He laughed, and his fake mustache slipped. Daisy bit her lip as he nudged it back into place.
“It’s a rough life for a rock star.”
“There aren’t many people here,” Daisy said, glancing around. “You can take it off.”
He ripped it off with relief. “Thank God. It was giving me a rash.”
He sat beside her.
“This is nice,” Daisy said.
“It is.” He exhaled. “I think I like this whole dad thing.”
“You’re a natural.”
“Thanks.”
They watched Amelia in front of the shark tunnel, small and steady. Daisy felt the old line inside her give. It might be time, past time, to be honest. To say the words she’d kept behind herteeth for Amelia’s whole life. But normalcy had its own gravity. It kept her anchored.
“Jameson…” She turned to him with kind eyes. “I think we should talk about—”
She was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
“Sorry, it’s my mum.”
“Go ahead.”
“Hi, Mum, can I call you—” He stopped, listening. “Is she all right?” A pause. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. I’m on my way.”
He hung up and stood. “We have to go.”
Daisy rose, hand light on his forearm. “What happened?”
“That was Mum’s neighbor,” he said, briefly glancing down at the place she touched him. His breath came heavier. “She was out for a walk and got attacked by an unleashed dog. Doesn’t sound great, and Mum is refusing to go to the hospital.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yeah. My stubborn mum.” He managed a tight smile. “I need to check on her.”
“Of course.” Daisy shouldered her purse and Amelia’s backpack, rounded up her daughter, and hurried out. Barry had the SUV at the curb within seconds.
Only once they were moving did Daisy realize where they were headed andwhothey were about to see.
Chapter Twenty-Two
THE HOUSE THEY PULLED UPto was not the one Daisy remembered. A sudden sadness hit her as she realized Margot must have moved long ago. No modest single-story near the park, no oak tree out front. Instead, a stately white two-story stood before them, as if plucked from a Southern estate and dropped in the middle of San Mateo.
Daisy’s hands shook as she helped Amelia from the car. Jameson walked a step ahead, tension coiled tight in his shoulders, key poised at the lock. But before he could turn it, the door swung open.
The relief in him was visible the instant he saw his mother standing there, upright and whole. Margot grinned as if ready to scold him for fussing until she noticed the two figures behind him.
Daisy sucked in a startled breath. Margot froze, eyes wide, lips parted, gaze locked on Daisy and Amelia.
“Mum…” Jameson tried, but she didn’t budge. He glanced back, unsurprised by her shock. His had been the same.
“Mum, are you all right?”
Margot blinked, returning at last to her son. “I’m fine. I will be fine.”
