Chapter 16 #3
He drove faster than he ever had on the way to Mac’s, hoping and praying she was still there, that she hadn’t come home and been attacked again.
Had Truck Henry been released from jail?
Why hadn’t they been told? Maybe they had been told, he conceded, wondering where in the hell he’d left his cell phone.
David had so many questions as he made the turn onto Sweet Meadow Farm Road.
He brought the car to a skidding halt in Mac’s driveway and took the stairs to the deck two at a time, calling for Daisy as he went.
Everything stopped as he burst into the house, probably looking like a madman. “Where’s Daisy?”
She appeared at the top of the stairs, seeming baffled by his odd behavior.
Right then and there, at the sight of her beautiful face, safe and sound, David dropped off the cliff and landed in love.
He ran for her, up the stairs, again two at a time, and took her into his arms. He kept going, seeking privacy for what he needed to tell her.
Inside one of the bedrooms, he kicked the door shut behind him.
“What’s wrong? Is it Janey? Did she, she didn’t… David!”
He poured every bit of fear and love and desire he felt for her into a kiss he hoped she’d never forget.
“I’m so sorry,” he said after several deep kisses that calmed his nerves and steeled his determination to make this sweet, beautiful woman a permanent part of his life.
“I ran out of here without talking to you or saying anything. I’m so sorry, and then I went to your house, and… Is Truck out of jail?”
“What? What did you say?”
“Did Truck get released?”
“If he did, no one told me.” She drew her phone from the pocket of her shorts. “Oh my God! There’s a bunch of calls from Providence and several from the Gansett Police. I put my phone on silent while Hailey was napping. How did you know?”
“Your house, honey. Someone was there. The door was kicked in, and when I couldn’t find you… I thought… God, Daisy, I’m so glad you’re here and you’re okay. And I love you. I love you.”
She tipped her head as if she hadn’t heard him correctly. “You…”
“I love you. I’m in love with you. I have been for quite some time, but the second I couldn’t find you, I knew for sure that I had to tell you. Because if anything ever happened to you and you didn’t know that I love you…”
She put her arms around him and drew him into her warm embrace. “I’m fine. I’m right here, I’m fine and I love you, too. I heard you saved Janey and her baby. I’m so proud of you.”
His entire body shuddered as he exhaled. “I left you here like you mean nothing to me, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“You did what you had to do in an emergency. I’ll always expect you to do what has to be done, no matter who the patient is.”
“I feel so lucky to have found you, to have somehow gotten you to fall in love with me.”
“Falling in love with you was the easy part,” she said with a smile that lit up her eyes. “Convincing myself it could actually last has been the hard part.”
“And how are you doing with that?”
“Better now.”
“Were you mad about the way I left earlier?”
“I wasn’t mad. I was…”
“A little hurt?”
“Maybe a little, but then I was immediately ashamed of myself in light of what Janey was going through—and what you were going through trying to save her.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I swear I’ll never do that again.”
She rested a finger over his lips. “Don’t make that promise. So many people are counting on you. Sometimes you’ll have to put them ahead of me, but as long as you promise to find me when you’re done the way you did today, we’ll be okay.”
As he kissed her again, a peaceful feeling came over him that was all new. Even at the best of times with Janey, he’d never felt the sense of rightness he experienced with Daisy. She calmed and soothed him. She knew the worst of him and loved him anyway.
“Let’s go find Blaine and figure out what’s up with your ex, and then I want to go home and sleep for a year—after I make love to you.”
Her saucy smile was a huge relief to him after the news he’d brought her about the damage to her house. They’d find their way through this latest challenge and move forward from there.
Blaine met them on the stairs. “I was just coming to find you guys. I finally checked my phone for the first time in hours.”
“So it’s true?” Daisy asked. “Truck’s been released?”
“How did you know that?”
“He’s already been to her house, kicked in the door and trashed the place,” David said.
“Son of a bitch,” Blaine muttered, placing a call on his phone.
“This is Chief Taylor. I want all units on the lookout for Truck Henry, and position a car at the Harbor Road home of Daisy Babson in case he comes looking for her there again.” He ended the call and looked at his phone.
“I missed ten calls from Providence while I was off getting married. I’m really sorry, you guys. ”
“Please don’t be,” Daisy said. “You have a right to a day off when you’re getting married.”
“We’ll find him and get him back to where he belongs. Until then—”
“Until then,” David said, his arm tight around her shoulders, “she’ll be with me at my house.”
Blaine nodded in approval. “Good plan. So how’s Janey?”
“Stable and on her way to Providence.”
“And the baby?”
“Same. That’ll be a wait-and-see thing for a few days.”
“They were really lucky you were right here when it happened,” Blaine said.
“I know Janey will feel awful for putting a damper on your wedding celebration,” David said.
“We feel terrible about what happened to her, but our day has still been amazing. In fact,” Blaine added with a silly waggle of his brows, “I think it’s about time I collected Mrs. Taylor and headed off to get the honeymoon started.”
Laughing, they followed him down the stairs to find Tiffany surrounded by her friends admiring her new rings. The atmosphere in the group had lightened considerably since word got out that Janey and the baby were stable and on their way to Providence.
Despite the fact that he was exhausted and emotionally drained, everyone wanted to shake David’s hand and thank him for what he’d done for Janey and the baby.
Janey’s Uncle Frank hugged him, as did her cousins Laura and Shane.
With everyone back from the clinic, Grace, Stephanie, Jenny, Maddie and Sydney fell over themselves getting him food and a beer, which went down easy after the stressful day.
Tiffany and Blaine were corralled into dancing to “Make You Feel My Love,” performed again by Evan, cutting the cake and tossing the bouquet before Maddie finally allowed them to leave.
Before they went, though, Blaine found David and Daisy and promised to keep in touch with them until Truck was apprehended.
“Can we go, too?” David asked Daisy. “I’m fried.”
“Sure, let me just find Maddie to tell her we’re going.”
In the kitchen, Maddie was wrapped up in her husband’s arms.
“Oh, sorry,” Daisy said. “I wanted to tell you that David and I are leaving.”
Maddie pulled back from Mac, wiped her tearstained cheeks and turned to hug Daisy. “Thank you so much for watching the kids while we were at the clinic.”
“It was nothing. I was happy to be able to help, and I’m glad Janey is okay.”
“So are we,” Mac said. “I’m putting a moratorium on babies in this family. I can’t handle the stress.”
“You can’t, huh?” Maddie said. “You might want to rethink that, because I’m officially late, my love.”
The look on Mac’s face as he absorbed her announcement was nothing short of priceless.
“I need a really big drink,” he muttered as he left the women laughing in the kitchen.
“Do you think you’re pregnant?” Daisy asked her friend.
She shrugged. “I’m regular as clockwork, so probably. I have half a mind to kill him for knocking me up again so soon after Hailey was born, but I love him too damned much to kill him.”
Daisy hugged her again. “Keep me posted.”
“I will and thanks again, Daisy.” Maddie lowered her voice. “Your handsome doctor seems very smitten.”
“He’s in love,” Daisy whispered.
“Is he now?”
Daisy nodded.
“And you?”
“Crazy in love.”
“Oh, I’m so happy for you! You so deserve to be happy after all that’s happened.”
“Apparently, it’s not over yet.” Daisy told Maddie about Truck being released and how they suspected him of vandalizing her home.
“You’ll be with David, right? Until they find him?”
“He won’t let me out of his sight. Don’t worry.”
“I will worry until I hear they’ve put Truck back where he belongs.”
“They’ll find him,” Daisy said confidently as Maddie saw them out. “He’s hard to miss, especially when he’s high and enraged.”