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With an abusive father and drug addict mother, it was no surprise the state took me away after nine years of hell. Their neglect still haunted me, and although my mother always promised to stay clean after every stint in rehab, her addiction was greater than any love she had for me. She overdosed when I was eleven.
I’d been tossed around foster homes for almost seven years until the Harris’s took me in, and when my father was finally sent to prison for a string of offenses, they asked me to stay indefinitely.
It took months for me to trust them. I couldn’t understand why they’d bring a kid like me into their perfect home. I’d already been expelled from two schools and had multiple suspensions, but they offered me an entirely clean slate.
Without them, I wouldn’t have survived into adulthood, and now, all I could do was honor their memory by being a good man. A good brother to Flynn. And to Daisy…whatever the hell she’d let me be.
After throwing on one of my nicer shirts and a pair of jeans, in preparation for my meeting with Lanie, I wandered down the hall into the open-plan living area to discover the source of the delicious aroma.
Flynn shoved a forkful of syrup-drenched pancake into his mouth while Daisy floated about the kitchen like she always did when she was secretly upset or pissed off. I’d known her long enough to see the truth behind her cheerful Martha Stewart act. She rarely cooked when she was happy. She either missed her mom or was angry at someone, and by the deafening slam of her bedroom door last night, I guessed the latter.
“I miss this,” Flynn said as he poured extra syrup over his remaining pancake.
Daisy flipped another pancake in the pan. “Well, when you move back home, I’ll cook them every Sunday, like Mom used to.”
Her chirpy demeanor made me anxious.
“Good morning, Ethan,” she uttered without turning from the stove.
I warily sat beside Flynn at the island. “Good morning.”
Flynn wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “You hungry?”
“Um, yeah, I am, actually.” My stomach rumbled as I eyed the stack of pancakes waiting by the stove.
“Good, because I’m stuffed, and Daisy’s still cooking.”
“Not anymore. This is the last one.” Daisy placed the final pancake on the tower with chef precision before picking up the plate. “Here,” she said, placing it in front of me. “I know how much you love pancakes.”
Flynn pushed off the counter and stood. “Well, I better get going. I have to meet with my lawyer this morning.” He grabbed his wallet and keys off the hallway table. “Can you guys buy supplies for the cabin today? I still have a ton of work to finish up, so I won’t have time.”
“Sure,” Daisy uttered as she washed her hands. “And I’ll bake those cookies too.”
Flynn fist-pumped the air before strutting out the front door, leaving the apartment eerily quiet.
Daisy untied her apron and threw it over the chair beside me. “Enjoy your breakfast,” she said with a fake smile before taking off down the hall. “I’m going to take a shower.”
While listening to the water running in the bathroom down the hall, I poured syrup over my stack, wistfully closed my eyes, and took my first bite.
“Fuck!” I spat the mouthful of salty mush onto the plate as my temper flared. “Daisy!”
Music suddenly blasted from the bathroom, drowning me out.
I marched toward it. “Daisy!” I yelled louder.
When she started singing along to Justin Bieber, I took it as an act of war, so in the midst of the chorus, I snuck into the steam-filled bathroom, snatched her towel, and slipped out unnoticed. The rest of the clean towels mysteriously disappeared from the hallway closet and found their way into a taped-up box.Mission accomplished.
With a bowl of cereal, I eased my feet onto the coffee table and switched on some tedious morning show as I waited for my childish act of revenge to play out.
“Ethan.”
My satisfied grin morphed into a gaped mouth as I turned her way. “What the fuck, Daisy?”
Daisy stood in the middle of the living room, completely naked, with water trailing down every delicious curve. “Where are the towels?”
I clenched my jaw as I endeavored to control my hardening crotch, hoping like fuck she didn’t look down. “I must’ve packed them.Sorry.”
With a heavy exhale, she moved to the huge windows overlooking the city and threw open the curtains. “I’ll just have to dry out in the sun, then.”
