Page 70 of Caution
It seemed to me that Daisy and I had a lot to discuss when it came to that, but since there was a more pressing issue that needed to be dealt with, I decided other things were going to have to wait.
“What happened to you today? Because I can tell that whatever all of this is on your face and your body is only a few hours old.”
Tears filled her eyes as she rasped, “My realtor, Marci, came to my place for one last walkthrough this morning. I’d spent the last several weeks preparing to leave Birch Creek permanently, and after she left, I wanted just another minute in my place, because I didn’t plan to return. But as soon as I opened the door to leave, Jeremy came charging in after me. He did this to me, and he told me I needed to forget everything he said to me that day at the bar or next time he wouldn’t be so nice to let me live.”
There were a lot of things I wanted to do, so much I wanted to say, but I had to stay focused on the immediate concerns. It wasn’t easy, though. Daisy was here, talking about having had a plan to come here, and now she was mentioning her realtor coming to her place for one last walkthrough. It seemed I didn’t have the full story from her yet.
But I needed to deal with one thing at a time.
“Okay, Daisy, here’s what’s going to happen,” I started. “I’m taking you out of here and to the hospital to get checked out. After, I’m taking you back to my place, where you’re going to stay for the foreseeable future. While you’re there, nobody is going to be able to get to you and hurt you. And I’m going to do what I need to do to make sure you stay safe and this guy winds up behind bars for a very long time.”
Daisy couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks, but she did her best to smile at me as she said, “I knew I was right.”
“About what, sunshine?”
“About you. You’re the only person I’ve got, the only person I trust.”
I lifted my hand up, brushed a lock of hair away from her face, and said, “Give it some time here in Steel Ridge, Daisy. You’ll have a lot more than just me.”
As though on cue, there was a knock at the door.
“Yeah?” I called out.
The door opened, and Avalon poked her head inside. “Is everything okay? Can I get either of you anything?”
“I’m taking Daisy to the hospital to get checked out before I take her back to my place. At a minimum, I’m going to need some private investigation done. I don’t know who’s available, but can you check with Jax, Blaze, Landen, I don’t care who.”
“I’ll get it taken care of.”
Wrapping my arms around Daisy once again, I stood with her in my hold. “I can walk, Forrest.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
I set her down on her feet, but kept a hand on her just to be on the safe side, and once we made it to the door, Avalon turned her attention to Daisy. “Do you have your car keys?”
“Um, yeah. Do I need to move my car?”
Avalon shook her head. “Not at all. But if you want to leave your keys here with me, Damon and I can drop your car off at Forrest’s place after you get back from the hospital.”
“Oh, I don’t want to trouble you with this,” Daisy replied.
“It’s no trouble at all,” Avalon assured her. “Damon and I are heading home together, and it’s not out of the way.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Avalon smiled brightly at Daisy. “Absolutely.”
With that, Daisy reached into her purse and held her car keys out to Avalon. Once Avalon turned around and walked away, Daisy looked up at me. “That was nice of her.”
Grinning, I reminded her, “I told you that you’d have more than just me if you give it some time here in Steel Ridge.”
“That was fast.”
“We’re just getting started, Daisy. Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
The next thing I knew, I was in my truck with my girl beside me. There were some things we were going to have to work through, but one thing was certain.