CHAPTER EIGHT

 

 

Daisy sat outside Nathan’s house in Broomfield, thinking she was probably the most stupid person alive. Her hands circled the steering wheel, and she kept staring at the windshield, noting the dried streaks of washer fluid.

Come over for breakfast, he’d said. We need to talk.

She should be on a plane to Las Cruces now, and she would be, were it not for the roots she’d put down here in Colorado. The prison she’d made for herself in this cold and snowy place.

Also, that she wouldn’t be able to afford a plane ticket to New Mexico. Not without Nathan’s money.

Maybe she should have ignored his texts. Maybe she should have gone to stay with a friend, as she’d thought she could do before. Before Nathan had seen her suitcase leaning against the front door.

It was probably no longer an option.

And now, here she was, about to walk into his lavish house to have breakfast with him. So, so stupid.

She wiped tears from her cheeks and checked her makeup in the mirror before stepping out of the car. The breezy morning air sent her hair flying into her face and she stumbled.

Nathan opened the door, smiling at her. Daisy wanted to believe the smile was genuine. But since seeing him counting money with his buddies, he hadn’t been the same. He’d looked at her with suspicious eyes.

He lifted a hand to wave and she crossed his front yard to meet him. She’d have to hug him, but she didn’t want to. Daisy closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. He was speaking, but the words were a warble lost in the slipstream.

He held her out at arm’s length. “You okay?”

She nodded, smiling vigorously.

“What time does your shift start?” he said.

“Eleven.”

“Excellent. Plenty of time for breakfast.”

He stepped back inside his doorway and ushered her in. She crossed the threshold into the mansion, now seeing the marble and sparkling chandeliers differently. She’d always assumed that he’d come from money, had inherited enough to pay for this house and buy her condo, but maybe not.

Drugs, Micah had said. It’s always drugs.

He walked into the kitchen, and for a split second, she considered not following him. Considered fleeing. A stronger person wouldn’t have even come today, but she didn’t know how to straddle this line of faking a relationship while simultaneously investigating what he was up to.

“I’ll be right back,” she said as she scurried up the stairs to the bathroom. Once inside the comfort of the four enclosed walls, she slumped on the toilet and pulled on the roll of toilet paper until she had enough for two handfuls. She bunched them in her palms, squeezing. The pressure against her hands felt reassuring, for some reason.

Part of her wanted to believe Nathan was a good man. That he had a perfectly valid explanation for what had happened the other day. And part of her knew she was foolish to think that. Nathan had always had his dark side, his private side. He kept secrets, and Daisy had usually not wanted to know. She’d sometimes assumed an affair, and if she asked too many questions, he would get angry.

Daisy didn’t want to spur his anger. She’d seen how quickly he could morph from stillness to a thunderstorm. Like a firecracker popping, it came from nowhere and the suddenness always terrified her.

But, then why was she here? Why had she come to his house this morning?

“Babe?” he said from downstairs. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

She dropped the wads of toilet paper in the trash and ran a hand through her hair. Maybe this was all in her mind. She’d been so confused lately, maybe he had a perfect explanation, if she would give him a chance.

When she left the bathroom and approached the top of the stairs, he was looming in the kitchen doorway below. He crossed his arms, frowning. She hurried down the stairs and followed him into the kitchen, where he left her to stir a pan of eggs on the stove.

“I have to go out of town for a couple days,” he said. “I wanted to see you before I left. I know how much you hate your inconsistent schedule at the coffee shop, but seems like it works out well, for once.”

“Oh,” she said, trying to sound engaged, but not suspicious. A month or two ago, she would have asked him where he was going, but now she didn’t want to know. Didn’t want to watch him evade the question or invent some outright lie.

With narrowed eyes, he wiped his hands on a dishrag and folded his arms across his chest. “I need to ask you something, and it’s serious.”

Her heart leaped into her throat. She couldn’t answer him.

“Two days ago, at your condo. You had a suitcase in the living room.”

“Yes?”

“What was that about? Were you planning a trip I didn’t know about?”

She sputtered, trying to invent something reasonable. “Exterminator. I was going to have him come, and I was going to stay at a motel for the night.”

“Oh? Did you?”

“No, he canceled.”

He frowned. Wasn’t buying it. “Did you think about how those chemicals might affect Caden? You need to research those kinds of things.”

She wished he wouldn’t say Caden’s name out loud. Coming from Nathan’s lips, it felt like a threat.

“You’re right,” she said. “I should have done that.”

He resumed stirring the eggs.

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” she said. “Is the exterminator something I should let you arrange?”

He didn’t answer at first. Turned off the heat and ladled the eggs onto two plates, each with sausage and steaming potatoes. He carried the plates to the table, set them down and pointed at a chair.

Daisy sat.

Nathan took his seat and forked some eggs into his mouth. “I don’t care about the exterminator. You can set that up however you want.”

“Oh.”

“No, I wanted to talk to you about something else. Sunday night, you showed up here unannounced.”

She picked up her knife and fork. The fork was serrated, but not sharp. She couldn’t defend herself with it. “You already apologized for that. We don’t need to talk about it anymore. I understand I should ask before coming over.”

“I’m not going to apologize. That’s not what we need to talk about. I want to know what you think was happening here the other night.”

“What do you mean?”

He set down his fork and sighed. “Come on, Daisy. I know you’re different these last few days. I mean, look at you. You’re trembling.”

“I’m having one of those days. Having some cravings today.”

He slammed his fist on the table, making the plates and silverware rattle. “Goddamn it, stop lying to me. You can say anything you want, but don’t lie to me.”

The trembling turned into a shake as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t know what I saw. And if I did see anything, I won’t talk about it to anybody. I don’t care what you were doing and it’s none of my business.”

This answer didn’t satisfy him. Nathan snatched his plate and flung it over her head. She ducked and screamed as it crashed against the wall, splintering into pieces. Bits of plate clattered to the floor.

He jumped up and rounded the table in a flash. Before she could do anything to stop it, he was on her. Grabbed her by the wrists.

“Please, Nathan, I won’t say anything.”

“Not good enough,” he said, growling.