Waiting on Love (Love in Madelia Book 3) Read online

  *

  “Kate!” Daisy saw her friend at the end of the hallway and nearly ran into her arms. The two embraced and Kate patted her younger friend on her head.

  “I’m so sorry, Daisy,” she said softly.

  Daisy let her tears fall, dribbling on Kate’s shoulder.

  “Just tell me she’s not gone, please.”

  “She’s still here. She’s, well she’s not doing so well. I wish she’d seen a doctor sooner. But Mrs. Shuster, well she’s-”

  “Stubborn as a mule.” Daisy finished for her.

  Kate laughed. “She is that. And that stubbornness might be just what she needs to get through this.”

  Daisy lifted her head. “Get through what, exactly?”

  “She’s had a pretty bad heart attack, and she was in heart failure even before the event. She’s in what they call terminal heart failure at this point.”

  Daisy gasped. “Can I see her?”

  “There are a few specialists in there right now, they are going over her options with her. There’s a possibility they might be putting an LVAD in to help keep her heart pumping.”

  “LVAD. That’s like a pacemaker, right?”

  “Well, kind of. It gets implanted like a pacemaker, but it’s more focused on the pumping action of her heart, less on the electrical activity.”

  Daisy nodded, taking it all in. She was smart, had a gift for words, but she knew very little about medical things aside from what she’d picked up on her own over the years.

  “This LVAD thing, will she be okay on it? Can she come home?”

  Kate bit her lip. “If that’s the direction they decide to go, she’d come home, probably in a few weeks. Surgery might not be the best thing for her right now, she’s very weak from the heart attack. It’s going to be up to her.”

  Daisy couldn’t imagine a world where Mrs. Shuster wasn’t around anymore. She couldn’t picture going to work and not seeing the old woman’s grin when she saw Mason and wrapped him in a big grandmotherly hug.

  Kate saw the doctors exiting the room down the hall and motioned to Daisy.

  “I’m going to see what they decided, you can go in now if you want.”

  “Thank you,” Daisy said, squeezing her friend’s hand.

  Daisy approached the open door with hesitation. She had never been fond of hospitals, in fact the last time she’d been in one was when she gave birth to Mason. They always smelled so cold and clinical to Daisy, and gave her the shivers.

  She peeked around the corner and saw Mrs. Shuster, lying in the middle of the large hospital bed. She looked so tiny, so frail and so much older than she had just the day before.

  Daisy inched into the room, and as she did, Mrs. Shuster opened her eyes sleepily.

  “Daisy,” she said, her voice hoarse and crackly. “You came.”

  Daisy scooted a chair over next to the bedside and sat down. “Of course I came. Where else would I be but right here with you?”

  Mrs. Shuster moved her hand to where Daisy’s was on the bed, gave her a little squeeze.

  “You’re a good girl, Daisy. A fine woman. A wonderful momma to that little boy. You’re going to do great.”

  “This better not be a goodbye speech you’re building up to, Mrs. Shuster. Kate says there are things that they can do, make your heart pump better and get you back home with us.”

  “I’m too old for what they’re talking about, Daisy.”

  Daisy felt the tears welling up again. “Don’t say that, please don’t say that.”

  “I’m old, and I’m tired. I’m not giving up, sweetheart, but I’m also not having surgery.”

  “But that is giving up!”

  Mrs. Shuster gave her another squeeze. “You go home, you love on that little boy for me, and you pray your heart out. Let’s see what that does for me, before you start up with all this giving up nonsense. I’ll be alright.”

  Daisy bit her tongue, not wanting to argue further with her, but not agreeing one bit with her either. Her only hope was that a night in the hospital might change the old woman’s mind, make her want to come home stronger.

  “I’ll do that. Get some sleep, please.”

  Mrs. Shuster chuckled weakly. “Oh, I’m pretty sure that’s about all I’ll be doing here.”

  When she stepped out of the room, she saw Kate approaching again.

  “She doesn’t want the LVAD,” Daisy said sadly.

  Kate nodded. “That’s the gist of what I got from them as well. They weren’t all that excited about doing it on a woman her age anyway, so I don’t think they pushed her very hard. To be honest, it’s a pretty rough procedure for an older person.”

  “It can’t be that hard, if the alternative is dying.”

  “Oh Daisy,” Kate wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight. “I think she’s got some fight left in her yet. After some time here to rest up, let’s see if we can get her back home again. I’m not saying she’ll be back working full-time at the diner, but it’s probably time she hand that over to the younger generation anyway.”

  Daisy smiled. “I’d happily serve her coffee and waffles all day while she sat in one of the booths and kept an eye on all of us. Hell, I’d bring her all her favorite foods-eggs and hash browns and buttery toast-back to her house myself every day, if that meant she’d stick around for a little bit longer.”

  “I know you would. She’s been lucky to have you around all these years.”

  Daisy shook her head. “No, it’s been me that’s been lucky. Mason and I. We would have been lost without her.”

  “Daniel and Logan say the same thing. She’s done a lot of good in this world in her lifetime.”

  “I just hope she’s not done.”

  Chapter 2.

  DAISY

  The town council hadn’t started yet when Daisy pulled up in front of the school. Madelia held their council meetings in the school gym for lack of any other suitable site, and over the years as more people in town decided to attend the meetings it had become an increasingly better idea to have it in such a large space.

  Daisy carried two large Styrofoam containers filled with the sandwiches that she and Enzo had put together for the meeting up to the front door of the gym. She managed to hook her foot into a crack in the door, just enough to swing it open wide enough for her to scoot through.

  Inside the gym, she made a beeline for the long tables that had already been set up ahead of time.

  “Hey Daisy!” Stacie Johanson, the mayor of Madelia, saw her and grinned. Stacie was the brains behind most of the town council meetings, and she almost always managed to keep things running smoothly. The older woman was carrying a load of paper plates in one arm, and two big jugs of generic soda in the other.

  “Let me help you with that,” Daisy replied as she sat her containers down and grabbed for the soda. Stacie chuckled and murmured her appreciation.

  “I’m so glad to see you, Daisy, and I wanted to tell you how much we’re all thinking about Mrs. Shuster, and about you of course.”

  Daisy bit her tongue so hard she could taste blood, but she avoided blurting out the same tired sentence that she’d said a hundred times already. She was tired of telling people it was okay, she was tired of saying she was fine, that Mrs. Shuster would be okay.

  “Thank you,” she said simply, and even with those two words she heard her voice tremble. As she turned back to the table to set down the sodas, she took it as an opportunity to swipe at her eyes and remove the tears hanging off her eyelashes.

  Stacie patted her on the shoulder and didn’t look at all convinced. “You take care of yourself, please. Don’t let this all get to you too much. And if you need anything, you let me know, you promise?”

  Daisy nodded. “I will.”

  Stacy raised a dubious eyebrow. “Promise?”

  Daisy laughed. “Pinky promise.”

  Daisy’s phone rang from her hip pocket, a musical tone that indicated the caller wasn’t on her contact list.

&
nbsp; “Hello?” She tucked the phone against her shoulder and headed outside where she wouldn’t be interrupting the meeting.

  “Hello, is this Daisy Hewett I’m speaking with?” A man’s voice came across her phone line.

  “Yes. Hi, how can I help you?”

  “My name is Richard DeRosa,” he said. “I represent Eleanor Shuster and her financial assets.”

  Daisy felt her heart beat faster at the mention of Mrs. Shuster. She hadn’t passed away had she? Surely someone other than a lawyer would have told her? Before she could panic too badly, he continued.

  “Mrs. Shuster had very specific instructions for me to relay to you and her other beneficiary upon her passing.”

  “She’s not…I mean, did she pass? The doctors didn’t call me.”

  “I apologize, Mrs. Hewett. She has not passed, but she also relayed to me that it was important I speak with her beneficiaries as quickly as possible in the event of her losing consciousness. It pertains to ownership of her diner.”

  Daisy processed what he said, and bit her tongue to keep herself from correcting him about her marital status. For all she knew, her being single would count against her when it came to being a beneficiary.

  “I can close the diner down for an hour or two after lunch tomorrow, if you were available then?”

  Daisy heard the creak of the back door open, then close, and when she glanced over she saw Daniel ambling toward her. He looked concerned; it was a look that Daisy was used to getting from the McAllister men at this point in her life.

  “That would work fine for me, I am only a few hours away from Madelia at the moment. I will get in touch with the other beneficiary and see if that time works for them as well. I will call you if that does not work for us, otherwise, I will see you at the diner location at…does 2pm work?”

  “Absolutely,” Daisy said in a rush of breath. She was anxious about the meeting and what it could mean. “2pm would be fine. I’ll see you then.”

  “What’s going on?” Daniel said.

  Daisy waved her hand and tried to look nonchalant, but her voice was wobbly when she spoke. “Mrs. Shuster’s lawyer, he wants to meet up and talk about…about her estate I guess. The diner.”

  Daisy felt a lump rise in her throat. Oh God, she couldn’t cry, she just couldn’t. She’d already cried so much, and so publicly.

  Daniel didn’t say a word, but he came up beside her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. Daisy did her level best not to fall sobbing into his embrace. Progress.

  “Do you want somebody at the meeting with you? I’m free, and I bet Logan could make himself free for you.”

  Daisy smiled. “Well thank you, but I think I’ll be okay. I don’t think it’s anything formal or official. She’s still alive.”

  Daisy sniffled, looked Daniel in the eyes. “I can’t be the only person who is hoping she makes it through this. It seems everybody…well I just hope I’m not the only one holding out hope.”

  “You aren’t,” Daniel squeezed her shoulder. “Logan and Kate and I are all pulling for her. Hell, little Ella loves her adopted grandma, her namesake. We all want her around for a couple more decades.”

  Daisy could feel some of the anxiety washed away by Daniel’s words. “Thank you,” she said with a shaky laugh. “It means a lot that she’s got people in her corner.”

  Daniel nodded his head toward the back door. “Are you heading back in? Or are you done for the evening?”

  “I suppose I need to stick around, pick up the sandwich carriers…”

  “Nope,” Daniel said definitively. “Nope, nope, nope. I’m going to drive you home. Logan can grab your carriers and bring them to the diner later.”

  “Daniel, you don’t have to do that.”

  “The hell I don’t. Any chance I have to drive my new truck, I’m going to take it. Come on, I’m parked up front.”

  Daisy laughed and agreed, walking around to the front of the school with Daniel.

  *

  The next day, Daisy wiped down the last table and looked around the empty diner. It was so quiet, so unusual for this time of day. After speaking with that lawyer, she’d decided to close down the diner early and meet with him.

  She was hesitant about the meeting, afraid of what the lawyer would have to say. She didn’t want to think about the reality of Mrs. Shuster not being around to run things any longer.

  She didn’t want to imagine a world where Mrs. Shuster wasn’t going to come home.

  The bells jangled above the front door, signaling the arrival of her guest. She glanced up from where she’d been rearranging the table and saw two men.

  The first, she assumed was Mr. DeRosa. He was short, portly, and balding, but he looked like he had a kind heart. He was carrying a leather satchel and wore an expensive but rumpled suit.

  Behind him, stood Cole.

  Cole, the man she’d spent an uncharacteristically wild evening with.

  Daisy felt her heart pounding in her chest, and she swore she could hear it in her ears as well.

  “Cole,” she said, breathlessly. Her mind spun with a thousand possibilities, but none of them were making any sense. They hadn’t kept in contact, she’d left in the middle of the night in fact. She hadn’t planned on ever seeing him again. And yet, here he was.

  “Kellie,” Cole sneered. “Or whatever your name is.”

  Mr. DeRosa glanced between the two of them, confusion painting his face. He coughed into his fist. “I’m sorry, my name is Richard DeRosa, and I’m here to speak with a Daisy Hewett. Are you Miss Hewett? The one I spoke to on the phone before?”

  Daisy nodded. “I am. You can call me Daisy, though.” She avoided eye contact with Cole as she pulled a seat out from the table she was near and sat down.

  “Please, have a seat.”

  She could feel the anger and confusion fairly rolling off of Cole, but she kept her focus on Mr. DeRosa. He was the one she was there to see, after all. What did she care what Cole had to say?

  “Miss-excuse me, Daisy. As I said, I am Richard DeRosa. I have worked with your employer, Eleanor Shuster, and prepared her will as well as her requests for the care and upkeep of her diner.”

  Daisy put up a hand. “I’m sorry, but I should have said something when we were on the phone. I don’t really understand why this has to be done now. She’s not even... I mean, she’s still alive.”

  The lawyer nodded. “She is. However she’s opted against any kind of aggressive treatments, from what I understand from my conversation with her doctors. It’s not known how long she can continue in her current state of health. And she was very specific about what she wanted done with her diner in her absence.”

  Daisy’s heart squeezed painfully in her chest. She felt tears falling down her cheeks and she was powerless to stop them.

  From across the table, she saw Cole tug a paper napkin free from the holder and hand it to her.

  “I think it’s worth hearing him out.”

  She dabbed it at the corner of her eyes as delicately as she could manage.

  “Why are you even here?”

  Mr. DeRosa interjected. “Cole is Eleanor’s grandnephew, and listed as who she wanted running the diner after she’d passed. Well, Cole and you of course, Daisy.”

  Daisy glanced up. “Wait, what?”

  “She wanted you both to have a hand in running the diner. She cares very deeply for both of you, and she expressed to me that she felt you would make a good team.”

  Cole chuckled ruefully. “I don’t see that happening, Richard.” He went to stand, and directed the lawyer to do the same. “In fact, I don’t see this meeting being at all productive right now. I think Daisy and I here need to have a private conversation of our own before we can begin to delve into the specifics of my Aunt’s dying wishes.”

  Daisy’s eyes widened as she watched Mr. DeRosa stand and exit the diner. She didn’t want to be left alone with Cole, didn’t want to have to face him, explain to him why she’d used a fake n
ame, why she’d left in the middle of the night.

  Before she could say anything to make him stay, however, the older man was gone. Cole turned back around and when he looked at her, there was a fresh wave of anger coloring his cheeks.

  “I don’t know what kind of game you were playing the other night, but my aunt was a good and kind woman and I’ll be damned if I let a gold-digger get one penny of her money.”

  “Is.” Daisy said simply. It was short, and to the point, and clearly confused the hell out of Cole because he was stopped mid-rant.

  “Is?”

  “Your aunt, Mrs. Shuster, is a good and kind woman. Not was, because she’s still alive. She’s a fighter and I believe in her.”

  Daisy flattened the fabric of her dress with her palms, giving herself another moment to calm herself.

  “As for the rest of your comment, I’ll assume you’re just overwhelmed with grief right now and not a complete horse’s ass. I am in no way a gold-digger, nor am I interested in any money that may or may not come my way from Mrs. Shuster.”

  “Then why did you sleep with me?”

  “Because you asked! Because you were a good looking man and there aren’t a lot of them around here.” She paused. “Because I was lonely and you were sweet.”

  “You’re saying you didn’t know who I was? Who I am?”

  Daisy shook her head. “You gave me your first name. Not exactly hiring a private detective on that information.”

  Cole chuckled. “Well, to be fair, you didn’t even give me your first name.”

  Daisy blushed. “I am sorry about that, I know it makes me look like I had bad intentions. I didn’t. Hell, I don’t know why I gave you the fake name except that night…it was so damn out of character for me. Maybe I just wanted to play a character and get away from myself for a little bit.”

  Cole looked like he was thinking over what she’d said. He looked like he was thinking about a lot, in fact.

  Daisy watched him and admired how broodingly sexy the man looked when he was serious. She’d seen how attractive he was the other night, but she’d also wondered how much had been influenced by her alcohol intake. Now, seeing him in the light of day and sober as a church mouse, she had to admit that he really was just that attractive.