Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Daisy
S he hadn’t remembered that day hammering on the study door until Luke had just yelled it at Jennifer. That was the day she’d had to stay home because the junior school she and Luke attended was flooded. The high school wasn’t affected, and Jason and Archer had to go to school.
Luke and Daisy were skidding around the foyer when Cynthia called him into the study. He was taking too long, and she’d grown bored waiting. Daisy was just about to knock on the door when she heard her brother scream out and then heard something whack against something and then another scream.
She didn’t know why she hadn’t said anything. It was like she’d been brainwashed to forget until she watched the scene play out a month ago.
She’d never felt more lonely with her brothers now married or engaged. With no friends on the island, she was at a loss for what to do. That was why she’d slipped away that day a month ago when Luke had an argument with Jennifer. She still had her bag packed from arriving. She snuck away, boarded the ferry she’d arrived on, and sailed back to the mainland. She travelled by train and then by plane to a hotel in the Pacific and drank cocktails.
But now she was back and had chosen the worst weather to fly in. When she’d left the mainland, it was a cloudy afternoon with light rain. When the helicopter landed with twenty terrified-looking passengers and her gripping the nearest object, it was nasty.
It was the kind of summer storm she’d seen many times while living on the island as a teenager. Driving rain, fierce winds and the waves crashing against the rocks. Climbing out of the helicopter, she grabbed her case on wheels and ran across the tarmac to the cover of the terminal building. It had seen better days, but it was dry.
Her brothers knew she was flying in and which flight, so when she came out of the front of the one-storey white building, she was disappointed to find no one waiting for her. No sign of Heidi, Erica or Freya either. Not that she expected Erica. She was near her due date and had elected to stay at Emma Lodge, their cottage, for the last couple of weeks. Apart from Saturdays, she was setting up for her charity when she went to the warehouse. Daisy didn’t know if she was at home or the warehouse as it was a Saturday. It wasn’t far. She could make a run for it there and catch a lift up in one of the buggies.
Daisy waited in an alcove sheltering from the storm, clutching at her skirts and attempting to keep her hair in a ponytail, using her hand for a band. After five minutes, she checked her phone. In the family messaging group, there was a message all in capitals .
Luke: SOS, WAREHOUSE, ALL THOSE WHO CAN GET HER SAFELY, GET HERE. ERICA IS IN LABOUR.
“Shit,” Daisy muttered as she tucked her phone away in her cross-body cloth bag.
Grabbing the handle of her case on wheels, she started at a jog and then moved into a run. The warehouse wasn’t far from the airstrip. By the time she arrived at the warehouse, she was soaked through to the bone. It was the middle of the day, but the dark storm clouds made it feel like four o’clock in mid-December. Daisy hurried along the quayside where the warehouses were situated. They were all closed up, no doubt, because no one in their right mind would be out in a storm like this.
Except her.
Daisy was out of breath by the time she reached the door to Erica’s warehouse. It was wide open, banging in the wind. All the lights were on, but she couldn’t see anyone. Then she heard a baby’s wail. She immediately burst into tears, not that anyone would notice because her face was soaking wet from the rain.
Daisy closed the door but left it unlocked. Leaving her case, she followed the baby’s cries. A group of exhausted people was at the other end of the vast room behind a stack of tea chests. Kenny was slumped against the brick wall cradling a baby in a blanket, muttering and smiling at the tiny little baby. On the adjacent wall were five teenagers, round-eyed and looking terrified. They looked up when they saw Daisy approaching the corner and scrambled to their feet. Daisy stepped forward, and they pointed to her right. She turned her head to see Archer cuddling Erica against boxes and Luke sprawled out on the floor on his back with a stupid grin on his face. They looked like they had been through hell and back. Except for Kenny, he looked happy holding the baby. Kenny stood deftly and came to crouch beside Erica.
Luke looked at what was happening, his eyes tracking Kenny as he handed the baby over. Lifting his head only at the neck, he then spotted Daisy and smiled.
“Daisy,” Luke called out. “You’re here.”
“I got the SOS, but it looks like you delivered the baby.”
“I did,” he said proudly, sitting up. “Which means I get to name her.”
“It’s a girl?”
“Yeah, Sis, it’s a girl,” Archer said, sounding weary.
Daisy sobbed and looked at a sleeping Erica. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah. Luke has her and the baby sorted, but it was a long labour. Heidi is on the other side of the island with another mother. There was no way we were risking her coming in this storm. Jason is on his way to Heidi and will bring her here when it’s safe.”
“I’m so happy they’re both doing okay. Are you okay?” Daisy asked.
“I’m a fucking father, Daiz.”
The five boys laughed at his statement, now sitting on tea chests, kicking their feet. They seemed to have rallied. Kenny had joined them.
“Sorry, lads,” Archer said, grimacing and looking down at his daughter.
Luke staggered to his feet and came over to hug Daisy. She cuddled him close.
“Well done, brother. What is her name?”
Luke looked to Archer and said, “Isobel.”
Archer nodded and cooed her name.
“Beautiful,” Daisy said .
“Hey, Daisy,” Erica said quietly. “Want to meet your niece?”
“Yeah,” Daisy said, grinning as she came to sit on the other side of Erica.
Daisy and Archer acted like book ends, keeping her in a sitting position. She was covered up with jumpers and coats that looked like they were from another era.
Daisy took Isobel into her arms and stroked the soft skin between her eyebrows. As she scanned her face and held her tight.
Daisy thought it was time Imelda Turner came home to Copper Island.