The comment was delivered in a teasing voice that made Daisy think maybe Sage wasn’t being mean. In fact her former stepsister had been nothing but warm and helpful during the shopping process.
Daisy had been reluctant to meet Sage at her Beverly Hills boutique, but the reunion was rapidly approaching and Daisy literally didn’t have anything to wear. She sensed the evening might be a turning point with Jordan and wanted to look really good for him. Who better to help with that than the most beautiful woman she knew?
She’d decided to ignore the weirdness of Sage helping her achieve that goal—what with their complicated Jordan history—and had made an appointment. Now as she looked at her reflection, she knew she’d made the right choice.
“I’ll take it,” she said firmly.
“You should.” Sage’s gaze dropped to Daisy’s bare feet. “What about shoes? You’re going to want some great high-heeled sandals.” She smiled. “And a bit of attitude.”
“Shoes, I have. I’m less sure about the attitude.”
“Then you’re going to have to fake it. Confidence is huge—even if you’re only pretending. The way a person walks into a room can affect the rest of their day.”
“What would you know about pretending to be confident?” Daisy asked.
Sage smiled. “I did it all the time in high school. Did you really think I believed I was all that?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“I didn’t. I was as scared and nervous as everyone else. I just knew how to pretend better.”
“I can’t begin to believe that,” Daisy admitted. “You were the one who knew what to wear, how to talk. You even intimidated our instructors.”
“None of that was real. You were all fooled.”
A concept that was difficult to grasp. Sage not the most confident person in the room? Impossible.
“I would try to channel you when I wanted to be brave,” Daisy admitted. “All the times I fought with my dad, I pretended to be you.”
Sage’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? You never fought with your dad. He adored his annoyingly perfect kid. Every adult I knew liked you way better than they liked me. Other than my mom. Wherever I went all I heard was how great you were.” She shuddered. “You were my worst nightmare.”
Daisy told herself not to react negatively to the outburst. Although her instinct might be to assume the worst, she almost felt there might be a compliment buried in there somewhere.
“You resented that I was a better student,” she said slowly.
Sage rolled her eyes. “I resented you were so damned smart. And such a rule follower. The teachers at school still talk about you. It’s not right.”
“I got along better with adults than kids,” she admitted. “With grown-ups, I understood the rules. With my peers, it was more of a crapshoot. I wasn’t like you, Sage. I didn’t know what to say or how to dress.”
“I didn’t, either. Like I said, I was faking it half the time. If I wore something someone teased me about, I turned it around and made them the silly one.” Her mouth twisted. “Sometimes more cruelly than I should have. You had book smarts, and I had a social intelligence. I was also more outgoing, which made a difference, and I was much more willing to defy authority.”
Daisy felt her worldview shifting. “I’m speechless.”
“Don’t be. Now tell me the truth. Did you really fight with your dad?”
“Yes. About a lot of things. When I was in high school, we mostly fought about my career choice. He wanted me to go to medical school and I didn’t.”
“But you were smart enough and you come from a long line of doctors.”
“So he reminded me, almost daily.” Daisy held out her hands, palms up. “I’d planned to be a pediatrician. I got into a special summer program for high school students interested in studying medicine. We rotated through various parts of the hospital. During our surgery rotation, I became fascinated by the anesthesiologist. I thought what she was doing was incredible and so interesting. I did a lot of research and quickly found out that nurse anesthesiologists do a lot more work with patients than doctor anesthesiologists. That’s what I wanted. So no medical school for me.”
“You defied your father?”
“Yes, and he wasn’t happy about it.”
“I’m impressed. Weren’t you afraid he’d stop loving you if you didn’t do what he said?”
The simple question was like a punch in the gut, Daisy thought, as sadness overwhelmed her. Because knowing Joanne as