I only grabbed what I needed, not wanting to be in there any longer than necessary. The wounds were too fresh. The pain too real.
After a few more minutes of packing and saying goodbye to the house, I walked out the door, forcing more tears away. I knew Daisy didn’t mind, but I didn’t like to cry in front of anyone, even her. She’d be sweet and comforting and I’d cry even harder for a multitude of reasons, and I was already mentally exhausted from the day.
The drive to Daisy’s only took ten minutes, and for that, I was grateful. It had been a day, and I wanted nothing more than to go to bed. Although, I didn’t think sleep wanted me as much as I wanted it.
Daisy led us to the door, but stopped and turned to me before going inside.
“Everything okay?” I asked, confused as to why we weren’t going in right away.
She looked a little sheepish and I groaned internally. She was so damn cute. “Yeah, so before… everything happened at the store, I was going to tell you something.”
Before I could tell her to go ahead, an adorable barking sound came from inside the house. I looked toward the noise, then back to her with wide eyes.
“Sunny, did you… get a dog?”
When the hell had that happened? I was just over here a few days ago, and I would’ve remembered a dog running around.
She winced and nodded. “I was just browsing the shelter with Blair, and he looked at me. It’s not my fault. I couldn’t just leave him, Kai.”
I rolled my eyes and motioned for her to open the door so I could meet her new baby.
When the door opened, a rambunctious little chocolate-colored pitbull greeted us. The little thing circled us both, smelling and jumping like we were the most interesting things on the planet.
“So you got a dog,” I said as I bent down to let him observe me.
“Yes I did. He’s still getting used to the house, and he hasn’t been trained as a service dog yet, but he will be!”
I laughed. “He is so cute! Did you name him yet?”
Her expression turned bashful and I was worried she’d named him something odd like Balthazar the Third. “I did. His name is Duke.”
“His name is Duke?”
“Yeah. Daisy…” —she pointed to herself—“Duke.” She pointed to the dog and smiled, like a freaking sunflower. She was always doing that. Smiling and being happy. All the time.
I tried to be, and I usually was, especially when I was with Daisy. When you had someone like her in your corner, when you had that smile to look at everyday, it was hard not to be happy.
“Daisy. Duke,” I repeated. “LikeDukes of Hazzard?”
She gave me the cheesiest grin in the world, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. It’s my favorite movie.”
I laughed and headed to sit on the couch. Of course she would name her dog after her favorite movie. Iknewit was her favorite. She’d only made me watch it a dozen times. She never put the captions on, and I always begged her to. She didn’t need them, though. She could quote that movie in her sleep.
Every time we watched it, I tried to joke around and tell her she should get a pair of those shorts from the movie. She would shrug it off, but I couldn’t help picturing what they would look like.
I brushed the thought away. That was the last thing I needed to think about tonight. That was the last thing I needed to think about, period. But if my thoughts weren’t on Daisy, they were on my dad.
I grew up knowing my parents would die someday, but in the back of my mind, I didn’t think it would happen to me, until it did. Twice. Losing my mom was the worst day of my life, but I was only eleven. The memory of losing her felt worse. This was different. I was older and understood everything more.
I jolted when the soft brush of Daisy’s hand pushed some of my hair behind my ear. She was always doing things like that. Touching my face or rubbing my back.
She was a touchy-feely person, and while a part of me enjoyed every second of it, another part of me didn’t. Sometimes it was appreciated. Like now. I needed that closeness. But sometimes, it was just too much. Receiving her affection just felt like too much.
“I made you some tea. Rosehip and hibiscus.” That was my favorite and she knew it. It was always ready for me when I came over.
“Thank you. The color is just so gorgeous.”
She handed me the cup, and I sat there staring at her. There was somuch I wanted to do and say, but I did the only thing I could actually do. I drank the tea. It was hot and perfect and I endured the light burn it produced on my tongue. Anything to get my thoughts together.
