Sordid Games by Elizabeth Kelly

Author:Elizabeth Kelly [Kelly, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781988826516
Publisher: Elizabeth Kelly

Chapter 6

Daisy

“It looks lovely, Daisy. Red is your colour,” Frannie’s mom said approvingly.

I touched the soft scarf she had wrapped around my neck and said, “Thank you so much for making this for me, Patricia. I really love it.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and blinked back the tears. I really did appreciate her thoughtfulness, and for a moment I felt a surge of anger at Frannie for making me lie to her mom. She was wonderful and so motherly that it made me miss my own mother with a deep-seated ache that took my breath away.

“Dearest? What’s wrong?” Patricia asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “I…”

I trailed off and Patricia said, “You just need a mom hug.”

Before I could protest, Patricia had wrapped me in her arms. I hesitated only briefly before returning her hug. God, it felt good to be hugged by a mom again, even if it wasn’t my mom. This time I couldn’t stop the tears from dripping down my face. Patricia leaned back and studied me silently before wiping the tears away with her thumbs.

“Frannie told me what happened to your parents,” she said. “I’m very sorry, Daisy. The holidays must be a particularly difficult time for you.”

“A little,” I admitted.

“Well,” Patricia cleared her throat briskly and wiped at her own eyes, “anytime you need a mom hug you just ask. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” I was still crying and Patricia handed me a tissue as Wes stepped into the living room.

“Dad says if we don’t leave in the next five minutes, he’s driving to Walmart and buying a fake tree,” Wes said.

“He makes that threat every year,” Patricia said with a laugh. “He’s - ”

“Daisy? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Wes walked toward me. When he reached for me, I gave him a wide-eyed look of warning. He dropped his arms, his face flushing a dull red as he glanced at his mom before stepping back.

Patricia gave us both a considering look that made me very nervous before saying, “Nothing’s wrong, honey. Daisy was just saying thank you for the scarf.”

“Right. Uh, well, we should get going,” Wes said. “There isn’t enough room in the truck for all of us. Dad said he’d drive the car with you and grandma, and Frannie and Daisy can go in the truck with me.”

“Why don’t you let Frannie and Daisy go with Dad,” Patricia said. “It’ll give your father a chance to get to know Frannie’s girlfriend better.”

She put a slight emphasis on Frannie’s girlfriend and my insides churned with guilt and nerves as Wes said, “Sure. I don’t care either way.”

He sounded convincing enough to me, but his mother gave him another assessing look before smiling at me. “Ready to go chop down a Christmas tree, Daisy?”

“As long as I’m not the one chopping,” I said.

Patricia laughed. “No, dearest. We’ll leave that job to Wes.”

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