Page 40 of Too Close To Call

“That sounds lovely, my dear.” I raise my voice and fake a really bad English accent. It makes Daisy laugh and that’s all that matters.

She strips down to her pink underwear right in front of me and pulls on the selected ensemble. I try to leave the room, but then we have a minor issue with not finding both pink sparkly sandals that go with the blue shorts outfit. I thought we might have to go back to the drawing board and choose a new outfit for the day.

In the living room, I pull up a very tame video game. It’s racing go-carts with monkeys and has catchy music. Daisy has little to no interest in the game. Definitely not like her mom or her dad.

“Do you have any word games?” she asks.

My brows pull together. Is there a kid alive who isn’t interested in video games? Yes. Yes, there is—Daisy. “No. I don’t think I do.”

“What about makeup or fashion games?”

Do they even make games like that? “No, I don’t have those.”

I pull up several kid networks on the television and she picks… wait for it… a princess movie. I’ve never watched animated kid movies, but this one is okay. Unrealistic, but okay. I mean how could a little kid sail off in search of a way to break the island’s curse? I swear the main male character is a guy that used to be a wrestler and now he’s a famous actor. Would he do voiceovers for a kid movie? Nah.

After the movie, Daisy looks to me with questioning eyes. I guess I need to come up with our next activity. “Wanna watch another movie?”

“No. Mommy only lets me watch one. Want to play with my dolls or I could paint your fingernails? Mommy says I’m very good at it.”

“Well, um, wow.” I don’t want to seem sexist, but I don’t do fingernail painting. I have no problem with it on other people. But not me.

We compromise. Daisy is painting my nails, but instead of my fingernails, she’s painting my toenails. At least they won’t show before I can wash the stuff off.

“I think this is a pretty pink color, don’t you, Case?” she observes as she globs on a bunch of pink polish from the bottle.

I swallow down my true feelings and smile. “I just love it, Princess Daisy. Don’t you think it brings out the pink in my cheeks?”

She laughs and then nods in agreement as she slathers more pink goo on my toenail.

Daisy puts the tiny brush back in the bottle and screws the lid on, sits back, and surveys her accomplishment. “Okay, I’m finished. Aren’t they beautiful? See? I didn’t get but a little on your skin.”

I look down at my feet to assess the damage. I am so glad I called and let the guys know I’m not coming in today. The sooner we take that swim so this junk washes off, the better. “It’s lovely, thank you. How about some lunch and then maybe a swim?”

Daisy claps her little hands in excitement. “But we have to wait an hour after we eat to go swimming.”

That’s really a myth, but I’m not going to dispute her beliefs. “Do you like sandwiches?”

She gives me the eye and asks, “Do you cut the crusts off and is there cheese on the sandwiches?”

“I think I can manage the crust removal, and do you like cheese?”

She clasps her hands under her chin and gets this dreamy look on her face. “I love cheese!”

“Then you may have an extra slice of cheese on your sandwich.”

We end up going over to my house because Tori only had gross bread that was made out of cauliflower. That should be illegal. And she didn’t have any deli meat or normal cheese.

“You have a big house,” Daisy remarks as we walk the pathway to my back door. “My daddy has a big house too. It’s on Lake Norman and yours is on the ocean. An ocean is bigger than a lake.”

My chest puffs up. “It sure is bigger.”

When we get inside, Daisy climbs up onto a bar stool.

“I can’t swim across the ocean.” She continues her lake versus ocean conversation.

I grab some bread from the pantry and open the refrigerator to gather the things I need for our sandwiches. Mayo, mustard, sliced turkey, ham, roast beef, and three different types of cheese. Then I grab lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and olives. “No, you’d have to take a really big boat or fly in an airplane to get to the other side.”

“That’s what I thought.”

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