A Christmas Duet

Chapter Fourteen

True to her word, Daisy left Hailey alone for the remainder of the afternoon. The song she’d started writing that morning had taken shape in her mind, but when she returned to it, she was met with one mental setback after another. She couldn’t stop thinking about their earlier conversation. Daisy was hurting. Hailey hadn’t recognized it at first, concerned as she was about the intrusion. Something was definitely up with her sister. All she could do was hope Daisy would be willing to confide in her.

Hailey found herself doing what she always did when stymied. She made herself a cup of tea, put a load of laundry in the washer, and looked through the cupboard for a snack. After wasting several minutes, she found nothing interesting as she aimlessly sought inspiration. Nothing seemed to help when her thoughts were occupied with concern for her sister.

Two hours later, frustrated and angry with herself, Hailey gave up even trying. Noticing it was dinnertime, her stomach growled, and she realized she hadn’t eaten anything since a protein bar early that morning—plus a few handfuls of unsalted popcorn.

Standing at the foot of the stairs, she called for Daisy. “You can come down and join me. I’m starving.”

Her sister appeared at the top step. “You sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You aren’t a bother, you’ve never been a bother,” she said and laughed, seeking to reassure her sister that she was welcome and always wouldbe.

Daisy looked relieved. “Good.”

“What did you do the rest of the afternoon?” Hailey asked. Without the internet or cell service, her sister must have been bored out of her mind.

“This and that,” Daisy told her as she started down the stairs. “I unpacked my bag, crocheted a little, and fiddled with an idea for a macramé pattern.”

“Are you hungry?”

Daisy placed her hand over her stomach. “Starving.”

“What would you like for dinner?” she asked, willing to cater to her sister’s unique dietary needs as much as possible.

“Let me do the cooking,” Daisy was quick to suggest. She knew all too well Hailey was no whiz in the kitchen.

“Are you still vegan, because I don’t think I’ll have what you need here.” Her sister changed her eating preferences as often as she did her relationships.

“No worries,” Daisy was quick to reassure her. “I gave up on that a long time ago. I’m back to enjoying meat and butter. I decided I can’t live without pasta and cheese.”

That was a relief. Knowing her sister, Hailey hadn’t expected this latest dietary decision to last long.

“What are you in the mood for?” Daisy asked, as she ventured into the kitchen. She started opening and closing cupboard doors until she found the food pantry. “I can make us macaroni and cheese,” she said, holding out the boxed dinner.

“Perfect.” That was about the best Hailey had to offer, and Daisy got her two favorite foods all in one processed-food offering.

“What about a salad?” Daisy opened the refrigerator and scrounged inside, shifting items about in search of lettuce.

“I’ll mix that,” Hailey volunteered. She’d picked up a second mixed greens kit when she’d shopped for the night she’d cooked for Jay.

Working together, the two sisters managed to create a decent meal.

“You know,” Daisy said as they sat across the table from each other. “All I could find in the cupboard was boxed meals. Eating all this processed food isn’t good for you.”

Hailey knew her sister was right. The same lack of fresh foods held true in Portland. At the end of the school day, she was in no mood to attempt anything culinary.

Some of her friends could read recipe books like they were novels. Hailey wasn’t one of them. The effort of figuring out what to make, shopping for the ingredients, then standing over the stove was beyond her, especially when her efforts so often failed. “Frozen dinners are fast and easy. I don’t have time to worry about my diet.”

“You need to take the time,” Daisy said, chastising her. “Feed that great brain of yours, Hailey. Diet is important.”

Hailey snickered. “You’re beginning to sound like Mom.”

Looking aghast, Daisy dropped her fork. “Say it isn’t so.”

Hailey burst out laughing and the two shared a smile.

For the next several minutes they ate in companionable silence.

“Tomorrow night you’re going to be on your own for dinner,” Hailey said. “Jay is taking me out.” Just thinking of their dinner date gave her a happy feeling.

Daisy didn’t reveal any signs of disappointment. “You’re falling for this guy, aren’t you?”

Hailey decided it was best not to feed her sister’s curiosity, and so she left the question unanswered.

“I never thought my big sister would fall for a musician.”

“I’m a musician,” Hailey reminded her.

“Yup,” Daisy said, looking down at her plate. “You were the one in the family who got all the talent.”

“That’s not true,” Hailey insisted, stunned that her sister would even suggest such a thing.

“Look at me, sis,” Daisy mumbled with a soft snicker. “I’m a hot mess, and always have been. You are the golden child, while I’ve always been the black sheep of the family.”

“Don’t say that.” Hailey wanted to wrap her arms around her sister and assure Daisy how deeply she was loved. Not until their earlier conversation had it entered her mind that her little sister would feel inferior, especially when she’d always come across as confident, if not a bit eccentric. Okay, a lot eccentric.

“I can’t seem to find my niche. It isn’t like I can make a career out of macramé and crocheting.”

“Have you tried?”

“Well, yes, I regularly sell pieces at farmers’ markets and art fairs, but I don’t earn enough to support myself. I’d gratefully work at a real job if I could. I know that Mom and Dad don’t want to pay my rent for the rest of their lives. I can’t seem to hold on to employment more than a month or two, no matter how hard I try.”

This looked to be a badly needed second heart-to-heart talk with her sister. “Do you know why that is?” Hailey had assumed Daisy’s lack of success in the business world was all due to her irresponsibility. Her sister didn’t believe in watches or keeping track of time, which was sure to be a detriment to any employer.

“I took a test…” Daisy said, lowering her voice to that of a mere whisper.

Hailey waited for her to continue, but when Daisy didn’t, she prompted her. “What kind of test?”

Daisy squared her shoulders. “I’m dyslexic,” she burst out. “That’s why I always did so poorly in school and why numbers get all twisted up in my mind. I’m terrible when it comes to stuff like that, and reading, too. The words get all jumbled up in my head.”

Stunned speechless, Hailey didn’t know what to say. “Why didn’t anyone figure that out when we were in grade school?” She was aghast that her sister had gone undiagnosed all these years.

“The only thing I can figure is that we moved so often because of Dad’s job. I lost count of how many grade schools I attended.”

Daisy was right. Her father had advanced quickly in his career. Each promotion had required a move. They’d bounced all over the country until finally settling in Tacoma when Hailey started junior high. Four moves in six years. It hadn’t been difficult for Hailey, as she’d always found a path because of her musical talent and love of school generally. Daisy, not so much. With every move it seemed her sister grew even more quirky.

“Dyslexic,” Hailey repeated. It explained so much about her sister that she’d never considered. “What prompted you to take the test?”

Daisy hesitated, as if she’d rather skip this part. “A friend suggested it may be the reason I was so bad with numbers, transposing them and making dumb mistakes.”

“That sounds like a good friend.”

Her sister grew uncharacteristically somber. “The best.”

Hailey closely watched Daisy and felt there was much more to her sibling than she had realized. Intuitively, Hailey realized that feeling she had earlier about something deeply troubling her sister had to do with this friend . “What’s your friend’s name?” she asked. She’d noticed the way Daisy closed up at the question.

After several uncomfortable moments, Daisy sniffled and set her fork aside. “Charles.”

Although eager to hear more, Hailey patiently waited for Daisy to continue. “He says he loves me.” Tears glistened in her eyes, and she angrily swiped the moisture away from her cheek.

“Is Charles loving you so hard to believe?”

“Yes,” she cried. “He’s not like anyone else I’ve ever met. He’s…everything I’m not—employed, responsible—and he thinks we would be good for each other, only I know I’d mess up his life the way I’ve done my own.”

“Daisy, oh Daisy.” Now Hailey was the one who felt like weeping. She pushed her plate aside and got up from the table, came around and hugged her sister, who was so clearly hurting. “Come sit and talk to me.”

Daisy nodded, stood, and joined Hailey on the sofa. When she seemed reticent to continue, Hailey plied her sister with gentle questions.

“How’d you meet Charles?” she asked.

Daisy drew in a deep breath as though bracing herself for the conversation. “It happened this summer. He bought one of my macramé plant hangers at the farmers’ market and we had a brief conversation. About a week later, he saw me at a coffee shop and asked if he could join me. He’s really sweet, a little awkward, and funny without meaning to be.” A smile tempted her mouth and it quivered slightly. “He’s a rocket scientist and so smart I don’t know what he sees in me.” She sniffled. “I asked him, if he was deserted on an island and there was only one book he could take, what would it be?, and he said”—she paused to smile. “He said it was obvious. He’d want The Practical Guide to Boat Building. Doesn’t that tell you everything about him? Can’t you see we’re impossible together?”

“But you continued to see him, right?”

Daisy shrugged. “I didn’t intend to, but he returned to the market the next Saturday and bought something else, and the next week after that, too. It took him three weeks of buying my plant hangers to ask me if I ever ate lunch.” She laughed softly. “I mean, who doesn’t eat lunch? He was so cute; I couldn’t turn him down. He had his hands in his pockets and kept shuffling his feet. When I explained that I had to wait until the market closed or I sold out, you’ll never guess what he did.”

“Tell me.”

“He bought everything left on my table.”

She hadn’t even met this guy and Hailey liked him already. “You went to lunch with him, then?”

“I did, and we talked for three hours straight. He told me the minute he saw me he knew I was someone special. He didn’t think a woman as beautiful as me would ever consider going out with him. Can you imagine?”

“Oh, Daisy, it hurts me to see you discount yourself like this.”

Her sister smiled through her tears. “He’s so smart, and stable, and I’m the last person he needs in his life. I told him that and he kept saying I was wrong. He seems to think I’m exactly what he needs. He even took me to meet his mother.” Daisy bit her lower lip before she continued. “He tricked me into it because I’d refused earlier, certain any mother worth her salt would disapprove of me.”

“Daisy, how can you say that?” Hailey wanted to shake some sense into her little sister. “Don’t keep me in suspense, tell me what happened.”

“It was worse than you could have imagined.”

Goose bumps rose on Hailey’s skin. If this woman hurt Daisy, Hailey didn’t know what she woulddo.

“Charles’s mother…”

“Yes?”

“She loved me. She told me she’d been waiting a long time for her son to find the right woman.” Daisy cried between sobs. “She doesn’t know anything about me…and neither does Charles, not really. I explained that I live off my parents mostly, because I can’t seem to hold a job. He listened and then suggested that I might have dyslexia and found a test for me to take…That’s how I found out why I have such a hard time reading and concentrating on words.”

He recognized what others had passed over all these years. “Charles sounds wonderful to me.”

“That’s the problem,” Daisy insisted, fighting back tears. “I’ll ruin him, and I care too much about him to screw up his life right along with my own.”

Hailey couldn’t help it, tears bled into her eyes that her wonderful, albeit unique, sister would think so little of herself. When she could manage to speak, she cleared her throat and said, “You broke up with him, didn’t you?”

Daisy nodded.

“And that’s what led you to drive to Podunk?”

Again, her sister agreed with a quick nod. “I…I didn’t want you to spend Christmas alone, though, and I knew Charles wouldn’t know where I was hiding. Oh, Hailey!” she cried, sobbing with her hands over her face, making it difficult for her to be understood. “I broke his heart. He refused to listen, refused to believe me when I said we weren’t compatible. I told him I was leaving for Christmas and that when I returned, I didn’t want to see him again.”

“Daisy. Why would you do that?”

Her sister sniffled. “Charles kept shaking his head, like he refused to believe it. I never knew how painful it would be to hurt someone else this way.”

Hailey’s arm was around her sister, and Daisy leaned against her, accepting her comfort. When her sister had first arrived, she’d put on a happy face and pretended all was well, when her world was falling apart. Hailey was convinced her sister had spent the afternoon worrying about Charles.

“Listen, little sister, this is what you’re going to do,” Hailey said in the same voice she used to get her students’ attention. “You are going to pack your bags and drive back to…” She paused, unsure where Daisy currently resided, and silently berated herself for her judgmental attitude toward her only sibling. “Wenatchee?”

“Salem.”

“You’re living in Salem?” They connected infrequently, which only increased Hailey’s guilt. She’d been focused on her own life, to the point that she’d ignored her only sibling.

“Yeah, since last February. Justin’s band got a three-month gig there, and I followed him. Stupid mistake, only that was where I met Charles…Now I think it would have been better if I hadn’t.”

“I disagree. I have yet to meet Charles, and—”

“You won’t meet him. I’m moving away…I’ve already told my landlord.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know yet, but anywhere Charles isn’t. Is there still a Peace Corps? I want to volunteer for deepest Africa and teach crochet. Better yet, the French Foreign Legion. They take women, too, right?”

Despite the tears wavering in her eyes, Hailey laughed. This scheme sounded so like her sister. “You can check,” Hailey said, “but it’s my belief that you’re going to have a difficult time running away from love.”

Daisy didn’t agree or disagree. “I need to, Hailey. Otherwise I’ll give in to Charles and that would ruin both our lives.”

Hailey sincerely doubted that, but didn’t argue. Her sister needed comfort, not a lecture.