Page 37 of Hutch (Minnesota Raptors #2)

Daisy

It’s been about a week since I broke down and asked Hutch to come over in the middle of the night because I was scared.

I’ve only seen him in person once since then as he’s been so busy, but he calls and texts constantly.

He sends me silly goofy pictures of him and Collin as well as ones of him smiling and showing off. It’s adorable really.

I’m tempted to step back and try to rebuild those walls that he seems to have busted through with a mac truck, but I remember him asking only that I don’t shut him out in return for him always being there. He makes me feel so safe. How can I not do that one thing for him in return?

Because he scares me.

Shaking my head, I dig through my t-shirts and find one of my black Halloween shirts. It’s a cute one with a cat and haunted house scene. Add in some baggy dark purple sweatpants and I’m good for the day.

Today is Halloween and my birthday. Just thinking about it is making me miss Nana and I don’t even know if my brother will be able to call me or not. He hasn’t called in three weeks and I’m starting to worry about him. I hate not knowing where he is.

At least its Friday and I decided to skip all my classes.

I don’t usually do that, but I need a mental break from class.

My head is still pretty messed up from Joe’s nonsense and me trying to convince myself letting Hutch in isn’t a bad thing.

It’s been hard to focus in class the last few days and I decided I needed a day off.

Having nothing to do might not be all that great either which is why I called the restaurant to see if there were any open shifts available for today and sadly there weren’t. It’s mine and Christa’s weekend off.

The only person who knows it’s my birthday is Hutch and today is his big meeting with the Raptors.

That’ll probably take all day. He told me his lawyer and his agent had been working all week on his contract and today is the day he’ll be presented with it.

He said they were hoping to have him sign this weekend and start practice with the team on Monday.

He was so excited when I spoke with him last night. It was as cute as could be.

I hope he has a good meeting that ends in a signed contract.

His agent required that his lawyer be there at the meeting in person so she could make any changes necessary and explain anything he had questions about.

I’m hoping it’ll either get signed today or this weekend.

He really wants to start practice on Monday.

There’s a knock on my door and my heartbeat instantly speeds up. Everyone should be in class by now. Who’s knocking on my door?

“Daisy? It’s Jenny!”

I let out the breath I was holding and jump up to go unlock the door. Like me she’s in sweats and a t-shirt with her hair up in a messy bun.

“I thought everyone was in class by now.” I stand aside and let her in.

“Me, Christa, and some of the other girls stayed home to help set up for the Halloween party. I came to see if you were up to lending a hand decorating if you’re skipping classes today too.

Decorating is really important for us since we do trick-or-treating for the kiddos until eight.

We let people start arriving for the big party by around nine or so. ”

“You do trick-or-treating? How does that work with so many frats and sororities on the block? Aren’t most of them partying?”

She laughs. “Until Dad bought this house and we all had a meeting about it. We want the community to feel welcome here this close to campus and having it kid friendly at least on Halloween is a way to do that. It helped when all the boyfriends on the sports teams put their hands up as a hey we support this so let’s all get on board. ”

“If the icons of the university agree, people will naturally fall in line.” The same holds true of high school sports as well.

“So, are you in?”

“Sure.” It’ll at least keep my mind off things. “I’m guessing you needed into the attic because all the decorations are up here?”

She nods. “I didn’t even realize you were home until Christa saw your car. Are you sick or something? I’ve never known you to miss class.”

“No, I just needed a mental health day.”

“Girl, same. We all need those every once in a while.” She turns to the corner housing all the boxed up decorations. “I still can’t believe you labeled it all and stacked it by holiday.”

“It made sense to do it.” I yawn and shove my feet into my house shoes. “Come on, let’s get started. If we’re doing trick-or-treating, then we’re doing it right. Got to give the kiddos a really scary experience.”

Once we had all the boxes unpacked and the decorations scattered over the living room, I took charge.

Halloween is my holiday and I always do it right, even when we couldn’t afford the best decorations growing up.

The outside lights I told Jenny to wait and have the guys hang outside on the porch, but Christa set up the skull lights lining the driveway.

We even conned one of the guys into sitting in a chair on the porch with a bucket of candy in his lap dressed as Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th .

Jenny comes running outside to where I’m standing contemplating how I want to string the lights a few hours later. She looks pissed.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?”

“Because I didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Well, why not? We’re your friends, aren’t we?”

“Yes.”

“Friends need to know when friends’ birthdays are. It’s sacrosanct.”

“I don’t know when your birthday is.”

“It’s on the kitchen calendar as well as every other person’s in this house. And it’s February 3rd, for your information. I expect a happy birthday and a card if not a present at the very least.”

“Of course I’ll get you something. We are friends after all.”

She glares at me. “And why would you not want us to do the same thing for you?”

“It’s not that. Just today is making me remember my Nana isn’t here and I don’t even know if my brother will be able to call. He’s overseas in the military and they only get phone calls every so often. Today made me sad and I didn’t want to think about it.”

Her expression morphs from outrage to sympathy in seconds. “I didn’t think…I’m so sorry, Daisy. If you don’t want me to mention it’s your birthday, I won’t, but Hutch told me and I guarantee he told Collin who can’t keep a secret to save his life. Half the campus will know by nightfall.”

“Great, just great,” I mutter, not looking forward to being bombarded by everyone. “Wait, Hutch told you? Is he done with his meetings?”

“No. He texted to make sure I knew in case he didn’t get back until really late.”

“I’m really nervous for him and Collin.”

“Me too. It helps they have the same agent.”

“And the same lawyer. Both are in attendance for the meeting in hopes of getting it done today so they can start practice on Monday with the team.”

“That’s even better. Now, about today…if you want to escape up to your room before people start arriving for the party, I’ll make sure none of them bother you. We’ll keep the downstairs door locked so there’s no way anyone can accidentally get up there.”

“Even if they did, my room would be locked.”

She nods. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Trying to decide where I want the lights to go before the guys get here. I think we string them up the columns and then line the railings before we add in the cobwebs to make it very haunted house like. Do you have a fog machine to make it spooky for the kids?”

“Um…I don’t think so. I’ll text Dylan to find one, though. He’ll know where to look.”

“What do you think so far?” I sweep my hand around the porch and front yard. It looks like a graveyard. The inside is still a work in progress, but I chose to do the outside to not have to chit chat with everyone all day.

“It’s amazing. We’ve never done anything except hang a few things and string some lights. I can see why you want a fog machine.”

“As soon as I’m done, I’ll come inside and…”

“No, we’ve almost got that done. If you want, you can help me make some things for the party tonight. I was going to attempt do some kind of baking.”

“I can do that. Do we have everything we need?”

“Um…not sure?”

“Let’s go on in and we’ll see what we need.”

“Are you done out here?”

“Yeah, pretty much. All that’s left is the lights and the guys can do that. I tend to obsess over my decorations and change very little anyway. I can obsess in the kitchen instead.”

“Did anyone go to the store for the baking supplies?” Jenny yells out when she enters the house.

“I did!” I forget the girl’s name. I’ve only met her once in passing.

“Did you get enough, though?”

“Maybe?” She shrugs and goes back to carving her pumpkin.

Jenny shakes her head and starts poking through the pantry. She sighs heavily. “One bag of flour does not equal enough, Lisa!”

“You just said to get stuff for baking. I got stuff for baking.”

“Let me see.” I gently brush Jenny aside and look through the pantry, the cabinets and the fridge. “How many people are you having over?”

“From the time we open the doors until we kick everyone out…it could be a couple of hundred.”

“I need a pen, paper, and we are going to need several hundred dollars.”

“You hear that? I want a fifty from everyone!”

“I don’t have fifty,” Mary, the girl from the basement says. “I can do twenty. That still leaves me enough for gas to get to work this week.”

“That’s fine, Mary.” Jenny smiles gently at her. “The rest of you, I want money!’

While Jenny hassles everyone for money, I start making a list. This will keep me busy the rest of the afternoon and then I’m handing out candy. After that, I’m upstairs in the quiet of my room.

Today might not be so bad after all.