and remembered me. She regretted turning down my dinner invite and reached out. I texted back and we exchanged a few messages over the next couple days. She told me about her dad’s passing and asked if I was still interested in meeting for dinner.”
“Which you were, obviously.”
“More than she would ever have guessed. I’d thought about her a dozen times over that year and wondered if I’d been more persistent if matters would have worked out differently. I kept beating myself up over not trying again.”
“How long after that first date did you decide you wanted to marry her?” Asher asked, getting to the point of their conversation.
“Not long. Three months, if that.”
“Three months,” Asher repeated slowly.
“Okay, three weeks. Make that three days.”
Now Asher was smiling. His brother had quickly recognized that Kylie was the one for him. It made Asher wonder if he had let the woman who could be his future walk away. Her parting words rang in his ears like an echo, that he was pushing away the woman who would love him with her whole being. He sucked in a breath, more uncertain now than ever.
“Asher?” Daniel said, pausing in his story. “You okay?”
“I’m good. Please finish about you and Kylie.”
“I might have known after three days, but I needed to progress slowly. Kylie’d had two major losses in her life within a short time. I didn’t want to overwhelm her by declaring myself too soon. I was patient and managed to hold out for several months.
“All these questions tell me this woman you don’t want to talk about is special.”
Special didn’t start to describe Daisy. “There are complications.”
His brother chuckled. “Aren’t there always? Is she married? Divorced?”
“Nothing like that.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Asher outlined it as best he could, explaining how they’d met and grown close during her convalescence. He was sure to explain why he felt a relationship wouldn’t work, detailing their differences.
“You mean to say your Daisy lives here in Chicago?”
“She isn’t my Daisy.” After everything he’d explained, this was the one fact Daniel wanted to confirm?
“Answer the question.”
“Yes, Daisy worked with her partner to establish the online real estate company that has become a household name.” Another way to torture himself, Asher had taken to investigating Daisy, Jack Campbell, and the company. What he read confirmed that Daisy was a brilliant executive, hard-working, dedicated, and savvy.
“Is it Easy Home?” Daniel asked.
“That’s the one,” Asher said.
“Kylie and I used them to find this house.”
Asher should have guessed.
“I thought the partnership was with a woman named Everly something or other?”
“Daisy goes by Everly. She changed her name. Said she didn’t think anyone in the business world would take a woman named Daisy seriously.”
“Asher, this is great news. Does it mean you’re considering giving up your vagabond ways and heading into the classroom to teach? I know the university would jump at the chance to hire you.”
Daniel was out of his mind. “No.”
“No?” his brother repeated. “Why not? You’ve met the woman, you’re—”
“Daisy isn’t going to move to Brazil for me,” he stated emphatically. “And I’m not giving up my entire life to be stuffed indoors eight hours a day, so we’re at an impasse.”
Daniel chuckled. “You’re putting up obstacles where there are none, little brother.”
Yup, his brother had completely lost his mind. “Come on, Daniel, you know me better than anyone. Can you honestly see me stuck in a classroom? If I’m not outside I become claustrophobic after more than a few hours. Teaching isn’t for me any more than living in a big city like Chicago.”
If Asher was expecting an argument, Daniel didn’t give him one. He had another question.
“Tell me more about her. Let me see her through your eyes.”
This wasn’t the direction Asher wanted to take. Every mention of Daisy was a pinprick in his chest. “You said it took a year for you and Kylie to reconnect, right?”
“Right. What’s that got to do with you and Daisy?”
“Daisy and I hit it off right away. Like gangbusters. I don’t know that I’ve laughed with anyone as much as I did her. The crazy part is this cruise wasn’t what she expected.” He explained how her loony assistant had arranged it as some sort of revenge.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m not,” Asher insisted. “I know it sounds nuts, and at the same time it makes me think I was meant to meet Daisy. After her initial shock, I have to say she was a good sport about it.