“Who is it?”
“Hi!” An unfamiliar female voice came through the speaker. “I’m Lou Sparks. Louise, actually, but you can just pretend I never told you that. Chris said he warned you I was coming.”
“Warned?”
The intercom turned Lou’s laugh into a buzz at the end. “Yes. He actually used the word ‘warned.’ I was terribly offended.”
She didn’t sound offended. In fact, her merry tone made Daisy smile and push the button to unlock the exterior door. “Come in.”
Even after the clunk and click of the exterior door closing and locking, Daisy hesitated a few more seconds before starting on the row of dead bolts. That morning’s incident had pushed her from cautious to paranoid. It was fine when she had a pane of glass separating her from the world, but the bare, wide-open doorway had brought her to her knees—or, more accurately, to her back.
She cut off that entire train of thought. It wasn’t the time to analyze her issues, since she had a guest trapped between the doors.
As if to emphasize that fact, a muffled voice asked tentatively, “Should I knock again? Just let me know the procedure.”
Sliding the last chain lock free, Daisy pulled open the door. A pretty blond woman in her midtwenties stood on the other side.
“No procedure. I mean, I just wait until the outside door closes before I unlock this one, but there’s no other…” She shook her head, taking a step back so Lou could enter. “Sorry. I’m babbling. Come in. I’m not normally so scattered. It’s just been a weird day so far.”
Lou grinned. “Well, you have one up on me, then, since I do babble, pretty much constantly, and I don’t need a strange day to make it happen.”
Her fingers shook a little as Daisy relocked the interior door, and she tried to mentally force them to stop. Was she that far gone that a new visitor made her quiver like a Chihuahua?
“I’m okay with babbling,” she…well, babbled, before she bit off the rest of the words that wanted to come pouring out of her mouth. “Would you like something to drink? Coffee or…” Mentally, Daisy inventoried the beverages in the fridge and held back a wince. “Water? I’m sorry that there’s not much of a selection.”
“Water would be great.” Stepping out of her boots, Lou hung her jacket on the coat rack next to the door. “Today’s my day off, but I normally work at a coffee shop. I don’t drink coffee when I’m there, but I still think I absorb the caffeine through my pores, or something. Anyway, I’m normally wired enough that I don’t need to add a stimulant to the mix.”
Daisy wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she focused on digging a bottle of water out of the fridge.
“Thanks,” Lou said, taking a few steps closer so she could grab the bottle. “Your kitchen is amazing.”
“My dad just completed remodeling it about a year ago. It took forever for him to finish, since he kept having to leave to go to job sites. After living in half-constructed hell for that long, I’m still grateful just to have a working sink.”
“Your dad lives here with you?” Lou explored the room unashamedly, running her fingers over the mosaic tiles that made up the backsplash.
“Yes. Well,” Daisy corrected herself, “when he’s not out of town, working on a job.”
“Construction?”
“Alternative energy systems. He installs solar panels, wind turbines, things like that. His clients are really spread out, though, so he just parks the camper close to whatever job he’s working on at the time. Right now, he’s in Connor Springs. He’s due back tonight, actually.”
Lou cocked her head, giving her an unreadable look. “Connor Springs is only twenty miles away.”
Dropping her gaze, Daisy busied herself with making yet another cup of coffee. “I think he likes being at the job site at night. That way, he can keep an eye on his equipment.”
“Okay.” Lou’s voice was gentle—too gentle—and Daisy cleared her throat, determined to change the subject.
“Are you really a lawyer?” When Lou looked startled, Daisy explained, “Chris mentioned something about that.”
“I made it through law school.” Lou said “law school” with the same amount of disgust most people reserved for “cockroaches.” “I even passed the bar. I never practiced, though. I decided I’d rather have the money, power, and prestige that comes from being a barista in Simpson.”
Daisy snorted a laugh and was immediately embarrassed by the piglike sound. “I have you beat for least prestigious jobs.”