Huck
I followed my sister, further away from Daisy, which I was not happy about, and found my father’s room two doors down the hall on the right.
We knocked quietly on the door and peeked inside to find my mother rushing out of her seat with a quiet cry to wrap her arms around us. "You’re here."
We hugged her tight and I swear, she’d gotten stronger with how hard she held onto both of us.
"Where’s Daisy?" she asked once she’d let go.
"She wanted to make sure she didn’t overwhelm you and she wasn’t sure if Dad would feel weird being in a vulnerable spot. She’s in the waiting room," I said.
"Well, if she promises not to look under my sheet, I’m good," Dad rasped.
"Daddy!" Louisa cried, rushing to the side of his bed, and gingerly hugging him.
Mom and I followed, and I pulled a chair closer to the bed so Mom could sit down.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, taking in my dad’s two black eyes and padded bandage over his nose. He looked like so kind of dented raccoon, and the whites of his eyes were now blood red.
Dad smiled tiredly. "Good, bud. The painkillers are doing their job."
"What happened?" I asked, trying not to sound too demanding.
"Soone forced off the road," Dad said. "Lucky for , airbags saved my butt. It all happened so fast, I wasn’t able to get a license plate. It was a black Ram 1500, Idaho plates, that’s all I could really see before I was hit from behind. They then pulled up beside and forced off the road. The asshole was wearing a ski mask, so I couldn’t see his face. The Nissan flipped and I got my nose shattered when the airbag went off, but other than the broken nose and a couple of bruises from the impact, I’m gonna be okay."
"They had to surgically restore your face, Jason," Mom said with a huff, looking up at . "They were afraid the cartilage from his nose may have gone up into his eye or sothing. They were concerned it might blind him."
Dad grinned. "Yeah, but it didn’t, and now I’ve got that Brad Pitt nose I always wanted, so win for ... and you."
She threw her hands in the air. "I can’t with him right now."
I found myself relaxing. If my dad was joking, then he was obviously feeling pretty good, and it sounded as though the doctors were able to fix the damage without any permanent issues.
"When can you go ho, Daddy?" Louisa asked.
"Tomorrow," he said.
"That soon?" I asked.
"Yes. They’re just keeping for one more day to make sure there aren’t any issues. I pushed for today, but it was a no-go."
"Go get Daisy, honey," Mom said. "We’d really love to et her."
I didn’t wait to be told twice and headed back down the hall to the waiting room, finding Daisy with her head buried in her phone, playing a ga, or texting, or sothing, but her head ca up as soon as she heard my footsteps.
"Hi," she said, a worried smile covering her face.
"Hi, baby."
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah." I held my hand out to her. "My parents both want you there."
"Are you sure?"
I nodded. "Dad just asks you don’t peek under his sheet."
"Oh my god." She let out a quiet snort as she stood and took my hand. "No problem."
I smiled, kissing her quickly.
"So, if he’s joking, that ans he must be feeling okay, huh?" Daisy observed as we headed toward his room.
"Yeah, he’s good. They’re sending him ho tomorrow."
She squeezed my hand, pulling to a stop. "Are you okay?"
I nodded. "I am now. Being able to see him and hear him kidding around made all the difference in the world."
She smiled. "I bet."
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. "Love you, baby."
"Love you, too." She lifted my cut, folded neatly over her arm. "I’ll hold onto this for now, okay?"
With one last squeeze, I nodded and led her down to my dad’s room.
Daisy
Jason and Tamara Wilton were a little older than my parents but not by much and they were gorgeous. Even with his face beat to hell, you could tell Jason was handso. It was obvious where Huck and Louisa got their looks from, and they both gave off very middle Arica type warmth. I found it interesting that Louisa looked a lot like her dad where Huck looked like his mom. Totally unlike my family. My brothers looked just like my dad, and I was basically a carbon copy of my mother.
"I’m so sorry we’re eting like this," Tamara said.
"I know," I agreed. "But it’s lovely to et you all the sa."
A nurse walked in and said it was ti for Jason’s vitals and ds, so we were shooed out of the room.
"Mom, how about we head back to the house?" Louisa said. "We can maybe stop by the store and get dinner ready. Whatever you need."
"That would be great, honey," Tamara said. "Although, dinner’s already good. A few of the neighbors have been dropping food off, so we’re okay for a few days. But I could text you a list of things your dad’s going to need if you wouldn’t mind picking them up."
"No problem."
"My car’s in the garage, and the extra fob is in the normal spot in the drawer," she said. "You know where the key to the front door is."
"I still have mine, Mama," Louisa said, hugging her.
After quick goodbyes to Jason, we headed back down to the TownCar and then onto the Wilton family ho.
"Oh my god," I breathed out as we pulled up to the house. "Did you grow up here?"
The Wilton ho was gorgeous and sat on a huge lakefront lot. The driver carried our bags to the porch and Huck tipped him before unlocking the front door.
"Yes," Huck said as he led inside.
"This is amazing."
Louisa smiled. "It’s my absolute favorite place on earth."
"I can see why," I said.
Huck dropped our bags in the foyer before locking up again, then gave a tour of the house.
The house was modest, but had four bedrooms and a den, along with a large kitchen and great room, plus a glass sunroom that overlooked the water.
"Dad built the sunroom a few years ago. Mom had been bugging him for a while because she wanted a warm place to watch the water and read during the winter," Huck said.
"It’s gorgeous."
"Yeah." He wrapped an arm around my waist. "This is what I want, Daisy. The life they’ve built."
"I want what my folks have, too," I admitted, sliding my hand up his chest. "The trick is making sure we make it our own."
"You want kids?" he asked.
"Absolutely. You?"
"Fuck, yeah. A gaggle."
I chuckled. "Well, if we have a gaggle, you’re changing diapers."
"I will change all the diapers," he promised. "You won’t even have to ask."
"I’m gonna hold you to that."
"Can’t wait." He leaned down and kissed . "Now, let’s see what kind of food the neighbors dropped off and figure out lunch."
I nodded and followed him into the kitchen.
Reviews
All reviews (0)