Chapter Twenty-Four Daisy
Chapter Twenty-Four
Daisy
The universe listens.
—Rules for Witches
She wasn’t wearing a bra.
That was a stupid thing to realize right when she ran into the emergency room, but then the whole situation was very weird and very stupid.
She’d been half naked and kissing Zach on his couch when she’d gotten a frantic call from Jonathan’s mother that she needed to go to the ER to get the kids because they were there with Amberly and she was out of town.
Daisy’s heart had stopped for a few seconds before she’d realized it wasn’t the kids being admitted to the ER.
Jonathan had had an accident working on something in the garage and had been rushed to the hospital, and Amberly was there with all three kids.
So she’d gotten dressed as quickly as possible and driven down to the ER while Zach protested about her driving herself. But she had to have her car, because she had to have a car seat for Alden. Also, she was avoiding rolling into the ER with Zach. But her bra was at his house, so there was that.
She rushed across the room where Amberly was sitting, pouting, and staring at the kids who were in their pajamas. Avery was stoic. Wren was crying. Alden was down on his knees playing with a toy truck and looking unconcerned.
“Oh, Daisy!” Amberly flung her arms around Daisy’s neck.
“Oh . . .” She patted the younger woman on the middle of her back. “It’s . . . it’s okay.”
“Oh, God! It was awful.” Amberly’s face was streaked with tears, and there was blood on her pink shirt, which read, in glitter: Bonus Mom.
Irritation. Anger. Pity. Solidarity. Fear. Compassion. They hit Daisy one by one, so fast she could hardly decode one before the next hit.
“He’s . . . okay?”
“I had to put his finger in a ziplock bag!”
“Oh!” She hadn’t expected a detached finger.
“I’ve never seen anything so awful.”
“But he’s okay? I mean, they can put it back on, right?”
Amberly sniffed. “That’s what they said, that they could reattach it.”
“That’s promising.”
“It was bloody!” Alden shrieked.
Daisy knelt in front of him “Are you okay?”
Alden nodded. “Yes. I didn’t cut my finger off.”
She nodded, feeling somewhat shocked. “No. You didn’t.”
“Daddy cut his hand really bad,” Wren said, her cheeks tearstained.
Daisy wiped one of the tears away. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I’m sorry Daddy got hurt.”
“Daddy said you’d probably laugh about it,” Avery said.
Daisy worked to keep her face neutral. “Daddy was wrong about that. I don’t think it’s funny he got hurt.
” Though clearly if he had the breath in his lungs to talk shit about her in front of their kids while he was en route to the ER, he was fine enough.
“I don’t think it’s funny that you’re scared for him. ”
The ER doors opened, and she turned to look, right as Zach walked in. Her heart slammed against her breastbone. He was disheveled and sexy.
Did he have her bra with him?
He crossed quickly to where she and Amberly were and moved to stand next to Daisy, protective intensity radiating off him.
Amberly looked at Zach and . . . turned pink. “Zach Woods.”
“Yeah,” said Zach, looking between her and Daisy.
“I mean, I know you’re, like, Jonathan’s business partner, but we haven’t met yet, and I binge-watched Second Chance City on streaming like three months ago, because I was five when it was on, so I didn’t see it then, but you are amazing.”
Zach shot Daisy a look, then he looked back at Amberly. “Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“Jonathan hasn’t seen it yet. I should make him watch it while he’s recovering.”
“That’s . . . uh . . . nice.” It was rare that Daisy had ever seen Zach lost for words, but Amberly had done it.
She noticed Amberly had blood on her hands too. She had been there for Jonathan when he was hurt. And she’d been there for the kids.
Those mixed feelings were even more intense now.
“You can go, Amberly,” Daisy said. “I’ve got the kids.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Of course. They need to get to bed, and you can go and be with him.”
“Thank you.” She walked quickly toward the counter and filled out a badge, and for some reason Daisy found herself standing there watching her.
It was an out-of-body experience. If this had happened a few months ago, that would have been her worrying about Jonathan.
It would have been her going back to see how he was doing.
Worrying about his hand and the future of the business.
“Are you okay?”
She turned to Zach, who was looking at her. “I don’t know. But I need to get the kids home.”
“I’ll go with you.”
She could protest. But she didn’t want to.
The doors to the ER opened, and right as Amberly started to go in, Nora came rushing out, her eyes round. She looked past Daisy, over her shoulder, and Daisy noticed Sam for the first time since she’d come into the crowded room.
“Nora!” Daisy called out to her, and the two of them stood there staring at each other. As if this could get any weirder or more reminiscent of that moment they’d reconnected in Alexandra’s hospital room what felt like a whole lifetime ago.
“What are you doing here?” Nora asked. “Is something wrong with your mom? Your grandma?”
Daisy shook her head. “Jonathan had an accident.”
Nora didn’t react, her expression flat for a full second before she blinked rapidly like she was trying to wake herself up. “What?”
“He . . .” Daisy shook her head, trying to get her thoughts together. “Power tools. He’s going to be fine.” Well, he might lose a finger, but he wouldn’t die. “I had to come get the kids, they were with him and . . . well.” She frowned. “Why are you here?”
“Ben. He had an accident while he was hiking.”
Goose bumps rose on Daisy’s arms, and right then she could see why Nora had paused like that. Why she’d looked shell shocked.
This couldn’t be a coincidence. It couldn’t be. There was karma. David getting caught being a cheater, that was karma. Dramatic karma, but karma all the same. Ben falling down a mountain? Unless he was getting a blow job at the time, that wasn’t karma. That was something more.
“Is he . . . ?”
“He’s going to be okay.” Nora’s eyes were glassy, her voice distant. “He’ll be okay.”
Sam didn’t say anything, but he moved closer to Nora and put his arm around her. It was a possessive gesture, one that spoke volumes about them. Volumes Nora herself had never spoken, but that were becoming more and more apparent.
“Take care of your kids,” Nora said. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“If I make it in.”
“You know Aggie would let the kids come in.”
It’s true, she would.
She felt reluctant to leave Nora, but she knew she was taken care of as long as she was with Sam. “You can come over later if you want to,” Daisy said.
“I . . . I think I’m okay.”
Daisy nodded and gathered the kids.
She got the kids loaded into her car, and Zach followed in his outrageously expensive vehicle, adding to the out-of-body of it all.
Two of the three cheating husbands were in the hospital after having spells put on them. It would seem like a coincidence even without the magic. Now it seemed . . . Well, it seemed like much more than a coincidence.
She pulled into the driveway, and Zach pulled in behind her. Her chest went tight, and she got out of the car, opening the back door and starting to work on Alden’s seat belt.
Avery and Wren were out of the car like a shot.
“I can unlock the door, Daisy.”
She looked over her shoulder at Zach. “Um. Sure. My key is in my purse on the front seat.”
She heard Zach getting the keys. “Come on, guys. Have you had dinner?” Zach was actually talking to the kids.
“No,” Avery said, sniffing. “I’m hungry.”
“Of course you are, it’s getting really late. What’s your favorite restaurant?”
Daisy’s movements slowed, and she was basically just standing there hovering over Alden’s car seat as Zach and the kids moved out of earshot.
“Mama.” Alden tapped her on the nose, and she laughed.
“Sorry!”
“Are you sleepy?” Alden asked.
“Yeah,” Daisy said, unbuckling the belt. “I am sleepy.”
She lifted her little boy out of the seat, then set him down and watched him walk into the house. Zach appeared in the doorway and smiled at her.
Seeing him in her house like that . . .
Was it her house?
She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Except that seeing him here felt better than it did worse, that was for sure.
She collected her purse and closed the car door, walking into the house.
“We ordered Olive Garden,” Zach said.
“You what?”
“Avery said he likes Olive Garden, so we ordered. They said you always get the alfredo, and I didn’t know which one, so I got one with chicken and one without.”
“Zach . . .”
“Sit down,” he said, his voice authoritative.
God. He could tell her what to do all day every day and she would be okay with it.
When Zach told her what to do, she didn’t feel powerless. If she did, she wouldn’t like it. Zach had things taken care of. His orders made her feel safe. Made her feel like she wasn’t carrying every single burden all on her own.
“I’m hungraaaaaay.” Alden growled, and stamped around the kitchen like a tiny, inconvenienced T. rex.
“We ordered you spaghetti and meatballs,” Zach said.
“Oh good!” Alden looked cheerful and much less like a dinosaur.
Daisy decided to busy herself getting plates out of the cabinet.
Zach took the stack from her hands, and their fingertips touched. What did this man even know about being domestic? And why was he so damned good at it?
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Dad got blood everywhere.” Wren sat down at the table and rested her head on her forearms. “And he was swearing and shouting, and Amberly was crying.”
Imagining the scene made Daisy’s stomach wrench tight. “I’m sorry, Wrenny. That must have been really scary.”
“Everything is bad now.” Wren’s voice was small.
This was a stark contrast to when they’d come home wild and sugared up the other night. They’d seemed in high spirits and seemingly unaffected by being shuffled back and forth between two households.