Page 98 of Fake it With Me

“I have to go for a while, sweetheart.” I tried to keep my voice steady, tried not to let her see the tears that were threatening to spill over.

“But why? Are you mad at Daddy?”

“No, I’m not. It’s complicated. Ask your dad to explain, okay? He’s in the boathouse. He’ll be in soon to make your breakfast.”

“Are you leaving?”

I forced a smile. “I am. I’m sorry. I have to go. I’ll miss you, Daisie. You are an amazing little girl. Thank you for being so nice to me. Goodbye.”

I couldn’t look at her face and see the hurt and confusion there. I headed for the door.

“Liza!” Daisie called after me. “Please don’t go!”

That stopped me. I turned back to see her crying now, tears streaming down her face. I wanted to run back and hug her. I would love to tell her I was not ever going to leave her.

But Darek had made his choice. And I couldn’t stay where I wasn’t wanted. It was his house. He wanted me out.

And that was that.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, Daisie.”

Then I turned and walked out the door.

I walked down the drive and exited through the gate. I stood there and hoped the driver hurried. I needed to get away.

The Uber pulled up five minutes later. I supposed there was part of me that hoped Darek would come look for me.

He didn’t.

I threw my suitcase in the trunk and climbed into the back seat. The driver, a woman in her fifties, glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

“You okay, honey?”

“I’m fine. Can we just go? Please?”

She pulled away from the estate. I watched through the rear window as the house got smaller.

It felt like I was closing a chapter of my life that I wasn’t done reading.

34

DAREK

It had been three days since Liza left. I felt like I was moving through fog. Everything was muted and colorless. It was like someone had turned down the saturation on my entire life. All the color had been sucked out of the world.

I felt like a husk. A walking, talking husk. I forced myself to eat at breakfast because I didn’t want Daisie to worry. At dinner, she ate while I worked. I told her I would eat later.

I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

Work was a blur. I went through the motions, showed up at the boat yard, answered emails, and talked to clients. But I couldn’t focus. My team kept asking if I was okay, and I kept saying I was fine, and we all knew I was lying.

But the worst part was Daisie.

She was devastated. Exactly like I feared would happen if someone she’d gotten attached to left. Except this time, I couldn’t even blame Sasha. This time, it was all on me. I was the cause of her pain. She didn’t know what happened but she knew Liza was gone. She knew her friend wasn’t coming back.

And she blamed me. My daughter was too polite to actually say it, but I felt her anger. I told myself she would be okay soon enough. She would get over the loss.