Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Daisy
D aisy had an evening free and was looking for company. Luke, Jason and Archer, with their significant others, were busy. Otherwise known as a collective early night, she noted as she walked along the path past their cottages. The evenings drew in so she could detect the lights on and in which rooms, as all the cottages were identical.
The rumbly laugh played on repeat in her head for the last week since she took the call from the boat mechanic, who she now knew was Nathaniel Hill. Light internet stalking gave her that much.
Daisy was disappointed that it was him. She didn’t have fond memories from school of Nate and his mates. But then, no one was kind to her through school.
It was Friday evening, and she wanted fish and chips. She’d wanted fish and chips since he’d mentioned it on the call. It had nothing to do with the off-chance of looking for the mechanic’s boat workshop.
Daisy had not used the golf buggy parked at the end of the pathway with her coloured bench seat often since she’d moved back to the island permanently. She toyed with the idea of driving into the town because the fish and chips would be warmer by the time she got back, but it was a lovely warm evening.
After a back and forth in her head, she decided not to take the buggy and walk down to the quayside. Instead, she took the private Turner path and ended up at the small port where the tug boats moored up. Then she walked through the town and out the other side to where the Turner warehouse was. She knew there was a fish and chip shop at the end of that quay. What she also knew from some online searching was where the only boat mechanic had its workshop.
She might have checked out Hill’s Workshop a time or two, hoping to see what her caller looked like now he was an adult and not a spotty teenager. Unfortunately, the only pictures on the website were of boats in dry docks.
The sun had started to set, bathing the waterfront in a soft golden glow that seemed to reflect off the surface of the still water. The shadows stretched along the wide quay, lengthening the already impressive warehouses and workshops that lined the shore.
As she walked, she could hear the gentle lapping of water against the wooden posts and the clang of a distant bell ringing out from a freight boat. She passed a few people, but no one paid her any mind as she made her way to the Turner warehouse.
On the pretence of checking that the warehouse was locked up, knowing that Archer would have ensured it was secure, she strolled along the wide quayside towards the workshop. The place was between her and the Turner warehouse. With every step, the air felt heavier, and she felt a strange sensation in her stomach, a mixture of anticipation and fear.
Finally, she reached the wide doors that led to the workshop. Pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath and looked inside.
It startled her as she approached the open garage doors to Hill’s Workshop and saw the interior lights blazing with a radio blaring. As she approached the opening, she saw a glimpse of a battered mustard-coloured armchair, and she froze, transported back to a time her mind was suppressing. It was like she was seeing a snippet of time that she never knew existed.
Daisy shook her head, vaguely aware that her earrings had caught in her hair. The pain was excruciating as she shook violently on the spot, and she could feel tears streaming down her cheeks. She tried to catch her breath but instead felt overwhelmed by the deep sadness of her childhood.
Suddenly, it felt like time had stopped. All the sights and sounds around her faded away as she found herself transported back to a memory she had been suppressing for years.
She was six or seven years old again, standing in a room in Turner Hall, bawling at the top of her lungs. She heard shouting and felt something inside her breaking as another crash reverberated around her. Daisy wasn’t sure if the noise was her memory or real life. It was like she was blinded to reality and stuck in her past.
Daisy was terrified.
And just as suddenly as it began, the trance broke, and Daisy gasped for air as she realised where she was standing—outside Hill’s Workshop at dusk. She looked around frantically before clapping a hand over her mouth.
Daisy slowly stepped forward, feeling a chill run down her spine. In front of her, she found a man lying on the ground with his face contorted in pain. He was wearing a dirty white tank top with green overalls unbuttoned to the waist. His entire body was shaking with each breath he took.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted out. “Didn’t you hear me?”
She didn’t respond, too paralysed by fear to move or speak. To her relief, the man seemed to not notice as he shifted onto his back and groaned in agony.
The light from the quayside lamp above illuminated his face, and Daisy knew immediately who this man was—Nathaniel Hill. He was older but still had the boyish features she remembered from school.
He looked up at Daisy with pain in his eyes, but something else was behind them. Despite how weak he appeared right then, determination and strength seemed to radiate from him.
“Can you help me? I think I need to get up,” he said in a pained voice. “I think I’ve done something to my arm.”
Daisy looked at the man on the floor, his shoulder twisted at an ugly angle. Then, moving into rescue mode, she hoisted her skirts and tucked them into her waistband, creating Buddha-style trousers. Squatting, she hefted the wheelbarrow upright, then crouched near the man and saw he was the most handsome scowly man she had ever seen. That was a big statement, as she had worked with hundreds of scowly men on the rigs.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He looked up, his face twitching slightly as he mustered a feeble smile. “I think I’ve broken something,” he muttered as he drew his eyebrows together, giving her the once over.
“Stop checking me out while I see what damage you’ve caused.”
“One, I’m not checking you out, and second you caused the damage,” he said.
“How fast were you going that you couldn’t stop pushing this wheelbarrow?”
Nate winced and looked sheepish.
“It isn’t a wheelbarrow. It’s a trailer with handles I adapted. It doesn’t turn left or right just goes straight. I’m not used to anyone being down here, so I thought it was safe to free-wheel it.”
“I see,” she said, not looking at his face but carefully pressing her thumbs into his shoulder to see if he had broken anything or was being a big baby. She’d had some experience of that, too, on the rigs. Her brother Luke gave her basic training for first aid over the years, so she knew a thing or two about breaks, sprains and dislocations.
This man had managed to dislocate his shoulder. Which was amazing, seeing as he couldn’t have been going that fast.
The man’s face was stubble covered, and his grey eyes were soft. They twinkled in the light of the quayside lamps. His lips were full, his hair was thick and dark, and his body was tall, brawny and broad.
“Why were you just standing there? And why couldn’t you hear me?” Nate asked, struggling to sit up.
Daisy scurried to his back. “It doesn’t matter. Can you sit up?”
“Yeah,” he muttered.
“Come on, you big burly baby, get some brave pants on,” Daisy said to him .
The man smelled of oak with a hint of oil.
There it was, that rumbly laugh, and she had her palm on his back, feeling it through his ribs. She got him to a sitting position, and his eyes scanned her face, then her body and then her bare legs. She had a lot on show when she stuffed her skirts between her legs and into the back of her waistband. It was the easiest way to ride a bicycle. It was her preferred mode of transport when they travelled abroad, and she got used to the practicality if she didn’t want to trip over.
Daisy narrowed her eyes into slits. “Didn’t I mention earlier to stop checking me out?”
Another rumbly laugh. His handsome face came alight when he smiled. It was almost enough to take her breath away.
“Sorry,” he muttered but not looking the least bit remorseful.
“Let’s get you up and see what the damage is. My guess is it’s a dislocation.”
“You a doctor?”
“Ha! No, far from it, but I know a fair bit of medical emergency stuff.”
She helped him up with his good arm and circled him so she was at his front. She pushed and prodded, and with the yelps he let out, she knew for sure he had dislocated his shoulder. Which meant it needed to be put back in place. She’d done a few on the rigs but doubted this man would let her do it. He seemed the proud independent type.
Daisy stood face to face with him, her hands on his upper arm and shoulder.
“Okay. Bad news, you’ve dislocated your shoulder,” Daisy said, grinning up at him.
“Why are you smiling at that? It fucking hurts. ”
“Well, you’ll think twice next time you think about speed and freewheeling like you’re at the supermarket and want to have fun with the trolley. I’m smiling because there’s good news.”
“Which is? You know a doctor?” Nate asked, wincing from the pain.
“Well, I do know a medic, but I can fix this for you.”
“Oh no, a tiny thing like you? Nope.”
Nate was backing away, a little fear on his features as he gave her another once over.
“I’m not that tiny. My brother makes the most delicious cakes.”
“Compared to me, you’re tiny. What are you? Five foot three?”
Nate looked down at her, his eyes were changing from grey to blue, but it was her mouth he couldn’t stop staring at.
He cleared his throat and looked over her shoulder.
“I’m five feet seven, thank you very much. I just look tiny compared to your six feet.”
Daisy moved forward, seemingly chasing after him. She had met men like him before who didn’t want her to fix them.
They stood face to face, her hands on his upper arm and shoulder. She could feel the warmth of his body through his shirt.
“Okay,” she said, her voice soft and soothing. “You’re going to be brave. There is no point staying in pain when I can make it go away. Don’t be stubborn.”
Nate seemed to contemplate what she was saying, still not giving in.
“I can help you if you want,” Daisy said, her gaze still locked with his. “It’s going to hurt, but it’ll be quick, and it’ll get you fixed up.”
Her voice was so calm, her words hopefully comforting.
“Six feet one, I think you’ll find,” he muttered.
Daisy rolled her eyes and laughed. “Like an inch matters,” she scoffed and then felt herself go red.
She resisted the urge to lift her hands to her cheeks to see if they were burning as much as they felt.
“I think we both know every inch counts,” he said so low she felt it in her stomach.
Desperate to not think of this man naked, she closed her eyes for two seconds and then opened them again.
“All right, let’s get this over with,” Daisy muttered. She cleared her throat. “Ready?”
“How do you want me?” he asked.
She didn’t miss his smirk.
It was then she realised they hadn’t exchanged names.
“Don’t you mean where do I want you?”
“Whatever,” he said, shrugging his bad shoulder and wincing.
“Okay, have you got a desk-type chair in your workshop?”
“Yeah, I’ll get it.”
“Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll get it?”
Nate nodded, and she strode a few paces before turning.
“Where am I going to get it?”
“Far left-hand corner, try not to trip over anything.”
“I’ll try to navigate my way around a spanner.” She said wearily.
His rumbly laugh left her hot and bothered as she ventured into the workshop. She pulled her skirts free as she walked and side-eyed the yellow armchair. She wasn’t sure why seeing it caused her to freeze. Daisy whipped out her phone and snapped a picture to ask her mum the following day. If the toy had a reason, then the armchair might too. She found the chair covered in oil smears and brought it back outside. He looked at her legs, and his face fell. She smiled at his disappointment they were back under cover. He liked her.
“You got a name?” Daisy asked as she swung the chair around and pointed to the seat.
He sat down and looked up. “Nathaniel. You?”
“Daisy,” she replied.
“Suits you,” he said.
Daisy smiled, brought the wheelbarrow over to where he was sitting, and sat on the edge to his side.
“Put your palm on my shoulder, Nathaniel,” she said, nodding to the shoulder she meant.
“Nate, call me Nate.”
With a small smile, he nodded his agreement. Daisy carefully and gently began the process of setting his shoulder back in place, and he winced as the pain washed over him.
“All right, Nate. I want you to relax your shoulder and make your arm as floppy as you can.”
Nate had dislocated his left shoulder and had the palm of that arm on his lap. She had one of her hands cupping his elbow and the other was massaging the injured shoulder. She pressed her fingers to rub and cajole the shoulder so she could see which way he’d dislocated it.
His eyes never left hers. She could feel his stare, and his gaze became more intense when she glanced at him.
“Make it quick, and it will be fine.”
“This will take four minutes of manipulation, but it may hurt until it’s back in. Quick enough?”
“I guess. Will you talk to me while you do it? ”
She deepened her voice and slowed her words as she spoke next.
“I’ll use soothing sounds to lull you into thinking this is a walk in the park.”
“I could listen to your voice all day long,” Nate said.
She didn’t look at him, instead concentrating on his shoulder, using her thumb over his shoulder and down to his upper bicep. Back and forth until she’d manipulated it back into place.
“There, you’re set. It will be sore for a few days. It might be worth taking some painkillers and making sure you rest it. You don’t want it popping back out.”
As Daisy stood and stepped away, he lightly touched her wrist. The warmth of their skin seemed to consume her. Nate gazed into her eyes.
“Thank you,” he whispered, taking a deep breath.
“Anytime,” Daisy whispered back with a slight smile before turning to walk away.
“I think I broke my wrist, too,” he blurted.
“What?”
“Yeah, it’s looking a bit swollen,” he said, nodding to the offending wrist.
Daisy looked closely, and it was red and angry.
“I have a job this evening and first thing in the morning,” Nate confessed.
Feeling responsible, she went into Miss Fix-It mode. “What’s the job? I might be able to help?”
He laughed, a belly laugh this time, and it irritated her. She’d spent her entire working life being laughed at. Just because she was a woman in a man’s world.
“Why are you laughing? What job is it you think I couldn’t possibly do? People have laughed me at my whole life from every corner, so don’t piss me off, Nathaniel Hill, especially after what I just did for you.”
Nate paced towards her and cupped her cheek with the hand on his sore arm. He didn’t flinch even though it had to be sore.
“I’m sorry, Daisy, it’s just I really don’t think you can help me,” he whispered.
“Try me,” she said, hoping it was something she could do.
“All right, follow me,” he said and took off around the side of the workshop. Daisy picked up her skirt and jogged after him. When she turned the corner, she grinned.
She was going to enjoy this.
“I need you to take those boxes out of the wheelbarrow and put them on the forklift. Then you need to drive it to the boat at the end of the quay. I was going to take them when I barrelled into you.”
“Keys,” she said, holding out her hand.
“You cannot drive that. You need to be trained and have certificates.”
“Where are the keys, Nate?” she repeated more firmly.
“They’re in the ignition,” he replied.
She blanched that he would be so careless leaving the keys where anyone could go for a joyride, but then thought he could have been getting ready to make the trip before she interrupted him.
He gave her a smug smile like he was calling her bluff.
She hitched up her skirts again, ignoring his head tilt as he checked out her legs and marched to the forklift truck. She grabbed the handle above the open door and hopped in. It started as soon as she turned the key, and she drove it to the stack of three boxes that were next to the trailer. Daisy piled them on and then expertly lifted them. She swung the forklift truck around and drove to where Nate stood, opened-mouthed.
“Where is the boat?” she snapped, her eyes searching intently.
Just then, realisation dawned, and his eyes went wide.
“Fuck me, you’re Daisy Turner, the one who was a total nerd in school,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Where is the boat, Nathaniel?” Daisy asked, ignoring his comment.
“Just past the warehouse Erica is setting up her charity business,” he replied.
“Be right back,” Daisy said, not wasting any time.
She spun around and sped off, her mind already turning to the task ahead.
Her blood ran cold as she sped down the quayside to a moored boat. She dumped the boxes, waited for the guys to pick them up and zoomed back to Nathaniel’s workshop. She had forgotten about her school bully’s nicknames.
Was that another thing she’d suppressed? The taunts at school because she studied hard? She only studied hard because she was lonely. Her aunt wouldn’t let her have friends, and her mother was too far away to make sure she played with the other kids after school. Aunt Cynthia demanded she came home straight from school, with no exceptions. Her aunt wouldn’t allow her friends to come to the estate. So she hit the books so that as soon as she was old enough, she could get the hell off Copper Island and join her brothers and father on the rigs.
When Daisy returned, she parked up the forklift around the side and found Nate lounging on the mustard armchair, cradling his elbow.
“Here are the keys to the forklift. You should never leave them in the ignition. ”
Daisy was so angry and disappointed that the man that made her feel human was a spiteful brat. She tossed the keys onto the counter and turned to walk away.
“I’m sorry I underestimated you. If I’d known you were Daisy Turner…”
He didn’t finish, and she walked away, holding back the tears of disappointment. It was ridiculous she felt this attached to a voice, then a rumbly laugh and then his thick biceps and quick wit.
The sky was dark, with a few stars in the sky, the moon was not yet high, and it was not yet quite night. The smell of good food lingered in the air, reminding her she wanted fish and chips.
Daisy heard the crash from the shutters coming down and then running footsteps behind her. The soft thud of his footsteps was hurrying to keep up with her. When he caught up with her, she tugged her skirts loose and folded her arms across her chest as she walked, hopefully giving him clear piss-off signs.
Daisy kept walking, her feet moving faster despite her wanting to stay angry. The crunch of gravel beneath his shoes echoed louder and closer until he was beside her.
“Hey, Daisy, it’s dark. I’m walking you home.”
Daisy stopped walking and looked at him. He had a serious expression on his face, and his posture was stiff with determination. She hesitated for a moment before answering him.
“There is really no need. No one wants to talk to me, let alone attack me. I’m sure I’ll be safe,” she said evenly, not wanting to give in to her emotions.
He put up both hands in surrender as if he knew she would deny him the chance to apologise properly for his words earlier this evening .
“It doesn’t matter who wants to talk or attack you. You can trust me when I say that no one will get close enough if I am by your side. Please let me do this for you? Just so you know, you are safe. That much should be my right, after all…What do you say?” His voice softened slightly as he finished speaking, giving Daisy something of an out from the conversation if she wanted it but still making it clear he wanted to walk her home and make sure she was safe from any potential danger lurking in the shadows of this island.
Daisy gave a small nod but kept walking, saying nothing else in response.
Nate ran a few steps in front of her blocking her path. He put one hand on her shoulder to stop her from running away.
“Look at me, Daisy,” he said.
Daisy raised her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. He looked broody and threatening in the darkness, yet she wasn’t afraid. If anything, she still wanted to wrap her arms around him and sob into his chest.
Why did he have to be him?
“What I did while we were in school was childish. I’m sorry you lost your dad. I’m sorry for a lot of things. I’m in no position to take the upper hand here. The truth is I need your help for the next few days with my forklift jobs. They’re early morning and late in the evening for the next five days. Will you help me?”
Daisy looked off to the right out into the dark water. She felt so stubborn about making a truce, but it was her fault he was injured, so she needed to balance the scales.
“On one condition.”
“Name it.”
Daisy, a talented but awkward when she was a young girl, had been an outcast since she was a child. They ridiculed Daisy and often labelled her as nerdy or weird. It was something she had grown to loathe.
“Never call me nerdy again or Nerdy Girl,” she said firmly to Nate, her voice tight with emotion. “I will not explain why, but it’s important, okay?”
Nate, taken aback by Daisy’s sudden outburst, nodded uncertainly. “All right,” he said warily. “I’ll call you Daisy.”
“Thank you,” she mumbled, dropping her head.
Daisy felt the weight of her anxiety lift from her shoulders, but a flood of memories quickly replaced it. She could hardly sift through them fast enough to make sense of them. The barrage of images was like a bright flickering light in her face. She winced and shied away for a few moments, trying to collect herself.
“Daisy,” she heard call to her in the far distance.
She was lost in a tumult of images, each like a jagged piece of her self-image. She couldn’t work out who was calling her name, just image after image of angry faces and her tears. As the chaos raged in her mind, she seemed to curl further in on herself.
Then, when soft lips touched hers, her whole mind seemed to slow to an almost stop. Her body responded to the kiss, pressing her lips to the warmth and sighing as arms wrapped around her. Soft kisses kept coming, but nothing more passionate, just reassuring caresses.
It took a few more moments for her to realise where she was and what she was doing. Finally, she opened her eyes to see a man with eyes as grey as storm clouds gazing down at her. The tenderness in his face pulled her out of her own inner turmoil, and she found herself oddly comforted by his presence.
Nate held her close, stroking her hair gently as he spoke. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do to comfort you. You were shaking but couldn’t hear me. It was like watching someone’s heart break, and I felt the need to show you some comfort.”
She nodded against his chest, grateful for the understanding she found there.
“It worked,” she whispered. “Your touch made it all quiet.”
“Where is the noise coming from?” he asked softly.
She shook her head and let out a sob.
“I don’t know,” she said helplessly. “I don’t know why these images keep coming and why I can’t get away from them.”
She felt him nod in understanding and hold her closer, taking some of her pain away with every stroke of his hand on her back.
“Shh,” he soothed, pressing kisses into her hairline. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
His voice was like a balm on her troubled soul, and slowly but surely, the images faded away until only their embrace remained in the darkness of its wake.
Nate wrapped his arms around her tighter, and she didn’t resist inhaling motor oil and something else. Working on the rigs, oil was a comforting smell, familiar. She hadn’t worked with her dad for long when he died, but she stayed on the rigs with her brothers long after. Oil mixed in with man was all she knew as familiar and comforting, and there it was in a six-foot-one man who hugged like a dream.
“It will come out bit by bit,” he said soothingly. “Let me walk you home, so I know you’re safe.”
“Okay,” Daisy said. “I came to get fish and chips.”
Nate gave a rumbly laugh, and she felt it against her cheek .
“We can collect some on the way. Did you walk or come in the buggy?”
“How do you know about the buggies?”
“Archer has been back for a while. But it’s Maggie that has us all laughing. She loves her buggy and has it all bling’d out. She comes zooming down this side of the quay like she’s a rally driver coming to see Erica in the warehouse.”
“That does not sound like Maggie, but I really want to see that,” she said, grinning. “I walked.”
“Okay, let’s get to the chippy before it closes and then up to Turner Hall.”
“I don’t live there.”
He frowned down at her. “Where do you live?”
“In a little cottage on the estate.”
With a firm nod he said, “Lead the way Daisy.”