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Daisy regarded me skeptically before bobbing her head decisively, “It’s okay, if Uncle Kane comes there’ll be five guests at the party and five is my most favorite number right now.”
After saying goodbye to her father, Winnie buckled Daisy into her seat in the back of my truck and we took off. It was one of those rare perfect days in South Texas where the sun was shining and the humidity was low. We drove with the windows down and Winnie and Daisy sang along to some pop country song I had never heard. Winnie was a terrible singer but I loved every off-key note that came out of her mouth.
The falls was such a popular destination that a parking lot had been built years ago for people that wanted to visit. Trails and information signs were kept up by the boy scout troop and the local garden club.
A large sign stood at the entrance of the trails that led in multiple directions with different levels of difficulty marked on it. After I gathered Winnie’s picnic basket and Daisy’s little backpack, we took off on one of the junior trails that would be easier and safer for her.
Daisy chatted about how Toby, a boy in her class, had bragged about swimming in the water at the base of the falls all by himself. There were small placards every so often that gave the name of a tree or plant along the trail and Winnie made sure to stop at each one to read them to Daisy and engage her further by asking questions.
They were so caught up in each other, there were times where I doubted if they even remembered I trailed behind them. I didn’t mind, though, by observing them it was clear that Daisy adored her aunt just as much as I did.
The sounds of rushing water began to reach us just as the trail opened up to reveal the small waterfall our town was named for. Clear water pooled at the bottom of the rocky outcropping and I could see a few other hikers climbing up to get the view from the top.
Winnie found a level patch of grass and was spreading out the old quilt we had brought with us. I walked over, setting down the basket and bags. Daisy immediately dumped her backpack over, pulling out her stuffed animals and arranging them on different corners of the blanket.
“All right, munchkin, how do we get this party started?”
“First we have to pass out all the cups,” she gathered the plastic teacups Winnie had brought and gave us each one before putting one in front of her toys. “Then we fill them up, but that’s Aunt Winnie’s part.” Winnie poured some lemonade into each cup and then passed out matching plates filled with fruit and snacks.
“Now you drink your tea, Uncle Kane.” I lifted the tiny cup to my lips, it looked absolutely ridiculous in my man/bear hands. “Wait!” she screamed. I startled, looking around for threats. “You have to put your pinky up,” Daisy scolded me as Winnie tried to hide her laughter behind her hand. I extended my pinky and drank the tiny amount of liquid like Daisy commanded. She reminded me a lot of Gray in that moment, barking out orders in the office. After we finished off the snacks, Daisy asked if she could go play on her own.
“Stay close, sweet potato, I want to be able to see you at all times,” Winnie instructed her. She leaned back on her hands on the blanket as we watched Daisy skip around collecting tiny rocks and leaves and putting them into her pockets.
“Why sweet potato?” I asked, winding one of her curls around my finger.
She giggled and rolled her eyes toward me, “When we finally tracked down Kim and I got my first look at Daisy, she had this reddish blonde fuzz on her head. And lord she was hollering up a storm, her face was a bright red she was so mad. I told my parents that I thought she looked like a little sweet potato and it just kind of stuck.”
We sat in silence for a while, the sounds of the rushing water making a serene backdrop. “It’s weird, you know?” she said, capturing my focus.
“Hmm, what’s that?”
“How normal this all feels. You being here with us. For five years I’ve been doing things like this with Daisy. Tea parties, shopping, princess movie marathons, basically anything extra girly her little heart could dream of. I know how demanding it is on Gray, raising a little girl on his own and he’s so good with her, but I could tell there were certain aspects of being a girl dad that were challenging for him to understand. These outings became our special time, I’ve never brought anyone with us. I thought I might be jealous today, sharing her with you, but I’m not. It feels like you should have been with us all along.” Winnie smiled at me and my fucking heart broke open.
“Winnie, I—” Daisy’s scream cut me off. We both leapt to our feet and I bolted for the tree line where the sound came from. I could hear tiny sobs as I rounded a tree stump and found Daisy sitting on the ground holding her arm against her chest. I fell to my knees next to her, looking for other injuries.
“Daisy, baby, what happened? Are you hurt?” Winnie frantically asked, her eyes doing the same sweep mine had. “Is it your arm?”
“I saw a lizard and I was chasing it and…and…” she sniffed. “I tripped and it hurts bad,” she sobbed. I reached for her arm, wanting to inspect it but she clutched it tighter to her.
“Can I look at your arm, sweetheart? I promise I won’t touch anything that hurts but I need to see how bad it is, okay?” I gently reached my hands toward her. Daisy nodded, big tears running down her face. I softly lifted her elbow with one hand as I supported her small wrist in my other. It was already bruised and swollen, shit, it looked broken. But I didn’t have x-ray vision and the only way we would know for sure was to get her to a doctor.
My eyes met Winnie’s and her face paled, coming to the same conclusion. “All right, short stuff, I think we need to get you to the hospital for a checkup,” I told her calmly, not wanting to scare her. “Can I pick you up and carry you back to the truck?” Daisy nodded her head again and I scooped her up into my arms. Christ, she was so little, I held her tightly to my chest and made sure her arm was cradled to her so I wouldn’t bounce it around too much.
I started to leave before looking back at Winnie conflicted. “Go,” she urged. “I’ll grab the bags and meet you at the truck.” I turned and swiftly made my way to the trail we had come from, not wanting to move too fast for fear of hurting her further but the urgency to get Daisy help pushed me forward.
My long strides got us to the parking lot quickly and I buckled her in her seat. Grabbing a sweatshirt off the floor, I rolled it up and carefully lifted Daisy’s arm before elevating it with the bundle.
“You’re being so brave, Daisy. I’m proud of you, kiddo.” I wiped some of the tears from her cheeks.
“I want Daddy,” she hiccuped just as Winnie came sprinting off the trail. She threw all the bags into the back of the truck before jumping into the seat next to Daisy. Going to the front and starting up the truck, I hauled ass out of there, wanting Gray to be here just as desperately as his daughter did.
19
Winnie
Istroked Daisy’s hair, the rhythmic sounds of her breathing helping to calm me. The bright pink cast on her arm laid across my lap as she slept.
Broken. Daisy had broken her wrist. While I was in charge of her safety, I had let my niece get hurt so badly that she needed to wear a cast for at least six weeks. How could I have let this happen to her? The sounds of her screaming in pain replayed over and over in my head.
