“Daisy,” he answered brusquely. “Let me in.”
“Oh, sorry!” She scrambled to her feet and headed for the bedroom door. “Have you been knocking? I was asleep.” Reaching the stairs, she flew down them two at a time.
“Yeah, I’ve been knocking for a while.” His tone had mellowed a little, although he still sounded short. “I was worried when you didn’t answer.”
“Sorry,” she repeated, pushing the unlock button. “I didn’t think you’d be home so soon.”
“Jennings called me. He told me you needed me to come home.”
“Chris said what?” Daisy realized she’d been talking and missed the sound of the exterior door latching. “Is the door locked again?”
“Yeah. Open up.”
She unfastened the locks with her left hand, her right keeping her phone pressed to her ear. When she opened the door to let her dad inside, she lowered her cell and made a face at it. “Guess there’s no need for these anymore. Hi, Dad.”
“What’s going on?” Gabe started shedding his boots and coat. He was short and wiry, and he hadn’t shaved his reddish-blond winter beard yet. Ever since she was a kid, people had said she looked exactly like her mother—they used to, at least, before her mom had been killed and Daisy had disappeared inside her house. “You okay?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” After relocking the door, she headed to the coffeemaker to start a cup of French roast for her father.
“Your deputy buddy was pretty insistent that I head home immediately. I only had a day and a half left on the Connor Springs project—it’ll be two days, now that I’m wasting this morning driving back and forth for no reason.” He hung up his coat and followed her into the kitchen.
“Sorry.” She ran through her last few conversations with Chris and shrugged. “I’m not sure why he thought you were needed here. Oh! I did mention that I wanted to have snacks when everyone comes over for training.”
“Training?”
“Lou Sparks asked if she could train with me and Chris, and then it kind of snowballed. Five or six people are coming over on Saturday afternoon.”
“Let me get this straight.” He glowered from under his bushy, light-colored brows. “Chris sent me tearing all the way over here because you’re throwing a party?”
It was on the tip of Daisy’s tongue to remind him that Connor Springs was only twenty miles away, but she swallowed the words. Gabe was building up to one of his rages, and she’d rather not have to clean up broken coffee mugs or explain new dents in the walls to her guests the next day.
“I’m not sure why he asked you to come here,” she said instead. “Did you want this coffee in a travel mug?”
His hand slapped the counter, the sound making her jump. “What do you think?” He stomped over to where he’d just left his boots. Daisy poured the French roast into a travel cup and secured the lid tightly. Her dad did not need to spill hot liquid on his lap. His head was already too close to spinning around, Exorcist-style.
As she waited for him to finish yanking on his coat, she debated whether she should ask him to pick up a few things before he left town again. When he turned toward her and she met his still-furious eyes, she silently held out his coffee instead. He snatched the cup and used his other hand to undo the locks, his abrupt movements testifying to his irritation. As soon as he was through the interior door, she hurried to close and relock it, knowing that he wouldn’t hesitate to slam through the outer door in his current mood.
Once the locks were secured, she moved to the living room window, opening the blinds so she could watch his older blue pickup as it accelerated away from the house. He turned onto the cross street, and she gave a humorless snort of laughter. Even the jerky way he steered his truck showed his annoyance.
Heading back into the kitchen, she debated whether she wanted a cup of coffee. The caffeine would be welcome, but her stomach was churning from her dad’s visit, and she didn’t think acidic coffee would go down too well. Setting aside the mental debate, she called Chris.
“Daisy. What’s up?”
She was a little disappointed that he sounded wide awake. It would’ve served him right if she’d jerked him out of a deep sleep. “Why exactly did you call my dad and tell him I needed him here?”
“Because you do.”
“I do? Why?”
“You need groceries, for one.”
“Seriously?” She groaned. “I make a throw-away comment about giving my training guests some munchies, and you have my dad drive all the way from Connor Springs?” Great, now she’d started with the “all the way” nonsense. It must’ve been catching. “That’s not a necessity. I’ll just tell everyone that it’s BYOSD.”
“Connor Springs is not that far. Also…wait. BYO-what-now?”