A Week Till the Wedding (23 page)

There wouldn’t be room for everything, though, and she didn’t want her new home to look exactly like the old one. It wouldn’t look new at all, if that was the case. And oh, she really needed
new
. A fresh start, a new life. She’d decided that was such a good idea, and now it terrified her. Just a little.

Daisy lifted her head when she heard a car pull into her driveway. The engine was unfamiliar. Funny how it didn’t take long to identify the particular sound of a car. It wasn’t Lily’s car, not Mari’s truck, not Jacob’s rental—thank goodness. Who else could it be? If the real estate agent wanted to show the house, he really should’ve called first. A pile of knickknacks on the living room floor wasn’t exactly proper staging.

She stood and went to the window, brushing her dusty hands on her shorts as she went, and pulled back the curtain to peek outside. The car parked behind hers was a large black sedan, a few years old but in pristine condition. The black paint shone, the chrome grill sparkled, as if no bug would dare to die there.

Caleb Tasker stepped out of the driver’s side of the tank of a car that was parked in the driveway, and Daisy’s heart did a sick flip. Had Jacob sent him? No, that would be so unlike Jacob, to send someone else to do his dirty work for him. Well, unless this was a new MO for him. Maybe the business hotshot ordered people to do his dirty work all the time. She couldn’t imagine Caleb stopping by to chat with her; they didn’t know one another well at all. All they had in common was Jacob.

The rear passenger door opened, and Miss Vivian stepped out. She wore a Sunday dress and her hair was braided. Not as neatly as if Daisy had done the job, but she had made an effort.

Daisy was surprised. She never would’ve guessed either of the two of them would come to see her at the house, and together? No way. Had Miss Vivian called Caleb and asked him to give her a ride to town? Did she think Daisy would leave without saying goodbye?

The big surprise came when Caleb opened the front passenger door and assisted an unsteady Eunice Tasker from the vehicle.

Daisy let the curtain drop. Of all the people she didn’t want to see right now, Miss Eunice was second only to Jacob. Maybe if she’d taken one of the phone calls from the Tasker House earlier in the day, she wouldn’t have Miss Eunice knocking on her door.

It took several minutes for the doorbell to ring. Daisy stood in the center of the room, away from the window and the door. She seriously considered not answering the door, the way she hadn’t answered the phone. She didn’t want to be a coward, even if she felt very cowardly at the moment.

She finally took a deep breath and walked to the door, just as the doorbell sounded again. Just because they were on her front porch, that didn’t mean she had to invite them in. This was still her house. She’d find out what they wanted, then coolly and calmly send them all on their way.

“Thank goodness,” Miss Eunice said breathlessly as the door swung open. “I desperately need to sit.”

Caleb supported her on one side, Miss Vivian on the other. The unsteady woman really did look as if she were about to fall.

Daisy held the door open and allowed the three to walk inside. So much for her grand plan of sending them away! The two on either side of Miss Eunice led her to the nearest chair, where she sat carefully and with evident relief. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and sank down into the chair. Finally she opened her eyes and looked directly at Daisy.

“Vivian has insisted that I
walk,
” Eunice said with disdain.

“She’s got no strength in her legs at all,” Vivian said.

“It’s hard!” Eunice argued.

“Well, it’ll only get harder if you don’t move.”

“She made me exercise and watch
baseball,
” Eunice grumbled, pursing her lips in evident displeasure.

Vivian responded. “The exercise is good for you, and trust me, baseball will grow on you.”

The two women bickered like sisters. It was very odd. And why did they have to bicker
here?

“May I help you?” Daisy asked formally. That seemed better than what she really wanted to say.
What the hell do you want
?

Eunice looked up at her grandson. “Caleb, go wait in the car.”

Caleb couldn’t get out of the house fast enough. He did cast Daisy an apologetic glance, but there was too much humor in his eyes for her to believe he was truly sympathetic. When he was gone, Miss Eunice looked at Daisy again. Her eyes were hard, inflexible, which made her words all the more surprising.

“I’m sorry.” The simple words were clipped and emotionless.

Daisy didn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing.

“For...” Vivian nudged gently.

“For interfering, for lying, for basically sticking my nose in where it didn’t belong.” Eunice’s words were sharp. Apologizing was obviously a new experience for her. She wasn’t very good at it, and she had to follow up with a qualifier. “But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t right. You and Jacob do have feelings for one another, and if I hadn’t done what I did you’d never know.”

I don’t want to know.

“Tell her the rest,” Vivian urged.

“If you’ll stay, I’ll let you remain in your space downtown rent free.”

“Eunice!” Vivian snapped.

The woman in the chair waved a dismissive hand. “Fine, I’ll give it to you, free and clear. I’ll put that entire side of downtown Bell Grove in your name and you can do with it what you please. If you stay, of course. I considered just calling off the deal to buy the property, but I understand that’s not what you want.”

Daisy shook her head. “I’m leaving town, and nothing you say or do will change my mind.” And the truth was, she didn’t want anything from the Taskers. She tried to sound tough and uncaring as she added, “I don’t care what you do with that building.” What she didn’t say was
Choke on it
.

She looked at Vivian, who was obviously a part of this ridiculous scheme because she wanted Daisy to stay. “Don’t worry, Miss Vivian. There are lots of other volunteers, and I’ll make arrangements for someone else to get your groceries and take you to the doctor.”

“I can drive myself.”

Daisy shook her head. “Miss Vivian, I’ve seen you drive. Please let me make other arrangements.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Eunice said sharply. “Vivian will soon be moving into Tasker House.”

“I don’t think so,” Vivian grumbled.

Eunice didn’t back down. “Lurlene is getting on in years and she needs some help. With Vivian as my live-in companion, Lurlene will have more free time. And I’ll have someone around who makes me do things others won’t.”

“Like exercising,” Vivian said.

“And apologizing,” Eunice added. “There’s always someone around to drive, so we can save the county from Vivian’s dreadful attempts behind the wheel. Besides, we get the Braves games in that High Definition television. Vivian likes that. She likes looking at the players’ butts in those tight pants.”

“Eunice!” Vivian actually blushed a bit.

“Well, it’s true enough. Besides, I don’t like the idea of her living out there in the middle of nowhere all alone.”

“I’m not alone. I have Buster.”

Daisy didn’t feel the need to walk on eggs, not with these two. “I thought y’all hated each other!”

“We got over it,” Vivian said. “Life is too short to spend it wallowing in regret. Mistakes were made on both sides, but we’ve decided to move on. It’s not like either one of us has so many friends left that we can throw one over in the name of spite.”

Eunice gave Daisy her full attention once again. “So, will you consider staying?”

Daisy shook her head.

“Think it over,” Miss Vivian said. “You’ll be missed if you leave. Bell Grove won’t be the same without you. You’re the last of the Bells here and that means something.”

Eunice looked squarely at Daisy, her old eyes still strong and smart. “Tell me you don’t love Jacob. If you can do that, I’ll walk away and never bother you again.”

Daisy opened her mouth, fully intending to say the words, to tell Miss Eunice, and herself, that she didn’t love Jacob. Didn’t need him, didn’t want him. But she choked on the unspoken words. They lodged in her throat, left her helpless and scared. She did love him, but what good had that done her?

The old woman nodded once, satisfied.

Vivian went to the front door, opened it and called to Caleb. Together they assisted Eunice from the chair and held on to her as they moved across the porch and down the stairs—carefully and slowly—and finally into the car. Daisy stood on the porch for a long time after the car had driven away.

She left her piles of stuff sitting on the living room floor, unsorted and unpacked, and sat in the front porch rocker. When she moved to Atlanta, there would be no quiet moments like this one. Atlanta was always hopping; there were so many
people
there. At the same time, she knew moving on was the right decision.

She also admitted, reluctantly, that she was still in love with Jacob and probably always would be. Tasker or not, lousy white knight, horrible guitar player who had the bad judgment to wear suits in Bell Grove in the summertime...she loved him. That was the reason she suffered doubts about moving away, that was why starting over in Atlanta practically gave her hives.

In her heart she had never imagined she’d leave Bell Grove and start over without him.

* * *

Jacob returned to Tasker House, moving back into his room and avoiding family members as he did what needed to be done. In between phone calls and long emails, he attempted to play the guitar that had been sitting in his closet for seven years. He’d lost his touch, and he had no calluses on his fingers, but there was something there, still. If he made the effort, if he practiced regularly, he’d soon be playing again. He’d never play in public, but that had never been his ambition anyway. He just wanted to make music, now and then.

He hadn’t taken the guitar with him to San Francisco, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t have bought another guitar there. He hadn’t done that. He’d given up the pastime, years ago, maybe because he had never been all that good at playing, maybe because he would never be more than adequate when it came to music.

How many nights had he played for Daisy while she’d sung along? After class, before bed, in the middle of the night...in their rare spare time, while they’d pursued an education. She sang as badly as he played, just slightly out of tune and with the occasional missed lyric or note. And yet, those had been good times. Maybe the best.

When his fingers gave out, Jacob returned the guitar to the case that had been sitting in his closet for the past seven years. He opened the small compartment built into the case for picks, and found something else he’d stored there. Something else he’d packed away and all but forgotten.

He had a lot to relearn, after spending seven years chasing a career that had been financially rewarding while it suffocated everything else in his life. More than playing the guitar and getting grease under his fingernails and learning to deal with his dysfunctional family more than once every five years. He’d gotten so sucked into the corporate lifestyle he’d forgotten that there was more to be had from life. Much more. He’d set the most important aspects of life to the side.

It was almost dark when he made the final arrangements and left the house, headed into Bell Grove to make the most important deal of his lifetime.

* * *

Daisy sat on the couch, numb and lost. She didn’t turn on the television, didn’t pack her suitcase...didn’t fix herself supper, trying to use up the rest of the fresh food in the kitchen. There were still three piles of stuff on the floor. The pile of things to throw away was dismally small, but time was running out and she had to get busy.

Yeah, time was really running out. The house had sold. She’d hoped it would, of course, but houses didn’t move that quickly in Bell Grove and she’d expected to have more time. Time to get ready, maybe even time to change her mind. She couldn’t even turn the offer down, because it was for more than she’d asked. The buyer hadn’t even bothered to look at the inside of the house! The real estate agent was thrilled. Two offers on his listings in one day had put him over the moon.

She wondered who else had sold their home, who else, besides her, was leaving Bell Grove.

She was so tempted to get in her car and drive out to Tasker House, see if Jacob was still there. If she found him there, would she be brave enough to tell him what she really felt? Was she brave enough to go after what she wanted?

Maybe
she
could be the white knight.

No, he’d said he wasn’t going to stay. He was probably back in California, already putting the disastrous events of his trip home behind him.

Everything hadn’t been disastrous...

When the car pulled into her driveway, her heart skipped a beat. Her ear for engines—thanks to her dad—told her that was Jacob’s rental car. As she had earlier in the day when Miss Eunice had come calling, she sat there and considered not answering the doorbell when it rang. What could he possibly want? Had he left something behind? A razor, a toothbrush...
her?

She waited, and waited, but the doorbell didn’t ring.

After several minutes she heard the muted strum of a guitar, the sound faded since the windows and doors were closed, but unmistakable. One slightly out of tune guitar playing a tune that reminded her vaguely of mariachi music. And playing badly.

She sat there a moment, her emotions in a jumble, then jumped off the couch and ran for the front door and the porch just beyond.

Jacob sat on the steps, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, his back to her as he gave his full attention to the less-than-perfect notes. He didn’t turn to look at her, though he must’ve heard her. She hadn’t tried to be quiet, didn’t try to sneak up on him.

Looking at his back, and the slightly mussed dark hair and the cut of his shoulders, a certainty washed over her. Certainty and relief and a sense of being whole for the first time in a very long time. He’d broken her heart and made her love him all over again. His family was big and interfering and, simply put, a pain in the ass. He might break her heart all over again, if she gave him the chance.