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“Worse.” Daniel stepped onto the landing, his shoulders slumped, his head dipped in defeat. “Lyssa won’t take my calls. So I tailgated someone coming in the building to get past the locked entry.” He held up a small stuffed animal, a dog. “I came to bring her this.”
“Like she’s a little girl you can mollify with a toy?” Cal asked in utter incredulity. Had the man learned nothing?
“Not because I still think she’s a little girl. Because it’ll help me explain.” He held up the toy, his expression almost sheepish. “There’s a story.”
Cal had intended to tell his own story. But now he needed to hear Daniel’s. “I’m listening.”
Daniel huffed out a sigh. Clearly, he didn’t want to tell Cal. But just as clearly, he seemed to realize that if he didn’t talk now, on the landing between two floors, the two of them might never talk again.
“It’s not just a stuffed animal. When Lyssa was about six, she wanted a puppy. But of course the apartment was way too small, and we didn’t have any money to feed it or take it to the vet. So all of us—me, Will, Matt, Evan, Sebastian—each went in search of stuffed animals, something to make her feel better. And we all came back with something different.” With his face so wrecked, his smile was hard to recognize, but his voice had gone soft with memory. “Will got her this ridiculously huge Saint Bernard she could actually sit on like a horse. Sebastian found a stuffed dog with a missing eye. Matt came back with three he’d won at an arcade. Never challenge that guy to an arcade game. Evan brought some cute stuffed toy that he managed to get for a huge discount at a fancy store. And I hit the thrift shops up in Wicker Park, where the rich kids gave away stuff they’d never even used.”
It was such a Maverick thing to do. They’d only ever wanted Lyssa to be happy.
“That’s how we took care of her. We found ways to make sure she never had to face the big bad world. We didn’t want her to realize the apartment was a dump, albeit one Mom kept spotless. We always wanted her to feel safe and protected, even if we were dirt poor.”
“That’s where it all started, when you were kids.” Cal got where his friend was coming from, finally. “When Lyssa needed to be taken care of, you were all there for her, her loving big brothers, making sure nothing bad happened to her. Believe me, I applaud that.” He paused for a beat. “But you have to understand that she doesn’t need you to protect her now. She’s a grown woman. She’s brilliant and funny and caring and wonderful, and she’s completely capable of taking care not only of herself but also her child. She’s the most capable woman I know.” He smiled. “Other than your mother.”
“Yeah,” Daniel said with a nod, “she’s so much like Mom. I was wrong not to see that. I was wrong to lash out at you.” He hung his head. “I have no excuses. And honestly, I’m not sure Tasha’s ever going to forgive me.”
“Of course she will.”
Daniel shook his head. “If you heard the way she tore a strip off me Saturday, you wouldn’t be so sure. And she was right—even if I hated your guts in the moment, I shouldn’t have attacked you the way I did.”
“I had no right to beat you up either,” Cal said. “Especially in front of the kids.”
“You were defending yourself. I was the one who lost control. It was my fault.”
“It wasn’t. Not entirely.” Now Cal had his own explaining to do. “You were blindsided by something you never dreamed would happen. But I need you to know that I love your sister with everything in me. I’ll be there for her in every way she needs me. And I already love this baby more than I can express. I’m going to be a good father.” He believed that now. And he’d learned it from his own father, who’d been a great dad, until that one huge mistake.
Cal stopped short of saying he’d be the best husband. That was Lyssa’s news to share with her brother.
Daniel was silent for a long moment. “I know you will be.” Then he cracked a smile with that broken lip. “Or I’ll have to beat the crap out of you again.”
Cal saw the joke in it, happy to see Daniel had finally accepted that his sister wasn’t a little girl anymore.
“I’m glad Lyssa found a man who loves, respects, and values her. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for her. You understand her in a way I never allowed myself to. But I do now.” Daniel held out the stuffed dog. “I brought her this today as an apology, because she wouldn’t take my calls.” He flicked something tied to its collar, a bit of paper Cal hadn’t noticed. “It’s a note telling her I know how badly I screwed up. That I’m sorry, and I hope she can forgive me. Maybe she’ll talk to me again someday.” He held it up to Cal. “Would you give it to her for me?”
