Chapter 4: Daisy

##Chapter 4: Daisy

"Hi, Aunt Marnie!" I call out while coming through the front door with Noah and Carter hot on my heels.

Noah's mother, Aunt Marnie, stands at the huge black granite island in the center of the kitchen. She's wearing a pretty sundress, with her long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. It's her go-to hairstyle. Easy and low maintenance, just like her.

A warm smile lights up her face as she glances up. "Hey, sweetheart!" With a big wooden spoon in hand, she mixes together a macaroni salad for the Labor Day barbecue she and my uncle are hosting. Everyone in the neighborhood is invited, as well as all of Noah and Carter's teammates, who turn up en masse.

Since they have a kick-ass in-ground pool, there's always an abundance of man candy to gawk at. It's probably one of the only perks to having a cousin who plays in a Division I football program. These guys work out all year long like it's their job and have the buff bodies to prove it.

Carter bumps into me, muttering something about slowpokes under his breath that makes me bristle in irritation. I'd normally hit back with an equally disparaging remark, but I'm not on speaking terms with him because I'm still pissed that he ruined my date with Logan.

I try not to think about the other night too much because when I do, images of Carter wearing nothing but a pair of tight briefs that hug his sculpted torso dance through my head. It kills me to admit that he has a stunning body. All of his perfectly chiseled muscles pop out in sharp relief whenever he moves.

As someone who's into art and enjoys drawing, I can totally appreciate his...form.

I shove that thought from my head before I start drooling.

Simply stepping foot into this house is enough to calm my jacked-up nerves. It's home to me more so than my own ever was. I have so many fond memories of pulling up a stool and pouring my heart out to Aunt Marnie while she prepped dinner at the end of the day. Any problem I was struggling with could always be shared with her.

I'm lucky that Noah's parents opened their home to me after my parents divorced when I was fourteen years old. It happened during the summer right before freshman year of high school. No one was shocked when my parents decided to call it quits. Everyone who knew them saw it coming like a train collision in slow motion. I think the only reason Mom and Dad hung on for as long as they did was because of me. Divorce sucks, but in some regard, it was a big relief for all of us. There were no more bouts of screaming and yelling interlaced with uncomfortable stretches of silence that lasted for days.

As soon as the decision was made, their marriage came down like a house of cards. Within months, the paperwork was signed, and my dad uprooted his life and took off for Texas. He's still there seven years later. Only now he's married, with two kids who are my half-siblings. I've only met them a handful of times, so it's hard to consider them family. The few times I flew out for visits felt awkward, like I was staying with strangers. The last time, I changed my ticket and came back a week early. I haven't been there since. Every couple of months, Dad and I talk on the phone. Sometimes we'll shoot texts back and forth, but the closeness we once shared is long gone.

And my mother...I'm not sure how to describe her other than to say that she's currently on her fourth marriage and galivanting around Europe. Frederique, her husband, has estates across the world, so I never know from one week to the next where they are.

I love my mom, but she's a bit of a head case. The last time she blew into town, I overheard Uncle Craig mutter under his breath that she was a flake. And that's putting it nicely. In Lydia Bellamy's world, husbands are dispensable, and marriage doesn't last forever.

For two months every summer, I pack up and fly to wherever she's currently located. Last year was Monte Carlo. The summer before that was London. And it was Tuscany the year before that.

I know...boo hoo, poor me.

It's not like I can complain. The scenery is always magical, and she takes me shopping, buying me whatever I want. We lunch and fill our days with spa dates. I always come back to school feeling well-rested and pampered.

If our relationship is more superficial than intimate, I try not to let it bother me. When she treats me more like a girlfriend she just met yachting in the South of France and confides details I'd prefer not to know about the men in her life, I let it go in one ear and out the other before it can do any permanent psychological damage.

She's been with Frederique for two years. I suspect their relationship will reach its expiration date shortly. Even though I really liked husbands number two and three, I don't bother getting attached. Just when I let my guard down, they're headed for the door and she's moving on to greener pastures.

Or men with bigger bank accounts.

It blows my mind that Marnie and Mom are related, let alone sisters. They couldn't be more different. Unlike my mother, Noah's mom is down to earth and sensible. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and works in the emergency room at the local hospital. My mother has a degree from a fashion institute and spent a few years employed by a well-known design house before deciding the working life wasn't for her.

Last summer break, I cajoled Noah into spending two weeks with me in Monte Carlo. After three days with my whirlwind of a mother, he told me flat out that Lydia was-and I quote-"fucking nuts."

It's difficult to take issue with that statement because he's right.

She's a wackadoodle.

"Hey, Aunt Marn." Carter's deep voice resonates throughout the spacious kitchen.

She flashes him an affectionate smile.

Marn.

His pet name for her sets my teeth on edge. It annoys me that Noah's mom has a soft spot for Carter.

Then again, everything about Carter Prescott annoys the hell out of me.

"She's not your aunt," I snap, not able to block out his irritating presence after his antics the other night. "You are in no way, shape, or form related to these people." If my aunt weren't here, I would bare my teeth at him.

See?

This is what Carter does to me. He turns me into a raging bitch. Not only am I pissed at him, but now I'm angry with myself for allowing him to get under my skin.

Surprised by my outburst, my aunt shoots me a sharp, disapproving look. "Daisy, that's not very nice. Carter is practically family."

I wince at her tone. The fact that she's chastising me is embarrassing enough. But doing it in front of Carter makes it even worse and has me simmering while silently plotting his death. Aunt Marnie has a strange affinity for the goon. Personally, I can't make heads or tails of it.

"He's Noah's brother from another mother," she quips while giving Carter a wink.

"Ewww." Noah wrinkles his nose. "That's gross, Mom. Don't ever say that again."

I grumble under my breath and avoid looking anywhere in Carter's vicinity. He's probably smirking in delight for getting a rise out of me.

The big jerk.