Page 41 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes

Daisy

N orman had an epilepsy-induced seizure. He was alive, but he had been hospitalized thanks to a head injury he sustained during his fall.

Daisy only found out days later, when she called the local senior center to check up on the man after his unusual absence from the cafe. The very next call she made was to Candace, who now sat at her kitchen table consoling her.

“It’s going to be alright,” she soothed. Her palm worked circles around Daisy’s back, alternating from little to big. Drawing goosebumps along their path, shifting thoughts from concern to—

No , Daisy thought. She thrust up from the table, away from Candace. Why did she call her? She was frustrated with her and this infuriating hot-and-cold dance.

Daisy knew she was not wrong; there was still something between them. She dropped so many hints about her feelings, tried to force the truth out of Candace, but the woman pretended to be oblivious.

Then, when Daisy gave what she hoped would finally get her intentions across, Candace responded with more distance. She said that she was tired, but was that all it was? Had Daisy pushed her too hard?

It was difficult for Daisy to make sense of any of it. So, like always, she threw herself into work. With or without Candace, BagelBombs! was turning into the success Daisy’s parents wanted it to be. These last few weeks should have been a victory lap for her.

Even so, the news about Norman sent Daisy spiraling. Rio was away for a science coop, and Dotty was sweet but too batty herself to be helpful in stressful situations. As thoughts of guilt and traumatic memories clawed their way to the surface, Daisy needed a lifeline.

The one she reached for was Candace.

Forcing all that aside, Daisy told her, “I need you to take me to visit him.”

“What? But isn’t he at Mainside Hospital… Off-island?”

Candace whispered the last word like it was a curse. The concern in her gaze was too real.

Growling, Daisy shot back, “I know. But he doesn’t have any other family. I’m all he’s got, and he’s just been sitting there alone in that room, thinking no one cares. He came to visit me after my parents. He’s been there for me this whole time. I need to do this.”

“Oh, Daisy…”

“Look, I don’t want to ask for help, but I don’t have a car. If you could… I mean, if it’s not too weird…”

With her eyes squeezed shut, her mind going a million miles a second, Daisy did not realize Candace got to her feet until she felt the woman in front of her. The hands that clasped hers were warm and already holding keys.

The truth of Daisy’s golf cart was that she did not do well in the confined space of cars. Windows up, doors shut and locked, she felt like a caged animal. The panic would grow and grow until she was ready to burst.

This time was no different.

The soft suede of Candace’s passenger seat filled Daisy’s fists as she held the sides in a death-grip.

She tried to measure her breathing like she’d been taught, but each one came in faster.

A raking ripple pulled down her spine as she listened to the tires scrape along the asphalt.

She could sense Candace glance over at her from the driver’s seat, however, her vision stayed locked straight ahead.

Wonderwood’s main street passed by on either side, with the bridge on the horizon coming closer and closer.

“Daisy,” Candace asked, “do you want me to stop? I can pull over and we can—”

“No,” she forced out through gritted teeth. “Keep going.”

Reading Daisy’s mind, Candace rolled the windows down. It helped. The dual blast of cold AC air and hot August humidity shocked her senses. Even so, as their car joined the single-lane queue towards the bridge, she felt like invisible walls were closing in.

The gentle incline of the ascending road might as well have been a ninety degree angle.

Any second, they would reach the point of no return.

She was going upupup ; just a little more and she would fall back, straight down into the bay .

Thoughts of her parents, horrific visions of their final moments, played on repeat in her mind’s eye .

Air came in, but Daisy could not hold it. Great, gulping gasps wracked her body. She clamped her eyes shut, unable to look any longer.

The car sped up. A series of horns made Daisy squeeze her eyes even tighter. Then, the car stopped.

Completely.

Not over the bridge, but at a pull-off right beforehand.

It was a tiny beach, popular with crabbers like Marin and her fisher friends.

With cars rushing past on the bridge overhead and some old, industrial buildings nearby, it was not the most picturesque spot.

For Daisy, it was like making beautiful landfall during a torrential storm.

Relief warred with the adrenaline surging inside Daisy. She demanded, “What are you doing? I told you to keep going!”

“But you seemed–”

“I’m fine!”

“You and I have very different definitions of ‘fine.’ This isn’t a Band-Aid you can just tear off.”

Candace reached for Daisy’s hand over the center console. Daisy snatched it away.

“You’re not a fucking therapist.”

“No, not with what you’re paying me. I’m your partner, which means I’m here to help. But, please, don’t ask me to help you hurt yourself. I can’t do that.”

The authority in her voice was so absolute, so very Candace , it brought Daisy back to herself. She touched her cheeks and realized they were wet with tears. Wiping them, she slumped back against the seat with exhaustion.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you. This is so embarrassing.”

“It’s alright,” Candace told her with gentle acceptance. “I’m glad you did. And there’s nothing embarrassing about facing your fears for someone you care about.”

Out of the corner of her eyes, Daisy chanced a glance at Candace.

The woman was back to wearing her business wardrobe.

Which, if Daisy were being honest, part of her had missed.

Today, Candace was dressed in the same outfit she had worn on her first day working at Bagel Bombs!

, flared white slacks and a lavender sleeveless button-down shell.

She swore she was not ogling the subtle swell of chest. But a glimmer between Candace’s bosom caught Daisy’s eye. Sweet, savor-worthy relief washed over her as she realized what the object was.

“You kept it.”

“Of course I kept it! It’s my favorite gift anyone has ever given me. Just don’t tell Demi. She spent a fortune on those Lady Gaga tickets for us.”

Daisy did not reply. She stared at the sea glass pendant dangling from that eye-catching gold ribbon around Candace’s neck, and her mind wandered to distant shores.

After a beat, Candace asked, “Would you… be willing to try something else?”

Daisy cocked an eyebrow, feeling too drained to muster a front. Did she look like she could try something else? Maybe, with Candace, she could.

“I trust you.”

A small, satisfied smile curled the woman’s lips. “Let me make a call.”

To Daisy’s chagrin, the call Candace made was to her former ‘date’ and local narc, Ted Cando. They met him close by at some residential docks set along the bay.

Prior to his latching onto Candace, the last time Daisy saw him, he’d given her a ticket for smoking a legal joint behind the cafe. Now, he greeted her like they were old friends .

“Hey there, Zee! Long time no see! I hear you gals need a lift?”

“Yo, Cando. Yeah, you could say that. But wait… You mean for us to ride in that ?”

Daisy crossed her arms. Her gaze bounced between Candace and the old police boat she expected to make it across the bay. To be fair, it was not the worst vessel Daisy ever saw. Ted seemed to clean his boat, at least. But this was her grand plan?

“Just think about it,” Candace urged. “We’ll wear life jackets, no bridges or heights. If you fall in, we’ll fish you back out. Easy peasy.”

Ted suggested, “But maybe don’t fall out. It’s a choppy one.”

Candace shot the man a searing look that would have made Daisy laugh at any other point. Numb terror won, stealing her voice as she considered the wild proposition.

Around them, it was a regular summer day.

Families loaded up with hoagie and beer-packed coolers bustled past them on the bobbing dock, heading for their own boats.

A little girl wearing rainbow unicorn swimmers charged past. Dogs trotted about unleashed.

This was no fancy marina, but more of a working-class shove-off point.

For everyone else, it was a fun, sunny occasion.

Daisy locked eyes with Candace’s assessing eyes. “Alright. But if I go overboard, I’m taking you with me. Partner.”

“Naturally.”

The boat itself was a simple craft, with driver and passenger bucket seats portside behind the wheel and center console. Its belly was flanked by bench seating, and there was a single fisher’s perch on a platform atop the stern.

Nestled within their blocky life jackets, Daisy and Candace settled on the bench. The woman might have gone to the other side for weight distribution. However, with her hand trapped in Daisy’s vise-grip, they sat thigh-to-thigh. She squeezed back.

In the driver’s seat, wearing aviators and a beat-up rotary volunteer club shirt, Ted flicked the radio on. Buffeted by salt wind, they made their way.

The final notes of a divorced dad rock classic, Drops of Jupiter, played out over the radio. Ted had on Wonderwood’s local station, and Wild Wally took to the air once the song ended. He brought up the recently-named hurricane headed their way sometime in the next week.