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“Look, Dad,” she answered. “My mind’s made up—”
Her face fell as she listened. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
She hung up and stood. “Change of plans. Take me to the airport.”
Without hesitation, he started packing up his laptop. “What happened?”
“My uncle’s had a heart attack and is in the hospital,” she said, throwing clothes helter-skelter into her small suitcase. “My family’s headed there now. What’s the fastest way to Charlotte?”
“Flight out of D.C.,” he said. “You can book tickets while I drive.”
In under ten minutes, they were packed and checked out of the hotel. He raced to the airport, where they turned in the rental car, paid a penalty for not returning it to where they said they would, and blew through security.
Once on the plane and buckled up, she texted her dad and switched off her phone. “The last update was that they’d taken him into surgery. Everyone’s flying over there now except Jack and Lucy. They were visiting Jack’s parents in Raleigh and will drive to Charlotte from there. Hopefully, there’ll be good news by the time we land.”
The flight was quick but grim. Daisy was unusually silent and impatient. Once they landed, they grabbed a cab and went straight to the hospital.
Daisy gave her name at the check-in desk, and they were escorted to a small private waiting room on the ICU floor. The nurse opened the door, and despair leaked out. Edward stood and shook his head. Daisy ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”
Slowly, the story came out. Pete had a heart attack at work. They’d rushed him to the hospital and into surgery but were unable to save him. The announcement of his death had preceded Noah and Daisy’s arrival by only a few minutes. Emotions were still raw. A teenage girl sobbed uncontrollably. “What am I going to do?” she wailed.
Daisy whispered to explain. “That’s Pete’s daughter, Bella. Her mother passed away several years ago.”
“Oh, honey,” Sophie said, wrapping her arm around Bella. “It’ll be okay. We’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
They were a mass of arms and tears. Hugging and crying and consoling each other. Noah hung back to let them grieve.
He’d met Sophie and Audrey the first day of the road trip. And between what the old guys at the coffee shop had told him and Daisy’s synopsis of her sisters, he quickly deduced who was who in the rest of the family. Adam and Kate would be the two huddled around a tiny newborn. Lucy was easy to spot with the eight-month pregnancy belly, so the man next to her must be Jack. That left Dirk and Emma as the last couple. And Lizzie he remembered, because she was the only one with dark hair.
Once the initial shock wore off, they started to talk. It was quietly decided they would each take a turn seeing Pete to say goodbye, and then they would head to Pete’s house.
Daisy and Lizzie escorted Bella and went first. Edward and Sophie took Audrey next. While they were gone, Noah introduced himself and asked if it would be helpful to call some taxis and arrange for food to be delivered to the house. It was the only useful thing he could think of.
Kate gave him Pete’s address and thanked him. He retreated to the hallway to make the arrangements.
Daisy returned from her uncle’s room, wiping her eyes and sniffing. Noah slipped his phone into his pocket. She came easily into his open arms, and he held her as she cried.
Later that night, after the Parkers had gone to bed, Adam, Dirk, Jack, and Noah stood in the kitchen drinking beer.
“What’s gonna happen with Bella?” Dirk asked.
“Edward and Sophie are willing to take her in,” Adam said. “They’ll talk to her about it and see if she’d like that.”
“She’s welcome to live with us,” Jack said.
“Us too,” Dirk said.
“We’ve offered as well,” Adam said. “She won’t be homeless. That’s for sure.”
They all took a swig as the conversation stalled. It was always hard to find things to say when someone died unexpectedly. Especially someone you didn’t really know. Or, in Noah’s case, had never even met.
“So, Noah,” Jack said, breaking the silence. “How’re things going with Daisy? Heard you got shot? Any idea who did it?”
“Just grazed,” Noah said. “And, not great. Local PD got nothing from the fair witnesses. The guy from the fix-it shop—the one who told the shooter we’d gone to the fair—is the only person who saw him, and his only description was male with brown hair.” He rolled his eyes.
“Not too helpful,” Dirk said.
“No,” Noah said. “I checked out all her competitors, and according to the times and locations of the videos they posted that night, they all have alibis. One was doing a live feed at the time, two live in Europe, one in Japan, and the rest are from the West Coast. I don’t know who else would have motive.”
