But she’d been raised to do the right thing, so despite the voice in her head screaming at her to run, she turned toward the guest suite. With a little luck, Cassidy would be asleep and she could slip out without waking her.
But Daisy’s luck had apparently run out. Not only was Cassidy awake, she was sitting up in bed, her hands over her face as she cried into several tissues.
Daisy stood in the doorway to the bedroom, not sure what to do. Her instinct was to run far and fast. Her compassion told her to find out what was wrong and the rest of her just wanted a big glass of wine and a brownie.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, doing her best to keep her voice low and comforting. “Are you late on your pain meds?”
Cassidy lowered her hands and stared at Daisy. “What?” she asked, wiping her blotchy face.
“Are you in pain? Should I get the nurse?”
“No.” Cassidy sniffed again. “I told her to take a break. She’s downstairs, I guess.” The tears returned. “Nothing hurts more than usual. It’s my life that’s screwed up. I mess up everything I touch and I’m a failure.”
Daisy reluctantly walked into the room and took the bedside chair. “That’s the drugs talking. You’re not a failure. You’re a travel writer with a great life. You get to see the world, you live in Miami. What’s not to like?”
Cassidy pulled more tissues out of the box and blew her nose. “No one cares about me. I could die tomorrow and no one would miss me.”
Daisy did her best not to roll her eyes. “That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think? People care. You have family.”
She wanted to say that she cared, but she couldn’t quite spit out the lie. She and Cassidy hadn’t been close in decades. Come to think of it, Daisy didn’t much like Sage, either. Which probably meant she was a horrible person.
“I don’t know your kids,” Cassidy wailed. “I should know them.”
It took Daisy a second to catch up to the conversation. “You don’t know them because you don’t spend time with them and you live across the country. That’s circumstances, not a statement about who you are as a person. You’re welcome to get to know them, if you’d like.” Although she honestly hoped Cassidy was just in a mood and the need to bond with Ben and Krissa would pass.
Cassidy nodded. “That’s true. I could do that. I wonder if they’d like me. Do they know I never liked you? Did you tell them?”
Daisy reminded herself that this, too, was the drugs talking and that she shouldn’t take the comment personally, but before she could figure out how to respond, Cassidy kept talking.
“Did that come out wrong? I don’t mean it in a bad way.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
Cassidy didn’t seem to get the sarcasm. “It’s just you were always monitoring me, like you were my mom or something. You’re not my mom.”
Daisy felt the first flashes of anger and did her best to ignore them.
“No, I’m not your mother. I was always clear on that. Did it ever occur to you that I was looking out for you because I cared?”
Cassidy stared at her blankly. “No.”
She’d wanted them to be close—to be sisters who had a real bond between them, but after the divorce Cassidy had only had room in her heart for Sage. Everyone else had come in second—except for Daisy, who didn’t even get a ranking.
“I was trying to take care of you because I didn’t want you to feel alone or scared. You were a little girl and your family was being torn apart. I thought that might upset you so I tried to make sure you were all right.”
She thought about pointing out she knew exactly how it felt to be rejected in her own home. When Wallace had married Joanne, Daisy had been so excited to get a stepmom and a stepsister. She’d fantasized about how they would all do things together when it wasn’t just her and her dad. But that had never happened.
On her best days, Joanne had been indifferent, and on her worst, she’d taken great delight in tormenting Daisy—sometimes physically. Joanne spoke fluent French and had taught the language to Sage. The two of them would have long conversations, excluding Daisy, except when they said something she couldn’t understand, pointed at her and laughed.
At school, where Daisy struggled to make friends and fit in, Sage had instantly become one of the popular girls. There had been a simple rule—you couldn’t hang out with Sage if you admitted to liking Daisy. There’d been no escape when the school day ended because Sage had taken great delight in inviting Daisy’s tormentors home to play. Daisy had been alone in her room, listening to them having fun.
When Cassidy had been born, Daisy had hoped to finally find, if not an ally, then at least a friend, but that hadn’t lasted.
Cassidy balled up the used tissues and tossed them on the floor. “Don’t pretend that you’re nice, because you’re not. You never were.”
“Is this where I point out you’re convalescing in my house, sleeping on a hospital bed I rented specifically for you, cared for by nurses I hired? Hmm, wouldn’t my actions be the definition of nice?”
Cassidy stared at her blankly.
“Why do I even try?” Daisy asked aloud as she stood. “Good night, Cassidy. I hope you feel better soon.”
With that, she retreated to the other end of the long hallway and shut the door behind her. She told herself she was an adult, with friends and resources, and what did it matter if Cassidy didn’t like her? It didn’t hurt—not at all.
But there was no comfort in the lies.
* * *
Sage wanted to be patient, but she was tired, hungry and thinking that coming back to Los Angeles had been a really stupid idea. She should have started over somewhere no one knew her. Then she wouldn’t get her feelings hurt by some stupid guy, and her sister wouldn’t be texting her every fifteen minutes for the past two days, begging Sage to come see her. Which she had. Again.
“You have got to stop,” she said, letting her irritation show in her voice. “I mean it, Cassidy. This is ridiculous.”
It was nearly nine in the evening. Sage had worked a full day and she was due back in the store by eleven the next morning. With Vivian on vacation, Sage was getting more hours, which meant more chances to make commission.
“But I need you here,” her sister said, grabbing her hand. “Please stay with me for a little bit.”
“I need to get home and eat something. I have to be back at work in the morning.”
“Esmerelda can make you something,” Cassidy told her. “She won’t mind. Then you can stay with me.”