Pushing Up Daisies (21 page)

“What’s this?”

“The address of Jay’s relative on his mother’s side. The woman you need to speak to is named Peaches. Evidently she has all the information.”

“Peaches?”

Kenneth laughed. “Yes, that’s her given name. Peaches Marie Pleasant. We didn’t know where she lived, so we had to find her. That’s why it took me so long to get back to you. Oh, and one other thing. Here.” He handed Daisy some money. “Jasper had also left me money to handle the case. I never would’ve taken yours, but the file was sealed. I didn’t know. Call me after you see Peaches. I can’t proceed until you do.”

Daisy did a final check on the freshly pruned plants, gave them one last misting of food, and headed out into the cold December breeze. She tightened her scarf and hummed an upbeat tune. She’d felt lighter, happier, since Jacob had called her earlier and asked her to come over. “No strings attached,” he’d said, then went on to tell her that he’d be moving out in two days.

She smiled wider than she had in a long time. Christmastime had always been one of her favorites, and something within her felt lighter as it approached. The feeling was good, and it gave her hope for her and Jay’s future.

With a few hours to kill before it was time to meet Jacob, Daisy turned onto Fifth Avenue and stopped in front of a display window at FAO Schwarz. She had no idea what Jay might want. His interest in toys had always seemed to change weekly, and since he’d been stripped from her life, she’d missed plenty. Lani, she knew, would be satisfied with a Barbie doll or two. Daisy smiled. Lani was just like her in many ways, and being easy to please was just one of them.
Well, I can’t go wrong with a video game.
She followed a mass of shoppers inside the store, then bumped into the last person she wanted to collide with. Camille.

Camille, flawlessly made up, wore a full-length mink coat with matching hat and gloves. Daisy wanted to choke her for wearing Jasper’s money, for unintentionally rubbing it in that she’d received the whole shebang, but Daisy refused to lower herself.

“Hello, Daisy,” Camille greeted her, smiling genuinely.

Daisy paused and stared. She didn’t know whether to take Camille’s friendliness seriously. The woman had put her and Jay out of their own home.
But I did sleep with her husband and had him taking care of me. Hell, I gave her a run for her money and didn’t even know it.

Feeling somewhat victorious, Daisy returned the smile. “How are you, Camille?”

“Feeling lighter.” She patted her stomach.

“Oh, congratulations.” Daisy feigned enthusiasm. “I didn’t realize that you’d had the baby. What did you have?”

“A girl. Camilla.”

That figures.
“How nice. Well, it was nice seeing you. I’ve got some shopping to do—”

Camille suddenly grabbed her by the arm. “I need to talk to you.”

Daisy looked at Camille’s hand on her sleeve and cleared her throat. Camille let go.

“It’s important, Daisy. It’s about Jay, and Jasper’s mother.”

They walked down the street among the Christmas shoppers. Daisy stole a glance at the woman walking beside her, anxiously waiting for Camille to speak first. What could possibly be going through her mind? Why was she being so cordial all of a sudden?

“Do you want to stop in here and grab a cup of coffee?” Camille asked, pointing to a coffee shop.

“Sure.” Daisy shrugged. “Why not? It’s cold out here, and I’ve been working all day. I could use something to warm me up.”

The two of them waited silently at the counter for the waitress to take their order. The air between them was thick, too foggy for idle chitchat. They stood as though pretending not to be together—not too close, not too far apart.

Camille spoke up first and ordered two medium coffees. Coffee was exactly what Daisy wanted, but she refused to let a woman she didn’t like make that decision for her. So, even though it felt juvenile, she declined the coffee and ordered a hot chocolate instead.

“Well, here we are,” Camille said, sitting down at a table.

“Yes, I guess so,” Daisy said, taking the chair across from her.

The minutes ticked by slowly. Daisy sipped her hot chocolate and waited.
Why the hell did she say she wants to talk to me if she’s not talking?

“I’m sorry, my mind’s been somewhere else,” Camille said as if reading Daisy’s thoughts.

Obviously.
“I see. Well, what is it you wanted to discuss?”

“You have to get him away from those people. They’re horrible.”

“What are you talking about, Camille? Jay’s in foster care.”

“No, he’s not. He’s with my mother-in-law.”

“Can’t be. I spoke to him, and he told me that he was in foster care.”

Camille sighed heavily, seemingly as exasperated as Daisy. “I tell you he’s not. I saw him over there just last week, when I went to drop off Christmas gifts.”

Daisy hoped that Camille was mistaken. If Jay was in the custody of Jasper’s parents, her fight would be even harder. They were biologically related and had more money for lawyers. “How did they get him?”

“They’re loaded. You’d be surprised how money can fool people. They must’ve convinced someone that they were good for Jay. But they’re not, I’m telling you.”

“How come you’re so opposed to them having Jay? I know I have my reasons; I’m just wondering about yours.”

“They’re terrible grandparents—terrible people. Period. You should’ve seen how they treated me after Jasper died. You would’ve thought that I’d turned into the Antichrist or something. They treat Camilla and me as if we have something contagious. When she gets older, I’ll be ashamed to tell her that they’re her relatives. Lord knows they don’t treat her like one.”

“Camilla, too?”

Camille nodded. “Yes. When Jasper was alive, and we told them that I was pregnant, you can’t imagine how much they loved me—or pretended to. But after he died and the will had been executed, that was it. They shunned me, and my child. Every now and then they call and act nice, as if they care. But it’s a facade. Nothing with them is as it seems.”

Daisy couldn’t understand why Camille would bring them gifts if they were truly as horrible as she painted them to be. “Is it because they don’t think you should’ve gotten all of his money and assets?”

“Are you serious?” Camille laughed. When Daisy didn’t join in, Camille stared at her. “You are, aren’t you? I didn’t get all of anything. I got the house and his car, but that’s it.”

Unwilling to let Camille see the hurt that was about to surface, Daisy did her best to put on a poker face. “Jay and I didn’t get a dime.”

Camille’s jaw dropped. “Nothing?”

“Nada.”

“I’m
so
sorry. All this time I thought that you’d gotten just about everything. I never would’ve taken the house had I known. There’s no way I would’ve put your son out in the cold! I was jealous. I thought that he loved you more.”

Daisy laughed nervously. “No, he didn’t love me at all. It’s taken a while, but I’ve figured that out. And I’m pretty sure he didn’t love Jay all that much, either. If he had,
he
wouldn’t have left him out in the cold. It’s not your fault. Any other wife would’ve done the same.”

“Well, I wonder where all his money went.”

“If it didn’t go to his parents, maybe he had another woman. I know for certain that he was sleeping with someone else. A woman I know.”

Camille covered Daisy’s hand with hers. “You poor thing. Was it one of the women I met?”

“No, of course not. My friends wouldn’t do that to me,” Daisy lied. Camille was being nice, but Daisy would never give her the satisfaction of knowing that Jasper had tipped out with someone that close to Daisy. She’d already looked stupid once, when she’d found out that he’d married Camille after being with Daisy for years.
I won’t allow myself to look like the same fool twice—even though I was.

“Back to Jay…,” Daisy began.

“Yes, back to Jay. Daisy, please get him out of there. I don’t know what it is, but something isn’t right. The mother’s okay sometimes, although her idea of raising a child is to hire a nanny. But the stepfather was ice-cold toward him. One minute he was smiling, and then, when Jay walked into the room, he frowned like he had a bad taste in his mouth.”

Daisy decided to choose her words carefully. What if Camille was setting her up? She said the safest thing she could. “I’m trying to get him back now.”

“Please do. And if there’s anything I can do, let me know. I’ll even go to court, if necessary. Twenty years from now, I don’t want to walk into my office and see Jay sitting on the other side of my desk, still trying to overcome the trauma he suffered during childhood. I see cases like that every day, and I don’t want him to become one of them.” Camille handed Daisy a business card. “Those are the numbers to my office and answering service. If it’s after hours, the service will reach me at any time. Feel free.”

After Daisy left Camille, she walked toward the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. She blended in with the mass of people on the New York City sidewalks. They were all a blur. Everything was moving too fast. Deep in thought, she didn’t feel them bump into her. Didn’t hear their muttered curses. Didn’t see the Do Not Walk sign at the corner before she blindly stepped off the curb and headed into traffic. Too embarrassed to look up at her rescuer, she thanked whoever had pulled her back onto the curb by her coat collar to keep her from getting hit by a delivery truck.

She leaned against the rail at the ice rink and watched the skaters below, the conversation with Camille haunting her. Jasper’s stepfather had to know that Jay was Jonathan’s son. From the way Camille described his behavior toward Jay, it seemed obvious. Why else would he treat him so horribly? She had to get Jay out of there. She’d need Ming Li to tell Jonathan’s story to the attorney. She wasn’t sure if it would work, or if it would be considered hearsay, but it was worth a shot.

“Yuck,” she said out loud. Just the thought of having to see Ming Li, let alone ask her a favor, sickened her. She didn’t know how she’d be able to face her without strangling her.

The whipping wind stung her eyes. They began to tear, but Daisy didn’t wipe them. She needed to cry, and the freezing gust of air was the perfect excuse. But then she remembered Adonis’s woe-is-me speech, she held up her head and straightened her shoulders. Checking her watch, Daisy hurried to hail a cab to take her to Jacob’s.