Page 93 of Hutch
I can actually feel the color drain from my face. If Lucy hadn’t been there she might have died. I’d never have met Daisy. And if she’d died, they would probably have marked it as unsolved and hidden the truth to protect the little fucker.
Small towns might have their charms, but they also have dark secrets as well. Darker than some of the biggest cities. I’m never ever living in a small town.
“I’m sorry that happened to you, Red.” Collin runs a hand through his dark hair and lets out a deep sigh. “And I’m sorry if I scared you. I was just so angry…”
She reaches out and pats his arm, keeping her head buried in my chest. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s fucking not okay,” he rebukes gently. “I might yell, but I will never raise a hand against you or any woman in anger. My family taught me better than that.”
She doesn’t say a word, just pats his arm again.
My sweet, beautiful scrappy girl. Collin looks so stricken when he realizes she’s trying to comfort him when she’s the one who needs all the comfort she can get. God knows no one else did it for her. Fuckers.
“Will you make sure the doors are locked?” she asks softly.
“Sure, Red. No one’s getting in this house that’s not supposed to be here.”
She snorts and I don’t blame her. There’s lots of people here on a regular basis that’s not supposed to be. It’s the sports house with parties more often than not. My first thought is to talk to Mom about maybe letting Daisy stay in my room at the house, but Mom’s not home a lot and she might need people around ifasshat tries to see her. At least here there are people who can be trusted to watch out for her.
“I wish we could have you come stay with us, but the house they provide the hockey players is only for us. If anyone ratted you were there, then we’d all be kicked out of student housing.”
“It’s fine, Collin. Can you please go make sure the doors are locked?”
He sighs heavily and stands. “Sure, sure. I’ll also call and have them bring over the air mattresses.”
“I’ll finish cooking.” She pulls away and I’m reluctant to let her go, but she’s trying to distract herself from her memories and I can’t deny her right to do just that. She showed us her most vulnerable side, why she’s so cold to any attempts to get closer to her. I understand it now. I also know she trusts me enough to let me through those protective barriers she’s built around herself and that makes me the luckiest motherfucker in the world.
“Give us a few.”
“Yeah, I need to cool down. She’s shaking and I don’t mean to make it worse.” Collin watches her walk to the kitchen. “I want to beat him.”
“Same here, but like you said, we can’t let it show. Not when we’re this close to the dream. We can’t protect her or get your family back stateside if we blow up before contracts are signed. If he ever comes near her, then we’ll do something. For now, we control our tempers and just be here for her.”
Collin sighs heavily and goes outside instead of down to the basement where the rest of the guys are. I follow Daisy into the kitchen where she’s turning the stove back on to finish cooking.
“Cooking seems to soothe you.”
She nods. “Nana had me with her beside the stove for as far back as I can remember. She taught me so much about cooking and the rest I learned from watching cooking shows and experimenting myself. I only started watching them to try andfind new recipes or alternative ways to cook food I already knew how to cook. Nana lost her appetite so it became a point of pride when I made something that tempted her. I guess in a way, cooking became my refuge and my escape from everything going on. It was something I could control.”
That I got. She’d lost control of everything so finding something that she could control, it must have made her feel safer in a world of pain. Cooking isn’t my idea of control, but if it works for her, then it works for her.
“What’s your favorite thing to cook?”
“Comfort food really. Things that I like to eat when I’m sad or its cold outside. Nana loved pizza though and the red sauce was too much for her. I found out Pizza Hut had a white sauce pizza and bought one. It was actually good and I did my best to replicate the sauce. Nana loved it and that’s all that mattered. I still haven’t perfected it, but I will one day.”
She sounds calmer. I guess the act of cooking actually does do a lot to calm her down, both physically and emotionally.
“Feeling better?” I ask softly, coming over to stand by her at the stove.
She nods, not looking at me.
“Did you just put nutmeg in the mac and cheese?” I can’t hide the outrage in my voice. It’s scandalous. Nutmeg does not belong in mac and cheese.
She laughs and it warms my heart, chasing away some of the dark shadows of the last few minutes. Her laugh is like hearing an angel sing to me. It soothes me the same way cooking soothes her. How am I going to leave her knowing asshat is hitting up her phone?
“Nutmeg gives it that something special. Trust me, you’ll like it.” Her hand trembles as she stirs the cheesy noodles. She’s not nearly as fine as she let on. She’d make a good voice actress.
Placing my hand over the one gripping the wooden spoon, I lean in. “It’s okay to not be fine, Daisy. I’m here now and I’m not going to let asshat hurt you again.”
