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Daisy felt the blush rise to her cheeks before she even spoke. “He never paid me any mind in school,” she admitted. “Not that it mattered. I was with Gary soon enough, and I never had eyes for anyone else.”

The mention of her late husband brought a somber mood to their walk home.

Daisy was suddenly wistful with memories.

Perhaps if she closed her eyes and focused hard enough, it would be thirty years ago, and she’d be walking down the street with her arm wrapped around Gary instead of Tessa.

And, perhaps, there’d even be a roundness to her stomach, a darling creature growing deep within her womb.

Absentmindedly, Daisy reached and wrapped her arm across her stomach.

The things she never had and the things she prayed every night for hung over her head like a rain cloud.

Being a widow, she’d realized very early on, was one of the most solitary things a human could ever be.

Even then, with her close friends all around her for support, Daisy couldn’t shake the feeling that remained.

The question that she might never forget.

What would life be like if Gary had never passed?

If she’d carried her child through the entire term?

If -

Daisy shook her head. Now was certainly not the time for that.

“Do you know where Ethan is taking you yet?” Tessa asked. Even if everyone in Willowbrook teased Tessa for her cluelessness on occasion, Daisy couldn’t deny her growing skill as an empath. Tessa managed to feel the shift in the atmosphere rather quickly, changing the subject as soon as she could.

Daisy shrugged. “He said he’d call when -” She paused as she realized they were coming up to Old Lady Witherford’s house, right before her own. “We better nip this conversation in the bud.”

Tessa raised a quizzical brow. “Why?”

“Personally,” Daisy said as they drew nearer, “I’m not interested in having my love life spread across town if someone happens to be listening.”

“I see,” Tessa mused, the corner of her lip perking up as she peered into Old Lady Witherford’s front lawn. “What do you mean you don’t want a gossip hearing about your exciting first date with heartthrob silver fox, Ethan?”

Daisy tugged on Tessa’s arm. “Speak a little louder, Tess, and I’ll tell Old Lady Witherford about that time you went into her backyard and -”

Tessa clamped a hand over Daisy’s mouth within an instant, her slender face beginning to look like a ripe strawberry. “There is a time and place for that,” she said, holding back her laughter, “and it is definitely not now!”

As they kept walking, entirely on the opposite side of the house, Daisy looked over her shoulder at the house. From the sidewalk, they could see into the Witherford household’s backyard. A grand willow tree sat in the middle. Daisy couldn’t stop herself from glowering.

“I’ll tell you,” she muttered. “The next time I see Old Lady Witherford putting her ladder up to snoop into my backyard, I’m dropping a sealed lips tonic into her tea.”

Tessa’s brow shot up. “Is she still doing that?”

“Don’t tell me you thought it was only a phase!”

“I could hardly believe it in the first place,” Tessa said. “Till I saw it myself, of course.”

Standing on the precipice of Daisy’s driveway, she shook her head and wrapped her arms over her chest as an odd chill swept by them. “I just wish she couldn’t do it anymore, you know? I can’t remember the last time I had some real privacy in my own home.”

“Well, you know what they say,” Tessa began. “You can’t always get what you -”

Boom!

Daisy flinched, her jacket falling onto the ground. “What was that?”

Before Tessa could respond, a series of screams and wails erupted from the back of Old Lady Witherford’s house. Daisy gaped and ran towards their back gate. She flipped open the latch and yanked it open, Tessa following close behind her.

The wide backyard was full of blossoming flowers and vines crawling up the side of the house. It was like a fantasy wonderland. For a moment, Daisy hesitated, believing they had to have stepped into the wrong house.

That is, until her eyes landed on Old Lady Witherford herself. The older woman was dressed in denim overalls, a flowery shirt poking out beneath it. She laid with her back against the ground, her elbows and knees smudged with dirt and soil.

Daisy ran forward. “Tessa,” she shouted, “fetch Mr. Witherford!”

As Tessa shot into the back of the house, leaving the backdoor wide open, Daisy tended to the older woman, gingerly crouching down at her side.

“Mrs. Witherford,” Daisy said in a loud voice, remembering that the woman was notoriously hard of hearing, “where are you hurt?”

“D-Did that girl leave my door open?” the lady shouted, her voice hoarse and scratchy as if she hadn’t drunk water in days. “I’ve got the air conditioner running, you know! And the bugs! Oh, the bugs! ”

Daisy bit back her laugh. “Mrs. Witherford, have you taken a fall?”

Old Lady Witherford glanced over at her as if she had just noticed her presence. “What does it look like I’ve done?” she squawked. “Had a nap with my tomatoes?”

“W-What?”

“My tomatoes!” Mrs. Witherford gestured boisterously to the vines that scaled up the fence, a few harvested tomatoes crushed beneath her back. “My state-fair-winning tomatoes!”

“Can you tell me what happened, Mrs. Witherford?”

“That silly old ladder,” Mrs. Witherford snapped as she pointed to the rusted-over ladder that was now laying in a bush of petunias. “Jumped out from right under me!”

Daisy pressed her lips together. It was exactly like she assumed. Old Lady Witherford was trying to get a look into Daisy’s yard when something happened to her ladder. Though “jumping” didn’t seem like the right word for it.

“Did you slip off one of the steps?” Daisy asked.

Mrs. Witherford thrashed about, the tomatoes splattering across her clothes. “Did I say slip?” she snapped. “I said jumped! Jumped, I said! When I say the ladder jumped, I mean the ladder -”

Before she could finish, Tessa and an older gentleman, Mr. Witherford, came rushing out the back door. He ran to his wife’s side instantly, tucking an arm beneath her and hoisting her up. Daisy rose alongside him, placing a gentle and cautious hand on the older woman’s back.

The moment she touched her, a chill rippled down Daisy’s spine. She jerked away, surprised at herself and the peculiar feeling. Tessa took her spot instead, turning to give Daisy a quizzical expression before helping the pair out to the driveway.

Daisy followed behind as if she was stuck in a trance, shutting the gate and sliding the clasp back down.

The rest happened in a blur. Mr. Witherford managed to get his wife into the car, despite her ramblings about jumping ladders and fair- winning tomatoes.

He gave Tessa and Daisy a good handshake before getting in the car himself and speeding off to the nearest hospital.

Daisy doubted anything was really wrong with Old Lady Witherford, besides a bruised back or a sprain.

She’d be right as rain and back to gossiping before the day was over.

Standing at the foot of the driveway, Daisy watched the car till it disappeared.

“You alright?” Tessa asked.

Daisy nodded absentmindedly. “I hope she’ll be okay.”

“On the bright side -”

“There’s a bright side?”

Tessa chuckled. “It seems you got your wish after all.”

Daisy’s head jerked. “W-What?”

“Something tells me that Old Lady Witherford won’t be getting back on that ladder for some time now,” Tessa said. “Looks like you’ll get that privacy you wanted.”

Even though Tessa was merely making a joke to lighten the chill in the air, Daisy turned back towards the backyard, towards the supposedly jumping ladder.

There was an odd feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, one that was quite similar to when she smelt that potion, or when she touched Old Lady Witherford on the back.

None of it made sense, and yet, they all felt suspiciously connected.

Daisy pressed her lips together, and when she spoke, the words felt oddly hollow.

“I got my wish.”