there she was.

  “Mama? I didn’t know you were here.”

  Martha Johnson looked her daughter over with equal shock. "I left my blood pressure medicine so I came back... I don't believe it." The light of compassion in her usually kind eyes darkened with anger. In a flash, her face tightened with disapproval

  “Hi, mama.” Daisy circled the hospital bed. Her mother stepped back, staring at her coolly. The look on her mother’s face stopped Daisy cold.

  Martha Johnson narrowed her eyes and dropped both hands to her hips. “What are you doing here?”

  “Huh?”

  “You heard me. What are you doing in here!” she demanded in a hushed yet angry tone.

  “I came, um, too—”

  “To brag? I heard you. Standing there telling your daddy how better off you are since you abandoned our family, broke his heart. Broke my heart.” Martha clutched her chest.

  “No, I wasn't.”

  “Shut up! Not another word, Daisy! I don’t want you lying and weaving those tales over his sick bed. Have some respect!”

  Daisy watched in horror as tears dropped from her mother’s eyes, angry, unforgiving tears. The kind a mother should never shed for her child.

  “Five years, and you didn’t call, write, nothing. For five years I watched your father pray for you and weep over your foolish thoughtless ways. He begged the good Lord to send us a sign that you were okay. Five years! And it takes for him to be at deaths door for you get dressed up and parade your yella tail in here. I oughta knock you back to where you came from. Thank you Lord that Charles can’t see what you’ve become!”

  Daisy slowly shook her head. “I couldn’t come because—”

  “Really? Pete came home. He’s been up in here seeing the man who gave you life! I hear tales all over town how you run off and leave him for some rich white man? How you’re his… his whore!”

  “Not true.”

  “Look at you,” Martha said, shaking her head in disgust. She swept her gaze over her daughter's attire and the scowl lines around her mouth deepened. Daisy felt dirty, unclean, unworthy under that stare. “My God!” Martha covered her mouth, shaking her head in disappointment.

  “Mama, please. You don’t understand. Things happened to me. Something remarkable.”

  "Remarkable? How dare you!" Martha put up her hand to stop her. “I don’t want to hear it. All your life you were selfish and thankless. Charles spoiled you and I let it go. Who am I to interfere with a father’s love? But look at you! Just look at you! I tried with you, Daisy. Your father tried hard, but we weren’t good enough. Life in the Hollow wasn’t good enough. Is it better for you now?”

  “Mama stop. You never listened to me. Not ever. I have so much to tell you and I don't even know how. Can we not fight? I came a long way. I’ve been so worried about daddy. Please, can we do this later?” Daisy begged. “I love you and daddy. I love Hollow Creek. I dreamed about this place everyday. I wanted to come home. I really did.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  Daisy froze. The lump in the center of her chest rose to her throat. Her breath hitched and the words failed. She held to her secret. It was how she protected her daughter under an intricate web of lies. And God help her, she wanted to unburden her soul. But her mother looked at her with such disappointment. How could she? How could she tell her all she’d done and the price she paid? Now, as a mother herself, with a daughter she loved more than life, she had to make the wrong choices for the right reasons.

  “Get out. Go back to your fancy life. Give your father some peace… you think he wants to know his daughter is nothing more than whatever you are now. You Jezebel!”

  Daisy picked up her purse. She opened it and removed a business card; flipped it over and penned her home and cellular number. “When daddy wakes up, can you call me? I just want to know he’s okay.”

  Martha stared at her daughter but refused the card. Daisy laid it on the tray next to her father’s bed. “Mama, he’s strong. A fighter. He made us all that way. I know I disappointed you and him,” she said as she looked back to her father. “But I’m still your daughter, and I love you both.”

  Martha closed her eyes. Daisy couldn’t stand to see her mother in pain. She couldn’t stand to see her father suffering. In that moment, she knew Pete was right. Hollow Creek was no longer her home. The damage was done.

  “Bye, Mama.”

  She walked toward the door but stopped at her mother’s side. “I’m so glad to see you again.”

  Then she left. She did so quickly because the moment she reached the hall the tears exploded from her eyes. She nearly crumbled under the weight of them. When she looked up, she saw Nina at the other end. A concerned look was on her face. Daisy turned from it and went the other way, desperate to leave the Hollow once more.

  ****

  “Mrs. Johnson?” Nina said, her head half way in the door. Martha sat at her husband’s side, weeping, but stroking his hand. Her head turned slowly and her glazed over eyes met with Nina’s. “Don’t you ever let another person in this room without my approval.”

  “Yes, mam.”

  Martha rose from the chair. She wiped the traces of tears from her cheeks. Nina could see the slight tremble to the matriarch’s hand. She stopped and looked at the card resting on the tray. Picking it up, she frowned at what was scribbled on it, shook her head, tossed it to the trashcan and then walked out. Curious, Nina fished out the card.

  Jahi Salon and Spa

  Danielle Locke CEO

  555-343-5993 office

  555-234-9983 fax

  “Who is Danielle Locke?” She sniffed the card. It smelled expensive and faintly like Daisy. Turning it over, she saw scribbled on the back another number with the words, I love you, Daisy.

  Nina looked to the sleeping minister and slipped the card into her pocket, an action she would regret days later.

  Chapter Three

  Daisy closed the door. She punched in the alarm code in the keypad and set it to ‘off’. The open foyer led to a sunken living room that faced windows that gave a brilliant view of the Pacific Ocean. She had driven the entire night out of Hollow Creek to Louisville and boarded the next plane home. She couldn’t wait to put miles between her and the past. Walking through her million dollar beach house, she stopped and smiled. Clara was curled up on the couch.

  “Hey, Sleeping Beauty.”

  Clara blinked awake and stretched. “You’re back?” she said, confused.

  “Thanks for this, Clara.”

  “No problem,” she yawned. “Everything okay?”

  “Yea
h, why?” Daisy asked, avoiding her eyes.

  “I dunno. You ran out of here like the devil was chasing you. Never seen you so upset. You said you weren’t coming back for a few days… then you call and say you were on your way home. I waited up but fell asleep.”

  “I’m fine. I’m tired. And we got plenty work to do. I’m going to go shower. How was she?” Daisy asked shedding her suit jacket.

  “She’s your daughter. You know how she was,” Clara chuckled.

  Daisy smiled. “True.”

  She climbed the steps slowly, a winding open stair that led to the lofty top level of her home, which overlooked the lower half. When Amy first started walking and crawling, Daisy would have nightmares of her baby falling down them. Now her little darling commanded this place.

  She went directly to her room. The door was ajar. Slowly, she eased it open. Immediately, she felt the love that had sustained her for so many years. Sweet Pea was definitely a good name for her. Amy slept in a sea of pink and yellow. Her canopy bed had a mini crib next to it where her dolls slept. Daisy stopped to pick up tossed aside books and crayons on the floor. Amy was reading and writing words, or so she thought by the way she scribbled. She kicked off her shoes and eased into the tiny toddler bed. Lying next to her daughter, she kissed her nose.

  “Hi, mommy,” Amy yawned. “Time for school already?”

  Daisy smiled. “What if we skipped school and went to the zoo today?”

  “Skip school?” Amy’s eyes stretched open. The brilliant color that changed from hazel to green on any given day sparkled like lights on a Christmas tree at the news. She was in Pre-K, but Amy behaved as if she was in her first year of college. Daisy marveled at how confident and smart her angel was. “Why?” Amy asked, suspecting a trip to the doctors.