In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(84)

He burrowed his arm underneath her so he could wrap it around her. “I shouldn’t have hesitated.”

“Not your fault.”

The silence continued for so long that Daisy began to doze.

“Okay, Dais,” he said quietly, the air from his words warm against her head. “Okay.”

A sleepy smile touched her face as she closed her eyes again. He’d sounded as if he was starting to believe it.

*

“Sorry I texted my list to you so late,” Daisy said, opening the interior door to let Tyler inside. Each time she got a glimpse of the outside, it got easier. Her next plan was to have someone hold the door open while she took a step toward it, but that would wait. She wanted to savor the day, to enjoy the knowledge that she and Chris were actually dating, without dealing with a potential anxiety attack.

“That’s okay.” Holding two grocery bags in each hand, he flicked his head to the side, tossing his bangs out of his eyes. His gaze was focused on her shoulder. “You probably were up pretty late. I heard about the fire.”

Daisy reached for the bags, but he turned, holding them out of reach.

“I’m supposed to put everything away,” he said, still not meeting her eyes. “It’s part of my job.”

She studied him for a few seconds. “Okay.” Although she really didn’t want someone else putting away her groceries, since it was a good way to lose the peanut butter in a cupboard she never opened, Tyler appeared determined. Something was off about him. He seemed unhappy, and she didn’t want to make his day worse. Maybe she could turn her search for her missing groceries into a treasure hunt. It could be fun.

Leading Tyler into the kitchen, she asked over her shoulder, “Did you want a coffee?” From the distaste he’d tried to hide the last time he’d had it, she expected him to decline, but he nodded, instead.

As she started his mocha-flavored coffee, he began putting her groceries away in sullen silence.

“You okay?” she asked.

One of his shoulders lifted in a shrug.

“Trouble at school?” She didn’t know if she should pry, but the quiet was uncomfortable, especially since he’d been chatty last time. Besides, she felt bad for the kid, apparently friendless and with the sheriff for a father.

“No. It’s almost done for the year, anyway.” His mournful tone didn’t match his words. Weren’t kids supposed to be excited about summer?

“Everything okay with your dad?”

“Why?” He almost dropped the milk, barely catching it before the glass bottle hit the floor.

“Just trying to guess what’s wrong.” And succeeding, judging by his reaction. “When I was your age and something was bothering me, it was usually something at school, or my parents were driving me crazy.” Her smile slipped away. “After my mom…died, it was a different story.”

“Your mom died?” He finally met her gaze.

She nodded. “She was shot during a gas station robbery.”

“Shit! How old were you?”

Daisy wondered if she was supposed to reprimand him for swearing, but then she just shrugged it off. “Sixteen.”

With his hip propping open the refrigerator door, he focused on the egg carton he was holding. “That sucks.”

“Yeah.” The understatement almost made her laugh. “It does.”

“My mom’s crazy.” Meeting her eyes briefly, he dropped them to the eggs again. “Full-on wacko. Not, like, a little bit crazy, like you.” His head came up, and he stared at her, stricken. “I…I mean…”

Taking pity on his obvious consternation, she smiled. “I know what you mean. Don’t worry about it. I’m fully aware I’m not juggling with a full set of balls.” When she heard the words as they left her mouth, she frowned. That seemed like an inappropriate thing to say to a teenager.

Tyler didn’t appear to be offended. “She left. My mom, I mean. She used to come back once in a while, but then, one day, she was gone for good.”

“I’m sorry.” Daisy felt like a self-pitying ass. She’d had a great mom for sixteen years, and now Daisy couldn’t leave the house. This poor kid had a messed-up mother who’d left him, and Tyler seemed to function just fine. She even felt a spark of sympathy for the sheriff.

“It was better, actually, when she left.” If he squeezed the carton any harder, he was going to crush her eggs. “She could be…mean.”

Overwhelmed with pity for the kid, she took a step closer to him. She wasn’t sure if she was planning to hug him or what, but he turned around before she could do anything.

“Sorry,” he said to the interior of the fridge. “I’ll just get your groceries put away.”

“Thanks, Tyler.” She stared at his back for a moment, wishing she could do something for the poor kid. A knock drew her attention to the door, and she hurried over to push the intercom button. “Hello?”

“It’s Bill,” the familiar voice of the package delivery service answered. It was strange that Daisy knew his voice so well, but she’d never seen him. Their routine was for her to leave any shipments between the doors, but that was one more thing she’d forgotten during her discombobulated morning.

“Hey, Bill. Give me a minute, would you? I need to grab the boxes from the study.”