Winter Flowers (The
Flowers Series #2)
by Tani Hanes
Genre: NA Romance
Release Date: July 20th
2018
Summary:
What ever happened to
Pete and Daisy?
When we left them, their
daughter had just been born, and some momentous decisions had been made.
It’s now four years
later. Their family has grown, as has their love for each other. Clio is a
rocky smart, precocious four year old, and she’s been joined by baby sister
Francie. Pete’s career as a musician is finally taking off, and things should
be rosy; however, fame and fortune bring their own pitfalls, and a voice from
the past arrives in their lives, threatening to upset everything they’ve worked
for.
Can they survive Pete’s
success, and the long shadow cast by Daisy’s past? How will Pete deal with
groupies, temptation, and prolonged separation from his family? And how far is
Daisy willing to go to protect those she loves?
Join the Santangelos on
this rollicking roller coaster second installment of their journey.
Buy on Amazon!
Excerpt:
Daisy
had no memory of leaving the party. One minute she was staring in shock at the
picture in Bob’s wallet, then they were in a cab, the girls sandwiched between
them, inching her window down to get a little air.
They
got home and got the girls ready for bed with an efficiency that bespoke many,
many nights of practice. For once, Clio was quiet, merely murmuring good night
when her parents tucked her in.
Daisy
put on her old pajamas, her comfort PJs, the ones Pete remembered from their
first months together, living in the tiny upstairs apartment. She made herself
tea and sat down in the living room, trying to unwind before heading to bed.
Pete poured himself a whiskey, feeling the need for something strong after the
roller coaster of the preceding hours.
He’d
felt Richard’s eyes on him, on Daisy, on Clio, as they said their hasty
goodbyes and prepared to leave the party. Dear god. No one could see that
picture and deny the resemblance. And Daisy had fainted, drawing attention to it,
underscoring it by swooning until it screamed to heaven.
Pete
found it hard to look at her, and it took him a moment to realize that he was
upset, he was angry with her. And it felt unnatural, like wearing
someone else’s clothes. He struggled to deal with it, to keep it from showing
in his face, his words. “How are you feeling?” he asked, marginally successful
at keeping his tone civil.
“I’m
okay now,” she said in a small voice. “I felt really off, though, at the party.”
“I
think he knows,” Pete continued, struggling to keep his voice even. “I was only
worried about him remembering where he knew you from until tonight, but I think
he knows about Clio, too. It might have been okay if you hadn’t reacted the way
you did, but now…” he trailed off, unsure how to continue.
“Oh,
Pete, don’t say that,” Daisy begged, chin quivering as she struggled to
maintain control. “Please don’t say that, please.”
“Not saying it won’t make it any less so,” he said, more bitingly than he’d
intended. “We could’ve laughed off the resemblance to his sister as an
incredible coincidence, but after you fainted, I saw him looking at you, and at
Clio. If he didn’t figure it out right then, he’s going to. It’s only a matter
of time,” he finished grimly.
“Are
you upset because I got dizzy and passed out?” Daisy’s voice was quiet with
shock. There had been a few times in the past, like when she’d run out of a
nightclub into a rainstorm, that he’d raised his voice at her because of fear
for her safety, but he’d never, ever, been angry with her. She waited
for his answer, waited so she could relax, waited for him to contradict her, to
say that of course he wasn’t upset, for him to come to her and scoop her into
the curve of his arm and reassure her.
Pete
sat, slowly twirling his shot glass.
“Pete?”
Her voice was like a sharp knife twisting in his heart.
“I’m
just trying to understand what decision making process went into you choosing
that odious man to have sex with,” he said, meeting her eyes at last.
She was horrified at the look she saw.
“What
do you mean? There wasn’t any thought. I told you that!” She sat up, putting
her tea aside. “I had a few drinks, he was cute, I wanted to get laid. Period.”
She was trying, very hard, not to sound defensive.
“Yes,”
he answered, setting his glass down. “That’s the part I’m having trouble with.
How could you, under any circumstances, choose that man? He’s a liar, a
cad, a cheater! I mean, seriously, Daisy, you could have any man, any man in
the world, and you selected that horrible specimen?” His voice got louder and
louder, and he was powerless to control it.
“Oh,
I’m so sorry, Pete, not to have your twenty-twenty power of foresight,
not to be able to tell that someone I talked to for half an hour would turn out
to have less than stellar morals!” Daisy responded, stung.
“I
think the bigger issue here is that you chose to spend the night with someone
you’d only known for half a fucking hour!” Pete hissed, standing up,
fists clenched at his sides.
“Please!”
Daisy retorted, rising herself. “That’s the way it happens in real life, you
know? You meet, you have a few drinks, you like the look of each other, you
screw. Not every person you meet is worth an actual relationship, or even worth
a day out of your life. That’s how it’s done—“
“Not
by me!” he thundered back. “I’ve been alive even longer than you, Daisy,
and never have I gone to bed with someone I just met, someone whose name I didn’t
even know!” He poured himself another shot and tossed it off, wiping his mouth
with the back of his hand, glaring at his wife.
“Oh,
right, of course,” Daisy answered, chin quivering again. “I forgot I was
talking to Pete, the perfect man, who’s never done anything wrong.” She
swallowed as she faced him, willing herself not to cry.
Pete
felt as if there were two of him. There was the man he always was, whose heart
was breaking at the look on his wife’s face, and the knowledge that he was the
horrible person responsible for that look. Then there was this other Pete, the
screaming scotch drinker, who was furious with her, with her poor decision
making five years ago that had brought this hell and mess into their lives.
“I
never said I was perfect!” he said, making a mighty effort not to yell. He was
only marginally successful, and Cina lifted her head from her place above the
radiator, blinking at the noise. Voices were not raised in this house. “There’s
a huge difference, Daisy, between being perfect and simply being sensible, and
not being a thoughtless, horny drunk who grabbed the first man who came along!
“And
now look at what’s happened! He remembers you! And if he hasn’t figured out the
truth, he will! And what do you think he’s going to do when he does, hm?” He
took a step toward her, his beautiful, pregnant wife who was standing in front
of him, trying not to break down and wail.
“He
doesn’t seem like the kind of man who will just let that knowledge go, cara,”
Pete finished venomously, his voice making Cina jump down from her place and
run behind the sofa.
“How
long have you felt this way?” Daisy asked, her voice as loud as his, as out of
control. “How long have you resented me?”
Pete
turned away, too angry to respond, when they were both stopped in their tracks
by a quiet voice.
“Daddy?
Mommy?”
They
both whirled toward the hallway, where Clio stood, clutching Francie’s hand.
Francie’s bunny dragged from her other hand as the sisters stood, utterly
unsure of what to do.
Jesus.
Pete
rewound the last minute or so of his argument with his wife, trying to recall
if he’d said anything about Clio, and he couldn’t remember.
“Are
you guys going to get divorced now, like Mark and Madison’s parents?” Clio
asked. Her lovely eyes filled with tears which spilled over in slow motion and
streaked down her cheeks. Her parents stared at her, horrified at the sight,
and she burst out crying, not knowing what else to do. Baby Francie,
predictably, promptly joined her, and the two girls stood, hands clasped,
weeping as if their tiny hearts would break.
About the Author
My name is Tani Hanes, and I am a 51 year old substitute teacher.
I'm from central California and am a recent transplant to New York City. The
most important things to know about me are that I'm punctual, I love grammar
and sushi, and I'm very intolerant of intolerance. The least important things
to know about me are that I like to knit and I couldn't spell
"acoustic" for 40 years. I've wanted to write since I was ten, and I
finally did it. If you want to write, don't wait as long as I did, it's
pointless, and very frustrating!
Author
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