Cal leans in and kisses his wife’s temple. “With pleasure.”
Not counting Sunday dinner, tonight is the first time all eight of us have been together for a meal since baby Grace was born, and it’s been nice. Except for the side-eye I get from Cal anytime I step within two feet of his sister. Anytime he’s ready to talk, so am I. I’m done pretending.
Knox brought steak, Angus picked up sides, and Cal hit up Dawson’s bakery for everyone’s favorite peanut butter cheesecake, per his wife’s orders.
I don’t think I’ve ever hosted everyone at my place, and it’s the first time I’ve used my dining room table for something other than a holding spot for my recycling before it goes out to the bins in the garage.
Turns out I like having a full house.
I’ve been waiting for the conversation to turn dark, but we’ve stuck to happy things like the baby, our moms on their cruise, and town gossip. But the clenching of Cal’s jaw says all good things must come to an end. He’s sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
While Charlie passes out cheesecake, her husband finally boils over, and says, “You lied to us.”
He doesn’t say who he’s speaking to, but his glare is fixed on the injured woman across from him. The room goes quiet, waiting for him to elaborate. And elaborate he does.
“You didn’t tell a little white lie; you kept your attempted murder from us!”
“I didn’t lie to you. I lied to Charlie.”
“And you swore her to silence until the next day to tell me. So, you lied and waited two days to tell your family what happened and where you were.”
“I needed time to deal with the seriousness of my situation without you bulldozing your way into it. I. Needed. Time.”
Cal stands, his face turning red. “Time? There’s a psychopath out there threatening your life and fucking with the ranch, and you needed time?”
“Hey, now,” Angus says, standing and clapping Cal on the shoulder, but Cal brushes him off.
“We’re all stressed and freaked out about what happened to our baby sister, but yelling isn’t gonna help. You need to relax, man,” the eldest McKinnon says calmly from his seat.
“Relax?” Cal’s glare takes a tour around the table, looking each of us in the eye. “How can you all be calm? We have private security at our homes. The ranch is being fucked with. And you want me to chill?”
I get it. He has a wife and daughter to protect. He’s scared and tired. I know him well enough to know he doesn’t mean things the way they’re coming out.
Daisy huffs out a breath. “If this is your way of saying you were worried about me, I thank you for your concern, but you aren’t my father and you don’t get to talk to me this way.”
“She’s right,” Charlie says, wrapping her arms around Cal’s middle. At her touch, his shoulders relax, and a little of the anger drains from his face. “We’re both tired from sleepless nights on top of everything that’s going on.”
“And I’m sorry for not sharing the whole truth about my fall or where I was.”
“It was selfish.” Cal’s voice shakes, but the words don’t come out with the same vitriol.
“It was. But sometimes keeping the whole truth from your family is more important than the wrath they’ll bestow upon you later.”
Cal looks at me like I should back him up, but I won’t. She was wrong to keep things from them, but I am Team Daisy.
Always will be.
I meet his glare. “Not sure why you’re looking at me.”
“Since when don’t you have something to say?”
“Well, I understand both sides. You know I didn’t want to keep the situation from you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have broken my promise to your sister and called the three of you over here to fill you in. But she’s staying in my house, so I think you know which side I’m on. That being said, I would suggest you don’t raise your voice in her direction again.”
“Excuse me?” Cal bristles.
“Dude, I get that you’re mad. You have every right to be. But we’re all working as a team now. We’re on the same page, and the most important thing is that Daisy is alive and well. But she is still healing, and your yelling at her isn’t doing anything to help her concussion.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch the girls smiling at my response. I don’t acknowledge them, though. This is as close to an argument that I can recall Cal and I having since we were kids, and it’s tying my stomach up in knots.
