“Shhh…”
Mother and daughter sat in silence before Daisy’s phone chirped and broke the stillness. Gazing down at where her phone sat on the coffee table, she saw that Jameson had texted her.
Jameson: Two minutes away. I’ll come up.
Daisy: No need. We’ll come down.
Daisy gently elbowed a glowing Amelia and said, “Grab your backpack, sweet stuff. Jameson is pulling up.”
Amelia was out the door before Daisy had her bag on her shoulder. By the time Daisy locked up and reached the downstairs entrance, a black Escalade idled at the curb and Jameson stepped out from the back.
“Jameson!” Amelia barreled into his open arms.
Daisy stopped halfway and let the moment happen. She tried not to let the guilt overtake her yet again, but there it was, waiting to settle in on her soul.
Jameson waved at her over Amelia’s shoulder. She waved back and walked toward the car. As she got closer, she saw a bald man in a black shirt, seated in the driver’s seat of the car.
“Who’s that?” she asked softly.
“That’s Barry,” Jameson said, opening the back door for Amelia. “My driver.”
Barry nodded; Daisy offered a small, awkward smile as she climbed in beside Amelia. “You don’t drive yourself?”
“Sometimes I still take the Cruiser out,” he said, circling to the other side. “But not as often as I should.”
“You still have the Land Cruiser?” Daisy asked, surprised.
“Of course. Too many good memories to let it go.” He lifted his eyebrows as they pulled away.
Heat flooded Daisy’s face at the memories they had shared in that car, particularly the back-seat ones.
“What memories?” Amelia asked, sharp as a pin.
Jameson chuckled and threw his arm across the headrest. “The best ones. Your mum was there for most.”
“Like what?”
Daisy smoothed Amelia’s hair, shooting Jameson a look. “Like the time he drove us to the beach in winter and dared me to jump in the ocean.”
“Did you?”
In unison, they said, “Of course.”
“Your mum was never scared of a dare,” he said.
“Neither were you,” she countered.
“We should do it again!” Amelia said. “Jameson, will you take us in the Cruiser?”
“I’ll take you for a ride,” he said. “But I’m not letting you jump into the ocean. We were lucky we didn’t catch hypothermia.”
“Fine.” She crossed her arms and grunted. “I’ll wait till I’m older and go with my boyfriend.”
Jameson’s smile snapped into a grimace. “Absolutely not. I’ll take you.”
“But you just said—”
“When it’s warmer,” he amended.
