Myrna Mackenzie - Inherited - Expectant Cinderella

Probably have her arrested. Or put her out on the street right now.

And that was just one of the many reasons why she had to stay away from Parker’s body. The most important reason was … more basic.

Daisy glanced down at her abdomen. “I don’t know how much you can absorb at this point,” she told her unborn child. “But I want you to know that while you might not have had the best of beginnings—and I’m taking my share of responsibility for that—I’m glad that you’re here and I will do everything possible to make sure that you have a stable life. I’m going to do my best never to do anything irresponsible like falling for men who might hurt us. So you should know right now that except for Nola and Lydia and John, it will always just be you and me, but that’s okay. We’ll be together and we’ll be fine on our own. I’ll see to it.”

Still, Daisy sighed slightly at the thought of never being able to satisfy her curiosity about Parker’s lips. And then, frowning, she pushed that thought aside. And went back to her planning. When she read through her notes later, she realized that in the midst of them she had written “No kissing.”

That might be a problem at a wedding, she conceded as she crossed out the word no and replaced it with lots of .

Lips would be touching at this wedding. Just not hers and Parker’s.

Parker wasn’t happy when he approached Daisy’s building the next afternoon. He opened the front door. Didn’t they ever lock anything? Didn’t they have any idea about basic safety? Adding a lock and a doorbell system? Anyone could walk right in and be inside the building that led to their living space and what would one petite woman and three senior citizens do if that happened?

He frowned, reminding himself that all of that would be moot soon. Besides, why was he even having those kinds of thoughts? Daisy was a stranger, one he really didn’t want to know. Certainly, he didn’t want to feel any sense of responsibility for her, did he?

“Uh-oh. The real estate agent must have told you something awful.” Daisy’s soft voice came from behind the piano, making him blink.

He walked over to the old, battered upright and found her sifting through sheet music. “Why would you say that?”

“Well, for one thing you’re here when I hadn’t expected to see you. And you’re also frowning, but then …”

Right. He’d been frowning a lot lately. “Yes, well I do have some bad news. You were right. The agent said that the apartment hunt might be a challenge. She also suggested that you … consider ditching the dog if at all possible.

It’s definitely easier to place tenants without pets or children.”

Daisy gave a tight nod. “So I hear.” Her voice came out as a whisper. She turned away a bit. “What did you tell her?”

He hesitated. “I told her to keep looking.” He didn’t mention that the woman had told him that a landlord would most likely charge extra for the animal, which might make the price prohibitively expensive for Daisy. Or that the woman had insisted on giving him numbers of prospective shelters. Daisy might be an unwelcome impediment to his plans, but … she was here. He might not be capable of the deeper emotions other people felt, but he also tried to avoid trampling on those feelings whenever possible.

For some reason, he was pretty sure that Daisy would feel things multiplied by three. Which made dealing with her three times more difficult, especially since, sooner or later, she would probably have to face the fact that Romeo would need a new owner. Why he was putting off the inevitable when he didn’t have time to waste was a mystery to him, one he didn’t want to examine too closely. The answer was probably complicated, and he couldn’t afford complications here. Still …

“We’ll keep looking,” he repeated.

“Thank you,” she said, but her voice still sounded slightly faint. “Hopefully, we can find something quickly, and you and I can get past this and end our association.”

“That was … very polite. I know that you don’t like this situation any more than I do.”

“No. I don’t like being indebted to anyone and I’m not happy about the situation, but I appreciate the fact that you had the right to kick us out immediately and you didn’t.”

“Maybe I just didn’t want my name splashed all over the headlines as a greedy jerk who threw old people out on the street.”

She blinked as if she’d never thought of that, and he almost wanted to smile.

“I never thought of that,” she said, confirming his suspicions. “Is that why you let us stay?”

“I don’t know.” It was true. The thought had certainly crossed his mind, but he wasn’t certain it was the only reason, and, like so many things with Daisy, the truth was complicated. Parker wished he’d stop having that thought. He grimaced.

She nodded. “Okay. I won’t probe. Was that all you came for? To tell me about Romeo?”

“Not exactly.” After his brief foray into Aunt Mathilda’s possessions, he’d concluded that there was little of her history to be found here. Absolutely nothing about her link to his family. The diary seemed to point to a chaotic life, but it had been written recently, and most recently his aunt had been running a chapel and housing Daisy and her crew. Nothing was clear … which might slow down his investigation. It also made her more interesting: a secret puzzle piece from his past, but also a possible Pandora’s box.

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