Page 10 of Country

“Be normal?” I grin. “What does that look like?” I make a funny face, sticking my tongue out. “Like this?”

She rolls her eyes. “Dad… normal. Be normal.” I can’t help but laugh as she opens the front door where Daisy stands with a sweet smile. She’s still wearing the short pencil skirt and the pink top I saw her in earlier today. She’s gorgeous.

I wipe my hands on the kitchen towel and move toward the door, reaching out to her for a hug. “Daisy, so glad you made it.”

Belle clears her throat and stares up at me with a grimace as though I’m messing things up already. “Dad! She likes to be called Ms. Fraiser. God!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I reach toward Daisy for a hug. “Ms. Fraiser, it’s good to see you again.”

Daisey grins and steps inside, releasing her arms from my shoulders to bend down and greet Belle. Something about her making my baby girl a priority makes me like her more. “Hey, sweetie. How has the rest of your day been?”

Belle tucks her hand into Daisey’s and drags her to the table. “Good. Really, really good.” She spreads the placemats she’s made across the table and stands before them with a giant grin.

“Where’s yours?” Daisy asks, admiring the artwork.

“Oh, I don’t need one. This is for you and Dad.” She smiles wider.

“Well, thank you!” Daisy admires the art. “What does this say?”

“It says… romantic restaurant for two.”

My heart stiffens and I glance down at the placemat Belle has been working on. Romantic is spelled ‘Rowmantic’ and there are two stick people in the center of the page that vaguely resemble Daisy and I, if we were stick people, and we’re holding hands.

I love the effort Belle’s gone to, but Daisy’s number one rule for tonight was nothing romantic.

I look down at my baby girl. “We’re all havin’ dinner together, sweetheart. You haven’t eaten.”

“Nope!” Belle smiles, grabbing her lunchbox out of the fridge. “I packed myself dinner earlier. Peanut butter and jelly with a cheese stick. Plus, I took two cupcakes from the cabinet.” She waves toward us as she stands in the hallway, pride beaming so desperately from her little face that I couldn’t tell her no, even if I wanted to.

Daisy is unsure of what to say. “I’m here to spend time with you too, Belle. I want to hear all about your day, and I want you to show me all your toys.”

“Next time,” she hollers, walking down the hall with her lunch pail as though it’s a briefcase. “Have fun with the romance. We need a bigger family around here.”

I glance toward Daisy and grin. “I think she gave us homework.”

Daisy smiles. “Yeah, not sure that’s going to get done, but it’s very cute. This is all so super nice. Thank you.”

I sit at the table with her and settle two plates of pasta in front of us. “I promise that wasn’t coached.”

“I believe you. That was way too genuine to be a show.”

“Well, she’s somethin’. I’m lucky to have her. How’d everythin’ go with the principal today?”

Daisy twists a bite of spaghetti onto her fork and lowers it just as fast. “Yeah, I was going to talk to you about that.”

“About what?”

She sighs. “Apparently, Mike showed up at school yesterday looking for me. He was acting erratically, and the principal had him removed from the building. He fought off a security guard and left before the cops were called. I don’t know. She said if it happens again, they’ll reconsider my employment.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I mean, I get it. She can’t have someone threatening violence on school grounds and he’s attached to me. So if anything happens, it’s my problem.” She rolls her eyes and sips from the cup on the table. “I don’t think he would do anything, but… I don’t know what gets into his head when he acts like that, so I guess he could technically do whatever he wants.”

Blood beats behind my eyelids as I try to refocus my attention on the conversation. How does this piece of shit keep evading me? Maybe it’s because I’ve been distracted by his ex.

Daisy looks toward me, her gaze soft despite all the fucking shit this bastard has put her through. “It’s okay. It’s… what it is.”

“This guy is showin’ up at your work, darlin’. He’s threatin’ you, and your job is on the line. That ain’t okay.”

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