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PEACH
“Areyousureyouwant to leave?” Kiera asked Peach, hugging her tight.
Daisy joined in the hug. “You know we’d love for you to come and live here too!”
Peach noticed that word. “We.”Daisy and Kiera were already a “we.”
Gone were the days of private messages relayed in Gigglish. Gone were the days of meeting at the ice-cream parlor after work. Gone were the days of living within a thousand miles of her best friends. Gone were the days, most likely, of having best friends.
It’s not that Peach didn’t appreciate Daisy and Kiera bringing her to the airport like this. It was just… a bit much. They had both chosen to leave her, after all. It was hard not to think that they’d come to see her off at the airport just to be sure that she was really gone.
“I really wish you’d reconsider,” said Kiera, pulling away, her cheeks stained with tears. “We’ll miss you so much.”
For about five minutes you will. Then you’ll head off to the spa and forget all about me.
“It’s true,” said Daisy. “We’re a three. Not a two. And I just know you’d love Miami.”
Peach shook her head. “They need me at the rescue center.”
“They treat you like dog poop there,” Kiera chimed in. “Free labor for years. You’re the only member of staff who doesn’t get paid.”
“Thedogsneed me,“ said Peach. She looked down at Teddy in the little carrier she had to keep him in for the flight. He looked grumpy about it already. She wondered how he’d cope after another hour. Two hours. Three.
“You’ve already helped all those animals a bunch,” Daisy said. “There are animals that need saving in Miami too, you know.”
For some reason, Peach thought about Isaac. Was he an animal that needed saving? When he’d spoken to her yesterday, there was a strange air about him. Peach wondered if he was one of those people that lacked empathy. Maybe not a sociopath and definitely not a psychopath, but there was definitely a barrier between him and the world. And the way he threw those figures around like they meant nothing…
Besides, what kind of person would offer to marry someone for ten million dollars? It was crazy. And why did he hate Teddy so much? Teddy was the best. It was basicallyimpossibleto hate Teddy. Maybe hewasa psychopath, after all.
On the other hand, what kind of crazy person wouldturn downthe offer of ten million dollars to marry someone? She’d have had an entire mansion to herself to live in. She’d have had so much money she could haveboughtthe rescue center twice over. She could have started her own charity, and dreamed bigger than she ever thought possible. The old Peach would have been back in business. Ambitious Peach.
And she wouldn’t have had to have sex with him either. This wasn’t some shadyPretty Womantype arrangement. She just had to sign a piece of paper and that was that.
And yet…
The way he’d looked at Teddy filled her with sadness. Because for a moment, she’d gotten herself excited. She’d read enough romance novels to know that when a handsome, grumpy guy asks you to enter into a marriage contract with you, it can only mean one thing… sex-o-rama!
But not with someone like Isaac.
Even if he did have the most muscly-looking body she’d ever seen. And these intense brown eyes that seemed to be undressing her as they spoke.
Still. Isaac was a bad man. And she… well, she was an animal-loving Little who ate way too many cookies and drank way too many milkshakes and was destined for a life alone on the couch watching cartoons. She wasn’t like Daisy. Daisy was the kind of pretty Little who Daddy Doms raved over. Blond hair, sunshiney personality. Peach was just a poor girl from the suburbs who barely fit in her jeans and who spoke like one of the members of PAW Patrol.
“I’ve made up my mind,” said Peach. “I need to go back home.”
Kiera took a deep breath. “I’ll probably be back in a few days, too. This is probably just a ridiculous pipe dream. You know me, with my big ideas…”
I have big ideas too, Peach wanted to scream. But she didn’t. She just swallowed them away like she swallowed an entire pack of cookies this morning.
“I’ll come out to stay in the houseboat in a month or two,” Daisy told her. “When Daddy can get time off work to come visit.” Daisy reached into her pocket and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill. “This is from Daddy, actually. He said to get yourself something nice from the departure lounge.”
“I can’t take this,” said Peach sadly.
Daisy nodded. “Yes you can. You can pay the money back when I next see you.” She smiled kindly.
Ugh. Everyone knew Peach was broke. They were all trying to throw money at her. It was embarrassing. Kiera had even paid for her flight here.
“Alright,” Peach said, taking the note. “But I’m definitely paying you back.”
