Page 38 of Too Close To Call

I run back up the stairs, pull on sweats and a t-shirt, and grab my phone before I sprint over to the cottage. I survey the crime scene and find more than a little blood on the counter, floor, and sink. There are even bloody paper towels in the trashcan.

Tori definitely shouldn’t be driving, the hardheaded woman. She could pass out from lack of blood. I pull my phone out and call my uncle. He answers on the first ring and I explain. Without hesitation, he promises to head to the emergency center to be there with Tori. The way my family operates, I know the phone tree will be in play and more than Rod will show up.

The next thing I do is clean up the kitchen. It wouldn’t do for Daisy to walk in on all this blood. Curiously I find a butcher knife beside a peeled banana. Was Tori really trying to slice a banana with a blade this big? That’s like driving a dragster on a go-cart track. Overkill. The woman is a true danger in the kitchen.

I’ve set the room to rights and have banana pancakes sizzling on the griddle when a sleepy Daisy walks in, rubbing her eyes.

“Where’s mommy?” she asks at finding me manning the griddle.

It hits me that I am responsible for this little girl. What do I know about kids? I need to calm the fuck down and deal with how scary this must be for Daisy. “Hey, buttercup. Your mom cut her finger and had to go get a bandage. She asked me to come over and stay with you until she gets back. Is that okay?”

Daisy eyes me, thinks about it, and shrugs. “I guess. Why didn’t she use a bang-daid that we have in the cabinet in the bathroom? They’re princess bang-daids.”

It takes me a minute to compute the meaning of a bang-daid. I’m going with bandaid and, as we all know, princess bang-daids are the best, right? I grin. “I’m not sure. Maybe she wanted a plain one.” I have no idea what to tell Daisy that won’t scar her for life.

“Are we having pancakes?” she asks and climbs up onto a bar stool at the counter.

I flip one perfectly browned pancake. “We are. Banana pancakes. Do you like those?”

Her blue eyes shine brightly. “Those are my favorite, but don’t put nuts in them. Nuts are yucky.”

I chuckle and nod. We have that in common. “You got it. No nuts.”

I put three adult-sized pancakes on a plate and set them in front of Daisy. Her eyes grow almost as big as the plate. I look at it and then back at Daisy. “I guess you don’t eat that much, huh?”

She shakes her head side to side. “No way. Mommy usually makes me tiny ones.”

Tiny ones? That seems to be a lot of work. It would take a lot of tiny ones to fill me up. “Well, dig in and just eat what you want.”

Daisy pauses to consider my option, but counters with one of her own. “But that would be wasteful. Why don’t we share these?”

I switch off the burner. “That sounds like a plan.” I grab another fork and take the seat beside her. She has trouble cutting pieces, so I do it for her. Maybe that’s why Tori makes small ones. Daisy pours extra syrup over the top and sneaks a peek at me to see if I’m going to stop her. I have the feeling her mom wouldn’t allow the extra sugar, but I think this once is okay. Right?

“These are really good,” Daisy remarks after filling her mouth with a big bite.

“Thanks, but I bet they aren’t as good as your mom’s.”

“These aren’t extra toasty on the bottom. I like these better.”

I grin. Tori’s cooking skills haven’t improved. After breakfast, Daisy helps and we clean the kitchen. While she goes to change her clothes, I check my phone to see if I’ve missed any messages from Tori or Rod.

Just as I’m about to type in a message of my own, the phone rings. It’s Rod. “Hey, how are things going?” I ask.

The moment I hear my uncle’s tone, I know I was right. Tori didn’t have a tiny cut like she claimed. “They are moving Tori to the mainland by helicopter. She needs a specialist to do the surgery.”

A cold shudder runs through my body. “Surgery! What? She said it was a small cut!”

“Well, she lied. She almost sliced her index finger off. They’re flying her to Duke where there’s a specialist hand surgeon on standby. She’ll be rushed into surgery. Your mom went with her and I swore to Tori that you wouldn’t leave Daisy.”

I rub my forehead. I want to go to her. I need to make sure she’s okay. “Are you fucking with me, man?”

“Hey, calm down. You have to be there for Daisy.”

Flashes of people running and the sounds of sirens play out in my mind. I force those visions of another time and place away. This isn’t like the crash. “But Tori…”

The stern tone of my uncle’s voice finally gets through to me. “Tori needs you to keep her daughter safe. Your dad and Bode are driving to Duke, so between them and your mom, Tori will have someone with her to help her through whatever she needs. And Tori had me call her friend, Carina. She’s going to be fine, Case. Do you hear me?”

I pinch the top of my nose. Tori would want me to be with Daisy. “I know. I know. Thanks, Rod.”

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