If I was going to face the truth, I had to admit that I wanted a lot more than that from Royal. He was so easy to talk to. To be with. He didn't judge. I'd wondered if he would look down on me for not having gone to college like he had or for not going after culinary school like J.T. was, but it felt like he completely understood.
He listened, really listened instead of waiting until I was done so he could talk. When I was with him, I felt like I could tell him anything. It wasn't until I was alone that the doubts crept in.
“Daisy? Do you want to talk about this now?” Grams' voice cut through my fog of distraction. My cheeks went hot as I thought she wanted to talk to me about Royal. No way I was discussing him with Grams.
I already knew what she thought on the subject. If I asked her, she'd probably drop me off at his door in lingerie with a fistful of condoms. Grams did not approve of my date-free lifestyle.
“Huh?” I set down the pan I'd been drying for at least three minutes too long and turned around. Grams stood in front of me, concern in her eyes.
“You look tired, baby.” She ran her fingertip beneath one eye, stroking the puffy circle I knew was there.
“Just not sleeping well,” I lied. Not sleeping enough was more like it. “I can't get used to J.T. being gone during the week.”
Grams raised an eyebrow at me, not buying my bullshit. “It's been over four months since he started at Tech, and he's been staying in town during the week for half of that at least. You should be used to it by now. I'll give you an herbal tea blend. You need your sleep.” A grin spread across her face that I knew meant trouble. “Maybe you should ask Royal Sawyer to tuck you in.”
“Grams, butt out.”
“I'm your grandmother. I'm not going to butt out. It's my God-given right to be nosy about my granddaughter.”
“Not about my sex life,” I protested, busying myself with cleaning up the kitchen and prepping for the next day.
Grams propped a hip against one of the worktables and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, the day you get a sex life, let me know and then I'll proceed with being nosy.”
“Smart-ass,” I muttered under my breath.
“Who's a smart-ass?” my mother asked from the doorway to the shop.
“Daisy says I am because I'm teasing her about Royal Sawyer,” Grams said. “Shop all closed up?”
“Everything's done up front,” my mom said, adding, “I think she's a smart girl if she's being cautious about Royal. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, you know.”
I bit my tongue before I could demand to know what she meant. Grams got there first. “Sheree, what makes you say that? Prentice was a bastard, and Ford could be cold, but I haven't seen any sign that the Sawyer children take after their father. More like they take after their grandfather. Now, Reginald was a good man. I always thought Prentice drove him into an early grave.”
“Drove him into an early grave? How?” I asked, curious. I got most of my Sawyer-related info from Hope, but suddenly, it occurred to me that Grams had been born in this town, and she probably knew more of the old history than Hope did.
“Well, Prentice talked his father into signing the company over to him when he was in his 30s and then pushed his father out completely. Said it was an early retirement, but Reginald was born to work. He just wasted away after Prentice put him out to pasture. Died not long after. I don't know where Prentice got all his mean, but it doesn't run in the blood, that's for sure.”
My mother crossed her arms over her chest, her jaw set mulishly. “I'm just saying you can't know that. There's nothing wrong with Daisy guarding her heart. Royal is a player. Everyone in town knows it. And he may put on a good act, but he’s still Prentice's son.”
I turned to study her, realizing that this wasn't my mom suspicious of a man who had an interest in her baby girl. This wasn't really about me. It was something more.
“What do you have against the Sawyers? What did they ever do to you?” I couldn't imagine. My mother hadn't spent that much time in Sawyers Bend despite her long marriage to my father. They flitted in and out of town, but they were never here long enough to make friends or cause any trouble.
My mother lifted that set jaw in my direction. “Prentice Sawyer took advantage of your father in a business deal not long after you were born. I don't care if he lived in that big house and wore a fancy suit, he was still a thief. When your father tried to get back the money Prentice swindled out of him, Prentice had him arrested.”