"We could head back up to the fish'n hole," Aster offered, picking at the bark along the tree with his thumbnail.
"We could…" He brightened. "Oh! We could ride back up the trail. I spotted a wasp nest starting on that old fence post."
Daisy made a face. "Absolutely not."
Aster continued anyway, carefully prying off another thin curl of bark and turning it in his hands. "I bet I could get a close look at the early construction. Being still early spring the nest has to be new."-
-"Did you know wasp colonies don't survive the winter? Only the queens do. They hibernate, and then-"
He glanced up. Daisy's head was tipped toward him.
"We're really not gonna talk about it, huh?"
He went on peeling at the bark, tracing the tiny tunnels etched through it where insects had eaten their way along. "Oh." He paused. "Well, it seems pretty cut and dry to me. I'll probably just go with what Lucile had in mind. Be a vet for ten years, get it over with, you know? Then I can do whatever I want."
"I'm not talking about the money, stupid. I’m talking about Rose."
"Oh." He flicked a bit of bark into the grass. "Why? What"s wrong?"
Daisy stared at him. "Are you serious? She's upset. Ma is always give'n it to her."
Aster bristled. "Well yes, but they always fight. You know she'll be back at it in no time. She's used to it. I don't think tonight was really any different."
Daisy crossed her arms, "Still. You can't say it doesn't wear you out."
Aster rose from the ground beating the dirt off of his knees and hands," You already know how I deal with it, I'm not really sure what you are wanting me to say."
After a moment Aster pressed some more, "You know it's not really something we can fix."
"I know." Daisy dragged out in a frustrated breath "I just wish it wasn't a constant battle, you know? Rosie is asleep and I'm not gonna air out our family drama to my friends."
She looked up at him. "Do you see it too?"
He nodded immediately. "Oh, yeah. Ma definitely plays favorites, and it stinks. It's just not something we" he emphasized the word with a shrug "can fix, and I don't exactly see Ma being open to that conversation, either."
He shifted his weight, toeing a stone. " Tomorrow they'll both act like nothing ever happened."
His mouth twitched, halfway to a smile. "Y'know If you're that worried, you can go talk to her. I doubt she actually went to bed. Don't girls like to do that sort of thing? The back and forth gossip and complaining or whatnot?"
Daisy gave him an unimpressed stare, then shook her head. "Maybe."
She'd poured this same worry into Aster's ears so many times that she knew exactly how he'd answer. And he was right, This was out of their control. Ma and Rosemary stroke sparks off each other, and they learned where to stand to avoid the heat.
It felt like being stuck in place while the same scene played on repeat, old grievances, arguments looping over and over. Even when none of it was aimed at her, just being close to the blast took something out of her and Aster little by little.
Maybe getting a job would be a good idea, not for the inheritance, just something to pull her out of the house for a few hours a day.
She didn't realize she'd drifted off into her thoughts until Aster's voice blurred into background noise and an odd rustle in the trees behind him caught her attention.
Something moved in the underbrush. A branch bowed, then slowly lifted. Stillness.
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Daisy squinted into the dark between the trees for a moment longer. Nothing. "Thought I saw something."
By then the sun was mostly gone, swallowed by the hills. The shadows of the oaks had grown long and sharp, stretching across the pasture toward the house.
"Come on," Aster tugged at her sleeve nodding toward the path.
"Just go talk to her if you’re that worried."
Aster re-entered the house while Daisy decided to hang back, she had stopped and curled her hand around the rope of their swing. Darkness of night slid over the Doyles land, the field crickets started to sing while the wind rustled the leaves over her head.
The air had turned chilly, and part of Daisy knew she should go inside
but she stayed where she was. She wasn't ready.
That feeling was back...the one that always rose up when the house finished tearing itself apart and went quiet again. After each fight, it was like someone slipped another small stone into her stomach, she used to thinking venting to Aster might at least shake one of them loose.
Over the years, the stones had only piled up, making everything feel just a little heavier. It was like a shelf that everyone kept stacking things on. Schoolwork first, then family expectations, then all the big, blurry questions about the future. Daisy could feel it in herself, that inward sag, like wood beginning to bow.
Maybe what she needed wasn't another conversation.
Maybe she just needed a little space
