****
The following night
“I’m nervous. Is this normal?”
“Totally normal.” Tabitha ran the brush down Daisy’s hair as Lacey came in with some mascara.
Daisy wrinkled her nose. “No, Mom.”
“They’ll make your eyes pop.”
“I think I’ll be happy with them staying firmly in my head.”
They all paused as the doorbell rang. “Holy crap, that’s him. What do I do?”
“Don’t worry, your dad will open the door,” Lacey said.
“No, he’ll give him the talk, won’t he? The one he used when Sally started dating.”
“And she’s now happily married and has a couple of kids.” Lacey cupped her cheek, smiling. “Your father’s a matchmaker. You should be so happy.”
“Why?”
“You and Anthony could be walking down the aisle in next to no time.” Lacey kissed her cheek and left the room while Daisy turned wide eyes toward her.
“How the hell does one date become married? I don’t know if I want to marry him.”
“Don’t worry about it. You think Lacey doesn’t have a job to do? Her daughter is going out on a date and she’s nervous.”
“We’re not going to do anything.”
“I know that.” She didn’t. She knew a lot about Anthony but not necessarily all the good parts.
“Daisy, your date is here,” Whizz said.
“I can’t do this.”
“You can.”
“Why did I ask him out on a date?”
“I don’t know. You wanted to?”
Daisy pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”
“Breathe. It’s a date. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“You’re going to be here when I get back?”
“Count on it.”
“Good. Okay. Good.” Daisy looked toward the door and whimpered. “I guess we better get this show on the road.”
Tabitha giggled and followed her friend downstairs to where Anthony stood by the door, waiting. Whizz was there, arms folded, all of his ink on display. She tried to contain her amusement.
“Before midnight, clear?” Whizz said.
“Clear.”
“Good. No funny business.”
“Dad, you know him. Stop.”
“And if you so much as touch her, I will break every single bone in your body.”
“Dad, please stop.”
“Have fun,” Tabitha said.
Anthony actually smiled at Daisy. A real, lips lifted, showing teeth and not in a crazy serial killer way, smile.
She watched her friend tense up and then slowly relax.
They left after Daisy kissed her dad’s cheek.
“She’s all grown up. Why do they have to be so grown up?” Lacey hugged tight to Whizz’s side. “I remember when I was enough of a date for Daisy and she’d just color and we’d eat meatballs and spaghetti.”
“Do you mean you ordered them in?”
“Stop it,” Lacey said.
“You want to come down?” Whizz asked, looking up at her.
“Nah, I’m going to go and study. Is that okay?”
“It’s not a problem at all. We’re down here if you need us.”
Tabitha nodded and turned on her heel, heading back up into the bedroom. She didn’t close the door. Pulling out her cell phone, she used the video app on her phone to call Simon.
“Hey,” he said.
“Are you outside?” Tabitha asked, hearing the wind.
“Yep. I decided I needed to freeze my butt off. What about you?”
“I’m in Daisy’s room. They went on their first official date today and get this, Anthony smiled.”
“Get the fuck out. You’re lying.”
“Am not. It was an honest-to-god smile.”
“Creepy?”
“No. I did wonder if he’d been practicing in the mirror.”
“We’re mean, aren’t we?”
“The worst. So how are you?”
“You know, the same. Missing you.”
“Your mom was getting some tests, right?
“They’re going to do some more tests. She needs more chemo as well, just to be on the safe side. It sucks. It’s draining her a lot more now.”
“I’m sorry.”
“How are things back there for you?” he asked.
“Odd. It’s strange but good. I like being home.” She nibbled on her lip.
“I get it,” he said.
“You do?”
“Yeah.”
Silence.
Tabitha licked her lips. “I do miss you as well.”
“I know. Look, I’ve got to go. Dad’s calling me.” She heard his name being shouted in the distance.
“Okay, well, I’ll be here if you need me. Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t. Love you.”
He’d already hung up by the time she went to say bye. Pressing her lips together, she turned the app off and leaned back against the bed. This was hard. Guilt filled her as she did love being home, but there was a giant hole.
Simon would never come to live here, not for any reason.
She reached for the necklace she always wore. This has been a gift from Simon so long ago. It meant a great deal to her.
“I got you something,” Simon said.
She giggled at the same time she squeezed out her hair. “You don’t have to get me anything, Simon. I’m fine.” She pulled out the band keeping her other bunch of hair up, and then gave that a squeeze. The kids had totally lost this time with the water fight, but that was fine. They’d win one soon. No one beat The Skulls’ kids. That was what they were. She glanced across the play area and saw Anthony brushing out Daisy’s hair. Her best friend was trying to reach for the brush, but Anthony kept it out of reach.