“I’m trained to. It’s a job.” I shrug into my jacket, slightly curious at the line of questioning from Drew. “What’s going on here, why the questions?”
“Everyday life is scary I suppose, without the extra shit you do daily.” I watch my brother as he twists his hands together, I know him well enough to know something is eating him up.
“Drew, you got something on your mind?” Moving over to the bed, I sit down next to him, resting my hand on his shoulder.
“What if it turns out I really like this guy, then I’ll have to tell Mum and Dad. What if they disown me?”
“You need to calm down a little, it’s one date. You’ll tell Mum and Dad when you’re ready and they’ll be fine with it. If anyone should be pissed at you, it should be me. We both know Mum will be busting my balls to give her grandchildren more than ever.”
* * *
Taking separate cars, we agreed to meet outside the cinema complex, which meant I would have Daisy to myself on the drive from Fosford to Jefferson.
She was already waiting for me when I knocked on her door.
“Where’s Drew?”
“Sorry to disappoint but I will be driving your chariot tonight. Drew’s going to meet us there.”
“Oh.” Daisy’s expression is hard to read, I don’t know whether she is disappointed that Drew isn’t riding with us or if there is a remote chance she might actually be pleased it is just the two of us.
“Oh, wait here. I got something for you. It’s in the car.” Dashing back to the car, I grab the box that I had left sitting on the bench seat before turning and carrying it awkwardly back up the steps. “These are for you but you’re going to have to step aside before I drop the box on both our feet.”
“What is it?” Daisy follows me through the house to the kitchen.
“Flours.”
“Flowers?”
“No, flours. Open and see.”
As she folds back the first flap on the cardboard box her face lights up, opening a second flap results in a smile.
“Oh, Flours not flowers.” She squeals a little before rushing over to hug me. “Thank you, you’re so thoughtful.”
One by one she pulls out each packet, placing them in a uniform line along the bench as if taking inventory.
“No one has ever bought me flours before.” She races around the kitchen, pulling different cupboards and drawers open until she finds what she is looking for. “Here, I knew it was here somewhere.” Hugging the book to her chest she turns to me with the brightest smile on her face to rival the sun. “Some of these flours I’ve never cooked with but I know Grandma had some recipes using them.” She begins to thumb through the pages.
“Daisy Blossom, we’re going to be late if we don’t leave soon.”
“Right. Maybe we can have a look at these later?” She asks, her eyes filled with hope.
“Yeah, sure. I would like that.”
* * *
Daisy hums along to the song on the radio. She has me caught off guard, it had been years since I had seen Daisy this… free-spirited. Her perfume filled up every square inch of air in the cab of the ute and that alone was enough to make me want to smile.
“You’re quiet,” Reaching down she turns down the volume dial on the radio. “Everything alright?”
“Of course. I was just enjoying being here with you.”
“We’ve spent all week together.”
“But not like this.”
“This isn’t a date. This is just friends offering moral support to another friend.”
“So we’re friends?” I raise an eyebrow at Daisy. Being called a friend of hers was completely unexpected and it was a step in the right direction.
“I meant Drew. But yeah, I suppose we are, friends help each other out after all.”
“Friends certainly do that. Yes.” Nonchalantly, she shrugs. Averting my eyes back to the road I can’t help but smile. Daisy and I were friends. “Do friends tell other friends how sexy they look on not-dates?”
“I suppose if one friend noticed that about another friend it would be okay to pay a compliment.”
“Daisy Blossom, you look fucking hot in that dress.” My dick and I had noticed how tempting she looked as soon as she pulled the door back, the way she could balance on those sky-high heels that were deliciously strapped to her feet was something of a modern marvel.
“Thank you, you don’t look so bad yourself.” She was flirting with me and I was eating it all up like a man on death row delivered his final meal. I loved the blush that was kissing her cheeks.
“Friends are honest with each other too, right?”
“Sure.”
“Well in the nature of honesty, it’s alright for me to tell you that all I can think about right now is turning this car around and testing out a theory I have about how long it would take me to get you out of that dress.”
Her red coloured lips form a perfect o, “I want to hear about this theory. How long do you think it would take?”
“Five seconds.”
“Huh, I thought you’d be quicker than that.” Her gaze drops to my crotch, I doubt she even realises I’ve noticed, not until she lifts her gaze back to mine and there is that delicious blush back on her cheeks. “If we’re being so honest, being on this non-date with you isn’t so bad.”
“Dase, I need to tell you something.” I hesitate, knowing what I wanted to say, I’d gone over the conversation in my mind every day since I’d come back to Fosford but I still couldn’t get the words to form on my tongue, in a rush I push them out, hoping they make some sort of sense. “I didn’t leave you behind. I mean, I know I did but I wanted you to come with me.”
“Oliver, please don’t.” The fun we’d just been having was gone now as if someone had opened the window and it had seeped out.
“I need to tell you. Please.” She opens her mouth and snaps it shut again, sitting quietly, watching me from her seat in the car. “I wanted you to come with me, Dase, but I knew I couldn’t. I couldn’t expose you to the life of a cop’s wife. Not knowing from each day if your husband was going to be coming home. I wanted more than that for you.” She sits silently, a tear rolling down her cheek, I wanted more than anything to pull the car over and take her in my arms. “My partner was killed, she died in my arms.” I remember the weight of Ginny’s lifeless body lying in my arms, the complete despair I felt that I couldn’t protect her. The feeling that I had failed her still weighed heavily on me. “I’ve had to do my fair share of death knocks, Dase. Having to tell the families of the accident that has taken their loved ones away. I’ve seen the light go out in their eyes, mothers, fathers, spouses, some with little kids and I didn’t want someone to come to our door to tell you that I wasn’t coming home.”
Daisy cries silently, “That wasn’t your choice.” Her voice is barely a hoarse whisper before it breaks. “You took that choice away from me.” Angrily she wipes the tears away. “It was my choice, Oliver.”
“I know, Sweetheart, I know. I thought I was protecting you.”