Three Words: A Novella Collection Read Online Free Page B

five years he’d become
remote and cold, as if he’d woken up one morning, looked at her and
realised he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. His loving
looks had turned to revulsion or disdain. It was enough to make
Daisy want to cry. In fact if she didn’t get out of the room this
instant that was exactly what she was going to do. All over her
guest.
    “ Um, Can you excuse me for a sec’? I just need to check on
something. I’ll be right back. Grab another bottle from the pantry
if you like.” She pointed to its location as she all but flew from
the room.
     
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    Behind the
safety of her closed bedroom door, Daisy gulped deep breaths and
tried to settle herself. Tears of annoyance or maybe realisation
burst from her eyes and no matter what she did or thought of, they
didn’t seem to want to stop. For a good five minutes she snivelled,
snot running down her nose and mingling with her tears. Her cheeks
became stained and red and her sleeve grew sticky where she’d wiped
her nose on it because she hadn’t the energy to go three more steps
to get a tissue from the cupboard. It was as if Henry had unlocked
that big black bag of emotion and let her feelings out to go
running around the farm, draining her body in the process.
    With a sniff
and a snort she wiped her eyes and went into the ensuite. She had
to get a grip. This was beyond ridiculous. Hawk Moon was sitting by
her fire and all she could think about was her loser husband. Not
that she wanted Jack to come back. The short conversation had made
her face that fact. She was ready to move on. But she still felt
raw, like sandpaper had been rubbed over her body.
    Stopping in
front of the basin Daisy turned on the tap, leaning into it and
splashing cold water onto her face. It was icy and made her cheeks
tingle. She pulled a towel from the rack and dabbed the moisture
away. Then she peered into the mirror, examining her face for any
traces of her meltdown. That was better. A little. At least she
didn’t look like a raspberry anymore. She couldn’t face Henry
looking like something freshly picked from the veggie garden.
    A quiet knock
at the door brought her to her senses.
    “ Daisy? Are you okay?”
    Henry. Shit,
she’d been in here for so long he must have thought she’d washed
herself down the plughole. She attempted to brighten her voice.
“Coming.”
    Straightening,
she opened the door.
    “ Is everything alright?” he asked.
    What a lovely
man.
    “ Yeah. Fine. It’s still painful, I guess.” She dabbed her eyes
again. The tears clearly hadn’t finished. That familiar prickling
was threatening.
    Henry took a
step towards her. He rubbed a hand up and down her arm, soothing
her. “Don’t cry. I hate it when people cry, unless they’ve just won
lotto, of course.”
    Daisy sniffed,
giving him a wet smile. It was so sweet of him to try and cheer her
up but in reality it was only making things worse. She’d tried to
be strong for so long and now she couldn’t do it anymore. She
covered her hands with her face and wept.
    “ Oh God. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with
me.”
    “ Shhh. Its okay. I understand.”
    Henry gathered
her into his arms. If she’d thought about it she probably would
have balked ~ he was a stranger after all, even if she did own
every single CD he’d ever made ~ yet it felt like the place she was
meant to be.
    After a minute
or two, Daisy could feel the tension leaving her body and she
relaxed a little, tentatively pressing her cheek to Henry’s chest.
His heart was pounding awfully fast but it was the closeness of his
body and the warmth in his arms she really noticed. She stood there
for a minute considering how this felt. In all her life as an
adult, the closest she’d come to being held by any man other than
her husband was when she’d been groped by that sleazy Santa they’d
hired for the Christmas Party at the Day Care Centre. And then
she’d screamed so loud the centre’s pet