Daisies and Denim Read online

  Billie Daddario

  Daisies and Diamonds

  Daisies and Denim is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the author’s imagination or are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2021 by Billie Daddario

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  This book is dedicated to the men in my life. | My father George Bowman for teaching me the love of books and language. | And my husband John Daddario for financing this foray into authorship.

  I’d like to thank my editors, Amy Partain, Karin Rathert for their hard work. | I’d also like to thank those who read this book and made suggestions to help make this book the best possible: Victoria Weller, Yogita Chablani, Eric Zacharias, Pamela Erickson, Mason Oakley, Scott Noble, Rhonda Hattar and Karen DeSantis.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  The End

  Thomson Family Ranch Series Book 1 | The Cowboy's Second-Hand Heart | Joseph

  Lisa

  Joseph

  Lisa

  Joseph

  Chapter 2 | Lisa

  Joseph

  Lisa

  Joseph

  Chapter 3 | Lisa

  Contact me at | Billiedaddario.com | Facebook https://www.facebook.couom/billie.daddario.56 | Instagram https://www.instagram.com/daddariobillie/ | Twitter https://twitter.com/BillieDaddario

  This book is dedicated to the men in my life.

  My father George Bowman for teaching me the love of books and language.

  And my husband John Daddario for financing this foray into authorship.

  I’d like to thank my editors, Amy Partain, Karin Rathert for their hard work.

  I’d also like to thank those who read this book and made suggestions to help make this book the best possible: Victoria Weller, Yogita Chablani, Eric Zacharias, Pamela Erickson, Mason Oakley, Scott Noble, Rhonda Hattar and Karen DeSantis.

  Chapter 1

  The sun streamed into the kitchen, making the granite countertops sparkle as Lucy and Kelly got ready for the workday. The women were oblivious to the view of the Flatirons as Kelly, dressed in her self-imposed uniform of nice slacks, a blouse, and flats, with her ringlets held securely by a barrette, was preparing for her day at the elementary school down the street. Lucy was busy getting ready for her day at the real estate office downtown. Kelly had such joy about her job, causing Lucy to sometimes envy her friend—not that she wanted to teach, but she at least wished she loved her job.

  Kelly, noting her friend’s furrowed brow, decided a little bit of teasing was in order. “Do you want to come to work with me today? We’re doing weather and shadows.”

  “No,” Lucy replied, smiling at their easy banter. “I don’t want to work anywhere a hazmat suit is necessary.”

  Lucy’s favorite times of the day were when she got to spend time kidding around with her friends. As the two friends were joking about work, their third roommate, Meghan, stumbled in after a grueling late night at the law office.

  “Hi guys,” Meg grunted. “Boy, am I glad to be home for a few hours. I’m beat.”

  Kelly opened her arms, ready to bestow a hug on her tired friend because Kelly believed a hug could cure everything.

  “You look like hell,” Kelly said, as she approached Meg.

  Meg’s curly hair was wilder than normal, and when Kelly leaned in to give her a hug, she could smell the horrificness of Meg’s evening on her dark brown skin. The smell of vomit was strong, and as Kelly pulled away from her friend, she suggested that Meg take a long bath and borrow some of Lucy’s bubble bath.

  “Good thing I’d be glad to share,” Lucy said, after being volunteered.

  “It’s worth it,” Meg said, defending her disheveled look. “We found a way to beat an oil company that is trying to encroach on some farmland, so cut me some slack. We’re saving the environment and needed to celebrate our victory.”

  “Superwoman strikes again,” Lucy smiled. “But Kelly’s right; a bubble bath is definitely in order.”

  Lucy looked at her watch. “Oh my God, I’ve got to go. I’m gonna be late; I’m gonna be so late. I hate being late. Colleen hates it even more.” Lucy said goodbye to her friends and rushed out of the house.

  After an uneventful drive and a stop to pick up Colleen’s laundry, Lucy walked toward the building with the dry cleaning in one hand and a hot cup of coffee in the other. She tried to open the heavy glass door to her office with her foot and one finger. Struggling, Lucy sighed when a man came out of the office and held the door for her. She hurried across the marble floor, almost slipping, in hopes of catching the elevator to the third floor where the real estate office was housed. As she stepped off the elevator, Lucy stumbled again on her way down the hall to the office. The minute she got to her desk, the barrage of questions began.

  “You’re late,” Colleen barked. “Did you pick up my dress for the realtor awards dinner tonight? Did you pick up my coffee? Did you put creamer in it? Vanilla creamer?”

  “Yes, yes, and yes,” Lucy said, glad Collen couldn’t see the rolling of her brown eyes as she made her voice sound extra cheerful.

  “Good,” Colleen said. “I’ve got an address around here somewhere.” Lucy’s boss began rummaging through the things that covered her large mahogany desk. Finding the paper she was looking for, Colleen held it out to Lucy. “I need you to go to this address and get it ready for tomorrow’s open house. And I won’t be in the office the rest of the day; I’m having my hair done for tonight. So you’ll have to have the phone transferred over to you.”

  “Wait!” Lucy called out, about to mount a protest when the phone rang. With a dismissive wave, Colleen Cortez, the wavy-haired, curvy Brazilian real estate developer, disappeared behind double doors to her office.

  Lucy dutifully answered the phone. Once she finished with the call, she pulled her long, sun-kissed brown hair up into a ponytail and found the cleaning and baking supplies she would need to prepare for the open house. Having last minute, extra duties dropped in her lap was nothing new, just par for the course when working for Colleen.

  Needing more information about her new task, Lucy knocked on Colleen’s door and stuck her head in, only to be greeted by Colleen hollering from her desk, “What do you want? Stop bothering me!”

  Lucy stifled a sigh, then almost whispered “Colleen, I just wanted to know what kind of cookies you wanted? Chocolate chip? Peanut butter? Sugar?”

  Colleen looked up at Lucy as if she had three heads. “Always chocolate. Always chocolate on Tuesdays.”

  Lucy nodded. “Three dozen chocolate chip.”

  “Get out!” Colleen shouted, pointing her finger at Lucy.

  Lucy returned to her desk, gathered the cleaning items, and headed back down the elevator and out the door to her car where she loaded everything in. Then she headed across the street to Raymond’s to order the cookies. One dozen to bake and two dozen already done.

  “Hi, Raymond,” she called, as she pushed through the door to the café. Raymond Jr. was a tall man with tortoiseshell glasses, a white shirt that complimented his dark skin, a yellow bow tie, and suspenders. The atmosphere in the café was
warm; the tables were decorated with crisp checked tablecloths and milk glass vases, each featuring a daisy. The café belonged to Raymond’s father, Ray Sr., but Raymond now did most of the day-to-day work of running the business. Lucy stopped to read the specials on the chalkboard as Raymond came from the kitchen.

  “Hi, Lucy. How ya doing?” he asked. “So, what will it be today? Three dozen chocolate chip cookies and a bag of chocolate chip cookie dough? A cup of hot tea, coffee, or cocoa? What’s your pleasure?” Raymond smiled, taking pleasure in knowing Lucy’s order.

  “Of course. And since it’s March and still essentially winter, I’ll take cocoa,” Lucy said, half complaining. “I’ll be glad when the weather warms up.”

  As Raymond was boxing up the cookies, he asked, “How’s that friend of yours? What’s her name? Umm, Kelly? Yeah, Kelly. How’s Kelly?”

  “She’s fine,” Lucy said, as she looked at her watch.

  “She seems really nice,” Raymond said.

  “She is,” Lucy said, distractedly. “Can you hurry, Raymond? I’m in kind of a rush.”

  “Sure,” Raymond said, as he taped the lid of the cookie box. “Does she have a boyfriend? That’ll be twenty-one dollars for everything.”

  “Umm, no, no she doesn’t,” Lucy searched through her purse for her debit card. Finally finding it at the bottom, she handed it to Raymond. “She just broke up with her boyfriend; this guy she works with named Ed.”

  Lucy waved to Raymond with one finger, as her hands were now loaded down with cocoa and boxes of cookies.

  “Thanks,” she said, smiling. “I’ll be back tonight for meatloaf, and we can talk more about Kelly.”

  Raymond waved to her, and she backed out the door and headed down the street to her car.

  Hours later, Lucy had used every cleaning trick she knew to clean the modern three-bedroom split-level with a gorgeous view of the Flatirons. She had washed the windows, scrubbed all the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, and was just about to tackle the dirty kitchen when her cell phone rang. It was Meg.

  “Hi,” Meg said. “I wanted to let you know you got a letter.”

  Lucy sighed. “You interrupted me at work for that. What if Colleen were here? I’d be in all kinds of trouble,” she scolded, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. While it would have been trouble if Colleen had been there, Lucy had to admit that she appreciated the break.

  “No, Lucy, you don’t understand. You have a registered letter waiting for you at the post office,” Meg explained. “You need to go and sign to pick it up. They won’t let me pick it up; you’ll have to do it because the slip has your name on it.”

  “OK, Meggy,” Lucy agreed. “I’ll pick up the letter on my way home. I’m gonna grab a bite to eat at Raymond’s tonight. Do you want to meet me there for dinner? You could leave a note for Kelly, so she could join us.”

  “Sorry,” Meg said, “I can’t make dinner. I have a deposition to take, and I won’t be finished at a decent hour. Go ahead and eat without me. I’ll write Kelly a note, though, so that she can meet you for dinner. I hope everything’s OK, Lucy, with the letter, I mean. . . . Hey, I’ll call you later, and you can tell me what it’s all about. Unless it's none of my business. Talk to you later.”

  “Later,” Lucy said, before disconnecting the call. She couldn’t imagine who would send her a registered letter; now she hoped she had won the Publisher’s sweepstakes. Lucy shoved her phone into her pocket and finished her chores.

  When Lucy got back to the office, she found on her desk a list of things that needed to be done and a pile of files to be put away and a pile of filings that needed to be taken to the courthouse. That pile included a list of addresses that needed to be verified as property owned by deceased individuals that might be going into probate. Another list on the pile was of recent divorces; Colleen could make a fortune selling the homes of divorced individuals. Lucy decided to tackle the filing in the office first and then go to the courthouse to check out the recent divorce and the deceased addresses. From the courthouse, she could go home.

  Putting the files away went quickly, and in no time, Lucy was off to the courthouse. Even at the end of the day, parking there was a mess as always. She finally found someone leaving, signaled for the space, and was about to turn into the parking spot when an old pickup truck whipped into the spot.

  Outraged, Lucy threw her car into park, jumped out, and confronted the driver. Angry and in a hurry, Lucy tried not to let the rugged handsomeness of the driver of the offending pickup distract her. He got out of the pickup truck: he was tall, with a slightly receding hairline and beautiful laugh lines around his eyes. His shoulders were broad, and it was easy to see that he was a real Colorado cowboy, not just dressing like one. Regardless of his good looks, that spot was hers.

  “Hey, that parking spot is mine, you brain-dead too long on the ranch idiot,” Lucy yelled, trying to veil her nervousness, even as she was proud that she was sticking up for herself.

  “Well, you should’ve pulled in if you wanted it. I’m not gonna give it to you just because you’re a woman with self-esteem issues, so get over it,” the man said dismissively, and he walked away.

  Lucy felt deflated as the cars around her started to honk. Half fuming, half feeling sorry for herself for not succeeding in getting him to give her the spot, Lucy got into her car and started circling the lot again looking for another parking spot. She hated it, but his words echoed in her mind, and now she wondered if she did have self-esteem issues.

  After finally finding another parking spot, Lucy entered the records office only to come face-to-face with the parking space thief once again. When he saw her, he gave her a smile, but Lucy couldn’t tell if the smile was meant to be apologetic or smug that he had frustrated her. She noticed that his eyes twinkled when he smiled, and somehow that seemed to make everything OK, which only frustrated Lucy more. She hated when women in movies melted when guys smiled at them. But it seemed that somehow this cowboy had her number.

  Lucy stood in line behind him with a couple of people between them, and she ignored him. Well, at least until he wasn’t looking; then she would sneak a quick look. I’m only looking, she told herself each time. But once, she mistimed her glance, and their eyes met.

  How dare he look at me? What’s his deal? Lucy thought.

  Lucy was glad when she stepped into her own home that evening. She found the letter from the post office she needed, so she could make the trip to the post office. It was a quick, uneventful trip; Lucy looked at the return address and stuffed the letter into her purse.

  Lucy sighed with relief as she pushed open the door to Raymond’s Diner. Between all of the errands for work, then going home for the registered letter slip and back to the post office to retrieve the letter, Lucy was ready to relax over dinner with Kelly at her favorite eatery.

  “Lucy!” Raymond exclaimed, so glad to see her. “You’re gonna eat here, right?”

  “Yeah, Kelly should be here in a minute,” Lucy said. “She’s gonna join me for dinner, but I don’t know what she wants. I should’ve called her. Didn’t think of it till now.”

  Raymond looked grief-stricken at the mention of Kelly’s name.

  “What’s up with you?” Lucy asked. “After the way you talked this morning, I thought you liked Kelly.”

  “I do like her, but I don’t know if she likes me,” Raymond said. “I was gonna ask you tonight to ask her if she likes me.”

  Lucy looked at Raymond like he was the silliest man alive. “I’m so glad you didn’t ask me that 'cause I would’ve told you no,” Lucy said. “We’re not in junior high. Just ask her out. She may say yes; she may say no. Be brave, Raymond, be brave. And bring me a chocolate milkshake and the meatloaf special.”

  Raymond disappeared into the kitchen, and Lucy pulled her phone out as she waited for Kelly. Soon the bell above the door jingled, and a blast of cold air ushered in Kelly, happy as ever.

  “Hi, Kelly,” Lucy rose from her seat and hugged
her friend. “How was your day, darling?” she asked in a sarcastic voice. Kelly was a first-grade teacher, and when one looked at her, it was hard to imagine her doing anything else. She was a tiny, good-natured, curly haired brunette whose perpetual smile highlighted her natural beauty. They'd been besties since junior high, so Lucy knew she would play along with the question.

  “My day with the little animals was wonderful,” she said. “We discussed the nature of farts and why some make sounds and some don’t. Oh, the joys of first grade.”

  Lucy smiled, then turned her attention toward the kitchen. “Raymond, bring me another glass, and we’ll share the spoils of this milkshake.” Then turning back to her friend, she asked, “What are you gonna eat? I’m having meatloaf.”

  “Mmm, that sounds good. I’ll have that too,” Kelly said.

  Lucy yelled back toward the kitchen, “Raymond, Kelly wants the meatloaf special.”

  The diner was nearly empty, so there was no one to mind Lucy’s loud yelling. Seizing the opportunity while Raymond was in the kitchen, Lucy whispered to Kelly the way best friends do when they have their best interest in mind and want to help them make their way through life’s bumpy places, “Do you like Raymond?”

  "I like him. I think he’s nice. He was at the grocery store once when it was raining, and he walked me to my car holding the umbrella so I wouldn’t get wet. That was really nice,” Kelly said, remembering that day. “Do you think he likes me?”

  Not wanting to get in the middle of someone else’s potential relationship, Lucy was relieved when Raymond brought out their plates of steaming meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Lucy leaned over her plate and inhaled deeply. It smelled just like a meal Lucy’s mother used to make.

  Lucy’s mother had died last year. Now that it was just Lucy, she realized how hard it was going to be. Loosing her mother left such a big hole.

  “This is just like my mom used to make,” Lucy said. “Remember?”

  Kelly nodded, “Your mom was the best. Gosh, remember that time she helped us make pizzas for that slumber party? Your mom was an excellent cook. I wish I had paid more attention to her cooking lessons so that now I could cook something besides a TV dinner.”