He raised his eyebrows. Right. “Sorry to hear that. That’s the only reason you wish to speak to your sister?” He had no experience with cheating boyfriends. Obviously.
“Yes. No. I need some money. I’m broke. I haven’t got enough cash to pay for a taxi home.”
“Right. I see.” He put his hand back over the mouthpiece. “Your sister needs money for a taxi home.”
Daisy frowned. “But I just sent her some two days ago. It’s all gone?”
He didn’t like the sound of that. She was still supporting her siblings? “Is she in college? Does she not work?”
She shook her head. “No, she works full-time. I just send money to help out. Tell her I’m putting some into her account right now.”
“Your sister is putting taxi money into your account,” he told Sylvie. Not his business.
“Okay. Good. Thanks. Can you tell her I’ll call her tomorrow?” She’d hung up the phone before he could even reply. Hmm. Seemed she’d called less to complain about the asshole boyfriend and more because she needed money. He was starting not to like Daisy’s sister much.
Daisy rushed back into the room. “Done. Can I talk to her now?” She held out her hand, her exasperation clear.
He felt bad about having to tell her Sylvie had ended the call as soon as she’d heard her sister was transferring the funds.
“We got cut off,” he told her. “Think she said something about her phone going dead.”
“Oh. Well. I’m glad she got time to tell you what she needed. Of course, if you hadn’t stolen my phone, I could have figured out what was going on quicker and had time to find out what happened with Jack-the-jerk.”
She glared up at him. He wondered why the hell he’d felt the need to guard her feelings. Why did he care? He damn well shouldn’t.
He needed to get out of here. Away from her.
“I’m going. Listen, do us both a favor. Leave town. I’ll talk to Ellie about releasing you from the lease.” He couldn’t have her here. He couldn’t be at Sanctuary knowing that she was just an hour’s drive away. He delivered the final blow. “There’s nothing for you here. And there never will be.”
* * *
The next morning, she sat cuddled up on the sofa. A blanket settled around her like a hug. Normally being snuggled up brought her a lot of comfort. But not right then. She was still reeling from what happened last night.
There’s nothing for you here.
Yeah, she was getting that. She didn’t need to be smacked around the face with it to make her see it.
Didn’t she? Only a fool would have come here, chasing a man after ten years. A man who didn’t want her.
Do us both a favor.
Her thumb crept its way into her mouth as she shuffled the worn piece of material back and forth beneath her nose, inhaling the scent. It was actually just part of a blanket she’d had since she was a child. It had gradually worn away until only a rough square was left.
She knew it was kind of ridiculous that at her age she still had a snuggly and that she liked to suck her thumb. Nobody els
e knew about it. Wasn’t like she ever shared her bed with anyone. And her siblings certainly didn’t know. She’d always kept it in a special box under the bed, bringing it out only when she needed it.
Which was pretty much every night.
She sighed. She really needed to get up. After Jed left, well more like stormed out of the house last night, she’d gorged herself on a whole block of chocolate, felt so ill and upset that she’d vomited most of that back up and then she’d climbed into bed, only to spend most of the night tossing and turning.
Now she had a killer headache and her stomach still felt miserable. She’d never been much of a drinker so she could only guess that this is what a hangover felt like. Still, she had clients with deadlines and she didn’t have the right to wallow in misery and let them down. That would be a surefire way to lose them.
So, she took a deep breath and pushed all the hurt from last night down deep. Deep inside where no one would get it and she slammed the lid on that box shut and locked it. She was certain at a later date, that it would come back to haunt her. But right now, she needed to function.
The phone rang and she groaned. Who would be calling her? Sylvie? She quickly pushed off the blanket and rolled, grabbing it and answering the call without even bothering to look at the caller ID.
“Hello? Sylvie, is that you?”