Page 20 of Twister

Marshall

The misting rain had turned back into drizzling rain while Daniel and I had talked, heavy enough to send Rose and Bucky running for the shed with the broken gutter.

By the time Daniel and I had finished cleaning up, the rain had eased again, and Rose had ventured tentatively out through the wide-open barn door, ready to dart back in if the heavens opened again.

While large water droplets dripped from the eaves, I stood at the window with a hot cup of coffee, watching her play fetch with Bucky, thinking about what both she and Daniel had said.

“The town tends to collect the lost and the lonely. You’re not lonely. Not like Daddy. But you are lost. Aren’t you?”

Was I lost? I didn’t think I knew the answer to that question, but maybe that was part of the problem.

Rose hadn’t thought I was lonely, but I was. Maybe not like her dad, but in my own way? Absolutely.

I’d been so busy with college and being chapter president that it hadn’t left much time for nurturing personal connections.

Sure, I’d played the field while I was there, what with all the parties my frat brothers had thrown, but they were just hookups.

None of them had developed into anything other than scratching the occasional metaphorical itch.

And now that I’d finished studying, I felt like I was floundering.

All my friends were either still studying or starting their own exciting lives, full of enthusiasm and excitement for the future that awaited each of them.

I should be excited, too, right? The world was mine for the taking, just like everyone else who had graduated with me.

All I had to do was reach out and snatch it.

So why wasn’t I as enthusiastic as they were?

The intention had always been for me to head back after graduating to work for my parents’ accounting firm. I was good with numbers and had aced all my classes. All my professors loved me.

But like I’d told Daniel yesterday, I’d been bored with the numbers. So terribly, horribly bored, and that had ended up turning into hatred for anything to do with finance. There had been random sparks of interest when I’d been studying my business major, but the rest of it….

Looking after the frat and my frat brothers was where I’d found my passion.

I’d never known from one day to the next what to expect.

Sure, there were the usual weekly and monthly tasks that needed to be taken care of, but every day was different.

Most of the time I felt like I was taking care of a bunch of alcoholic three-year-olds, which was precisely where the excitement came from.

Sitting in a cubicle and staring at a screen for the next several decades until I retired simply didn’t compare to that feeling of excitement that constant unpredictability gave me when I was chapter president.

The more I thought about it, the more I had to concede that the very thought of working in an office, any office, filled me with utter dread.

Had I wasted four years of my life? I didn’t think so. At least, not when it came to my frat. But my studies…? That was harder to argue against.

Why hadn’t I pushed back harder against my family’s insistence at me studying finance?

And then along comes Rose, asking me if I was lost. A twelve-year-old with a tragic upbringing that had forced her to grow up too quickly. She’d known me for less than three days and yet seemed to recognize more about me than I knew about myself. How was that even possible?

She wanted me to stick around. For her dad, she’d said, even though she’d heavily implied that it was what I needed too. Was she right?

Maybe.

Maybe she was right about me being lost.

Maybe staying in Rockdale a little longer would let me work out what to do, give me a sense of direction that I clearly needed. If I continued my way back home, I’d never have the space or the time to properly let me think things through.

Maybe the twister that had stranded me in Rockdale had been a blessing in disguise.

I sucked my bottom lip, then took another sip from my cup, the delicious aroma tickling my nose and making me hum.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

I smiled and held my cup to my sternum before I turned around and found Daniel standing behind me, a soft look on his face. “Honestly, I don’t think they’re worth a penny.”

“That can’t be true.” He reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear, his fingertips lingering against my temple.

Humming noncommittally, I felt myself lean into his palm before I realized what I was doing and straightened.

Bringing the cup to my lips, I took another sip and watched Daniel’s eyes flick down to my lips when I lowered the cup.

Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to tease him a little, I licked my lips and was gratified when I saw his pupils dilate.

Coughing to clear his throat, he focused his attention over my shoulder. “I’m going to get her that kitten.”

Raising an eyebrow at his words, I smirked as I took another sip and turned around to watch his daughter too. When he stepped forward to stand next to me, I nudged my shoulder with his. “I thought ‘no was a complete sentence’?”

Chuckling, he shook his head as he tilted his face down to stare guiltily at the floor in front of us, his hands firmly in his pockets as he nervously bounced on the balls of his feet. “I changed my mind.”

“How come?”

He shrugged, looking remarkably like a guilty teenager caught out. After dealing with so many at the frat, I was used to the tense shoulders and the slight blush on cheeks.

The poor thing was embarrassed.

I lifted the cup to my lips again to hide the smile threatening to appear.

How adorable.

Just when I was convinced that he wouldn’t respond, he shrugged again and sighed.

“It was something Rose said when she was talking to you.” Slowly he raised his eyes to glance at me before looking outside again.

“She was right when she said I was lonely. I’ve been trying to hide it from her, but she’s perceptive.

” He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. “Sometimes too damn perceptive.”

“Yeah, I kind of picked up on that,” I said under my breath before I took another swig, reminding myself that he didn’t need to be burdened with what was currently occupying my thoughts.

One existential crisis at a time was plenty, thanks.

“And you think bringing home the kitten will be the answer to your loneliness?”

A small pang of something prickled at my heart. It felt like jealousy, but that didn’t seem right. Why the hell would I be jealous of a tiny cat?

He nodded outside toward Rose and Bucky, still playing fetch. “She has Bucky. I originally bought him to be a companion for her, but he’s become more of a therapy dog for her over the years. Nothing else seems to calm her as quickly as he does.”

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t argue, because I didn’t quite agree with him on that.

I’d seen how Daniel himself had calmed her in the gas station’s storm shelter.

Did he not see how he helped her? Sure, Bucky was her constant companion and seemed to help calm her more subtle emotional shifts, but for anything truly harrowing, it was her dad who helped her the most. How could he not see that?

“I’d like to feel that sort of comfort again,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. “To have something warm and living lean against me on the cold nights. Just for me.” He shrugged like what he was admitting wasn’t a big deal. “I’ve missed that.”

Longing swept through me as that out-of-place feeling of jealousy grew larger in my chest. We’d had that last night, and I couldn’t deny that the warmth and contentment I’d felt then was something I wouldn’t mind chasing in the future.

Was he right? Would adopting a kitten provide that?

You could be that for him, a little voice inside me whispered as I took another sip. All you need to do is stay. Permanently.

I choked on my coffee, then coughed as the thought reverberated in my brain. Daniel snapped a wide-eyed and worried look my way until I waved him off, still coughing to clear my throat. Was the answer to my stubborn melancholy standing right in front of me? Could it really be that easy?

My mind raced as it explored different options. Staying here in Rockdale would mean I’d have to find a job. What could I do? What did I want to do? Nothing in an office, that was for damn sure.

I’d also have to find a place to live, although I had a sneaking suspicion Rose would try to convince Daniel to let me live here with them. While I wasn’t opposed to that idea, how much would that impact any relationship I might end up having with Daniel?

Would he even want me living here?

Would he even want me?

The only way I’d know for sure was to talk to him and find out what he thought.

As much as he’d talked earlier about not minding me staying longer, presumably that was only about me staying a few more days.

He hadn’t said anything about me moving permanently to Rockdale or even taking things further than a single frotting session.

Hell, he might be looking forward to seeing the back of me.

I had to talk all of this out with him. It was the only way I was going to get answers to at least some of my questions.

I coughed one final time to clear my throat before I said, “Daniel—” only to be interrupted by Rose and Bucky coming back inside. Bucky stopped right in front of me and Daniel before he shook out every bit of moisture he’d collected whilst outside and coated us with it.