Page 29 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

I’m going to keep this short because your ADD means you’re only going to read the first paragraph. This isn’t a monetary payback

because we both know you wouldn’t take it. But I am going to express my gratitude for you sticking by my side all these years.

We both lost the loves of our lives at the same time. You chose to give up on men. But life’s too short to go it alone, Suze.

It’s also too short to go without a man-made orgasm. So I’m sending you on an all-expenses paid, first-class singles cruise.

Find yourself that Italian stallion you always wanted. They’re supposedly hung. Don’t disappoint me, I’ll be watching from

above. Or below. I’m not sure, but please do this. Not for me, but for you.

Love,

Daisy

Suzie blinked at the letter in her hands while Heath and Lexi gave her a moment, pretending not to notice that she was fighting

tears. “Damn, I miss that bitch,” she finally said. “Thank you for delivering this to me in person.”

Lexi nodded. “That’s how she wanted it. And for the first time, I get why.”

Suzie smiled. “Thank you for honoring her wishes. You’re a good girl.”

That made Lexi laugh. “I don’t think anyone’s ever said that to me before.”

Suzie’s eyes filled with genuine affection.

“Honey, that’s a reflection on the people in your life, not you.

” She paused, tilted her head. “The last time I saw you was right before you moved with your dad. You’d just gotten in trouble for tripping another kid at school.

You said he’d cut in line to beat you to the last cupcake. ”

Lexi turned to glare at Heath. “True story.”

Heath grinned. “I still remember how good that cupcake was too.”

“Aw.” Suzie put a hand to her heart. “You two really have something. Daisy would be so pleased.”

“Oh, we’re not...” Lexi squirmed on the chair. She looked at Heath, then bit her lower lip. “We’re not.”

He had zero idea why that disappointed him. Zero.

“You sure?” Suzie asked.

“Very.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.”

It was entirely his own fault, but Heath had to agree. Disappointing.

“Well, I’m so glad to see you,” Suzie said, reaching out for Lexi’s hand. “Your mom would be so happy you’re doing this for

her. She always worried so much about you. She...” Suzie’s eyes went solemn. “She was all too aware of how badly she’d

messed up with you.”

Lexi swallowed hard and Heath felt his heart squeeze for her.

“I still miss her,” Suzie said. “I miss her so much. And...” She hesitated. Wrung her fingers together. “There’s something

I need to tell you. I promised your mom I never would, but now that she’s gone and you’re here, I can’t keep it to myself

any longer and let you continue to think the worst of her.”

Lexi shook her head. “I don’t think the worst of her.”

“But you don’t think the best of her either.

And I get why. I do. And I don’t blame you.

I just want you to know that when she was.

.. healthy... She was the kindest, most generous person I knew.

Years and years ago now, I found out I had breast cancer.

My husband, God rest his soul, had just lost his job.

We didn’t have medical insurance.” She drew a deep breath. “Your mom paid off my medical bills.”

Lexi’s face softened. “I love that she did that for you. Let me guess, with one of her big windfalls?”

“No, honey.” Suzie reached for Lexi’s hand. “With your college fund. The one your grandma set up for you when you were still

a small girl, with your mom in charge of the trust.”

Lexi stilled. Hell, Heath wasn’t sure she was even breathing. He wasn’t sure he was breathing. He’d had no idea that Daisy had taken Lexi’s college fund.

Suzie swiped another tear away. “Your mom was sick about it. I didn’t know until later what she’d done, and it’s made me feel

terribly guilty all these years.”

Lexi shook her head, dismissing that. “All that matters is that she saved your life.”

Heath tried to imagine what it must feel like after all these years to hear this story. There hadn’t been many secrets in

his family. Nope, they’d much preferred to put it all out there. Loudly.

“I wish she would’ve told me.” Lexi had her arms crossed across her chest, a self-soothing gesture Heath recognized. She was

feeling too much, so that she had to hug her heart to herself to keep it from cracking open. “I’d have understood.”

Suzie handed Lexi a box of tissues. “You’d asked her for space,” she said gently. “I think she was trying to respect that.”

Lexi looked startled to realize she had tears on her cheeks. “I did ask her for space. Actually, I demanded it. I was... angry. Young and stupid and so very angry.”

“You were young, yes,” Suzie agreed. “But she’d hurt you. She knew that. She understood. She did. I think— No, I believe she honestly thought she’d win the money back and replace it before you needed it.”

Lexi drew a ragged breath and nodded, and Heath was viscerally reminded that her relationship with Daisy was not even close

to what Ashley’s had been. More than that, his own perception of Lexi as an adult had been through Ashley’s eyes. Ashley,

the caretaker, and... Daisy’s excuse maker.

That wasn’t what Lexi was. She didn’t make excuses, not for herself, and not for others, and for the first time he grasped

the enormity of the difference between the sisters. Lexi didn’t deal with life in the same way as Ashley. Lexi’s wounds weren’t

“let’s just put up a colorful curtain so we can’t see the problem, it’ll be fine.” Lexi didn’t sugarcoat anything. If something

was wrong, she fixed it. And it didn’t escape him that she didn’t know how to fix her tumultuous and complicated feelings

about her mom.

He put a hand on her knee. He meant only to give her a squeeze of comfort because he knew she hated crying, hated feeling

vulnerable every bit as much as he did. But she surprised him by setting her hand over his, and when he turned his palm up,

she entwined their fingers and held on.

Suzie caught the gesture and smiled to herself, but was thankfully wise enough not to comment. He turned his attention back

to Lexi. She was struggling to reconcile her feelings for Daisy, while also forging a relationship with Ashley, and it did

something to him. Lexi definitely had a guard up, but he knew her now, or was starting to. He recognized her inner loneliness,

understood it at a core level.

They weren’t all that different after all.

“You remind me of your mom, you know,” Suzie said.

Lexi grimaced a little, and Suzie gave her one of those quiet smiles. “Daisy came from a broken family. Her dad walked away

from her and her mother. Left when she was very young, so she didn’t recall much. But what she did remember was her dad’s

addiction to alcohol. She always said she’d raised herself, she’d had to, and her prize for that was you.”

Lexi had gone utterly still, her face a mask of quiet devastation. “She never talked about her family or childhood.”

“It was hard for her. She’d hoped to do better by you. Failing you was her biggest regret.”

Abruptly, Lexi stood, pulling her hand free from Heath’s. “I’m sorry. Excuse me a moment.” She left the room, and a beat later,

the front door opened and closed.