Page 40 of Twister

Daniel

“I want to see the house.”

Today seemed to be full of surprises, and they all seemed to be springing from Marshall.

Was this how my future was going to unfold? I found myself excited to find out.

“Are you sure?” I felt like this was the millionth time I’d asked him the same question, and maybe, just maybe, he agreed with me if the dirty look he sent my way from the passenger seat of the rental was any indication.

I’d been told that my truck had ended up a mile away from where I usually parked it, now wrapped around a huge but shredded tree, so I’d picked up a rental right after buying a new phone and some clothes to tide us all over for the next couple of days.

I’d called Jackson to ask what groceries I should get on our way to his place, and he’d told me not to worry, that he’d duck out and grab some for all of us while we drove over.

I owed him so much for how he’d dropped everything to help us. After our divorce, I’d been so angry at him for how he’d treated me and Rose, and then even more once he’d started seeing Brett. But now… seeing him as a shadow of his former self? It was high time for me to move past those feelings.

We both deserved better.

It was time to heal, and I figured Marshall had a lot to do with that. I didn’t know what I’d do if he ever decided to leave Rockdale.

“You and Rose have both seen it,” he grumbled. “I feel like it’s only fair that I get to see the aftermath as well.”

“You realize we both only saw it on our way out of the shelter? Neither of us have been back since.”

He grunted and turned away from me so he could look out the window at the chaos that we were only just starting to come across on our way to Jackson’s to drop Rose off.

A shiver ran down my spine. What would he think when he saw the ruins? Henry had FaceTimed me from the house when Marshall had been busy getting discharged, and it honestly looked like he was wandering around the remains of a warzone.

Henry and Blue, along with my parents, had flown in last night on a private jet that belonged to Roman Eckersley, the billionaire who owned the company both Henry and Blue worked for. I’d heard that they were all good friends, but I hadn’t seen any evidence of that until now.

Roman’s personal assistant had also apparently organized temporary accommodations in a neighboring town to Rockdale for them all, so they were near enough to help but not be underfoot of all the Rockdale residents who were now scrambling to find emergency accommodations of their own in town.

A predicament Marshall and I were going to have to undertake ourselves before too long. Jackson had sworn that we were welcome for as long as we needed, but neither Marshall nor I had any intention of lingering if we had any other choice.

My two younger brothers hadn’t been able to make it.

James and his wife had their two children to worry about, and they reasoned it was safer for everyone if they didn’t subject anyone to their unruly kids’ antics, which was more than fair considering what little hellcats the kids were.

Michael, on the other hand, had been in Toronto attending an international waste management conference for work and hadn’t been able to get away.

He promised that he’d head our way as soon as he could.

Marshall’s parents had arrived at the hospital just as he was being wheeled out.

They’d fussed and fawned over him until he told them firmly to quit their worrying.

His mom rolled her eyes and let him go before turning her attention on Rose, greeting her like the long-lost granddaughter she’d claimed Rose as only days prior over the phone.

Marshall hadn’t been able to hide the small, secret smile on his face that had appeared when his parents had both hugged him together, and it grew when he watched them with Rose. As much as he griped about their overbearing care, he was thrilled that they showed their love so easily.

We hadn’t heard a word from his brother, Anderson, at all.

Marshall had tried to wave it off, but I could see that his brother’s obvious disinterest hurt him deeply. I could see that their parents were disappointed with Anderson’s decision to stay away, but they sadly hadn’t looked surprised.

It was something I was going to need to monitor closely. Anderson had the ability to crush Marshall, whether he knew it or not. He was going to need to pull his head all the way out of his ass before I’d forgive him for how he’d treated Marshall just this past week alone.

I looked in the rearview mirror at Rose, who looked like she was going to vomit at the sight of all the debris on the roads. It was obvious she didn’t want to be anywhere near our house.

I was going to need to book some therapy appointments for her. We’d barely talked about what had happened, and she’d changed the subject entirely when I’d asked her about the few minutes when both Marshall and I had been unconscious at the same time.

In the interim, I needed to get her back to Bucky and Lucy as quickly as I could. Jackson had offered to take her back to his place when he left last night, but she hadn’t wanted to leave either me or Marshall until Marshall had woken up.

Now, though? Now, she needed her emotional support animals more than anything else.

“Won’t be long, Rosey,” I said, watching her until she met my eyes in the mirror.

She swallowed hard and nodded before looking down at her fidgeting fingers in her lap, purposefully ignoring anything outside the safety of our vehicle.

It took longer than I’d wanted to get to Jackson’s house given how many roads had been closed.

Our house hadn’t been the only one flattened, although the destruction seemed to vary from place to place.

At one point, we passed three houses, with the first and third scarcely remaining standing.

The second, the one in the middle, barely looked touched at all.

Mother Nature was, apparently, a vindictive and cruel mistress.

I’d barely pulled into the driveway when Rose was jumping out and making a beeline for Jackson’s front door, the new key Jackson had given her yesterday already in her hand and ready to be used.

“Looks like Jackson’s still out,” I said, noting the empty carport as I turned the engine off.

“Mm,” Marshall hummed, unclipping his seat belt. “It hasn’t been that long since you called him. Did he say what he was getting?”

I shrugged, not too worried. “Just groceries.” I climbed out, then rummaged in the back to get our bags. “He’s probably on his way back.”

“Probably.”

We wandered inside to find Rose curled up on the sofa with both Bucky and Lucy either in her lap or snuggled up next to her. The TV remote was in her hand, and she was flicking through the channels so fast, I wondered how she had enough time to determine if there was anything worth watching.

“Pappy Jacky’s been busy,” she sang, even though she kept her attention on the TV. “Check out the study.”

With my curiosity piqued, I dumped our bags behind the sofa and led Marshall to the right where Rose’s room and the study were along with the bathroom and laundry. The master bedroom was to the left of the house, behind the carport, with all the communal areas in the middle.

It was cozy, but I couldn’t say it wasn’t well laid out.

“Oh…,” I breathed when I noticed the large bed in what had been the study. His desk had been dismantled to make space and was now leaning up against the wall. “I didn’t expect this….”

I trailed off as I felt Marshall’s hand press warmly against my lower back.

“He still cares about you,” he said quietly. “You didn’t know that, did you?”

Blinking in shock, I shook my head slowly before I turned to look at him and saw a soft smile on his face.

“I was expecting an air mattress shoved in the corner. Not this.” I let my eyes roam around the room.

It was sparse, but it was obvious that Jackson had put a lot of time and effort into transforming it from a dedicated study to a bedroom. “Never this….”

Marshall hugged me from behind and leaned his forehead against my back. “Just as long as he doesn’t expect me to give you up. I’m not willing to share.”

Smiling, I squeezed his hands. “I know, and I love that about you.”

I heard a small gasp before I felt him pull away and swing me around. “Daniel, are you finally admitting that you love me?”

I laughed before my palms cupped his cheeks, and I leaned forward enough to kiss him. “Yes, baby. I love you.”

He melted into my embrace for a moment before he pulled back with a sigh. “Can we please go see our house?” He grimaced. “Or what’s left of it?”

I kissed his nose before I chewed my bottom lip.

“Let me talk to Rose first. I can’t imagine Jackson will be too much longer, but I don’t know about leaving her here on her own.

” I looked past him to where she still sat on the sofa and lowered my voice so she wouldn’t hear me.

“She hasn’t said anything, but I can tell she doesn’t want to see the house.

I think it’s going to take her some time to get through what happened. ”

Nodding once, he smiled and patted me on the cheek knowingly.

“And that’s okay. She’s strong. She’s gone through some remarkably tough things before, and she’s still smiling.

I know she’ll get through this, too, however long it takes.

” Then he raised an eyebrow and smirked at me.

“And I look forward to seeing how she’ll react to you telling her that she can’t look after herself for what would likely be half an hour at most.”

I grimaced. Yeah, he had a good point. I looked over at Rose, who was watching us closely with a huge grin on her face.

“I’ll be fine, Daddy Danny,” she sang as she wriggled in her seat, dislodging Bucky’s head from her knee. He grumbled a little before settling down again, this time against her thigh instead of on top of it. “And you should know that sound travels really easily in this house.”

“Is that right?” I asked her dryly, glancing at Marshall, who was trying hard to smother his grin.

“I’m twelve , Daddy,” she sassed. “Puppy Bucky and Goofy Lucy will keep me company, and I promise I won’t leave the house or answer the door.

And just like Sparkle Marshall said, Pappy Jacky will be back in like half an hour.

” She gave me a flat stare. “Are you going to tell me that I can’t be on my own for half an hour ? ”

I blinked at her, then at Marshall, who only shrugged in response. “You’re no fucking help,” I muttered under my breath.

He grinned cheekily. “I live to serve.”

“Hm,” I grumbled before I refocused on Rose. “No cooking anything, you hear me?”

Her jaw dropped in mock outrage. “It’s like you don’t even trust me.”

My lips thinned as I kept her eye contact. “I seem to recall there was a time in the not too distant past where I let you cook pancakes, and you set fire to the kitchen.”

She gasped and looked at Marshall for support.

“Don’t look at me, Rosey. I was there. I saw the flames.”

She gasped louder and fluttered her hand at her chest. “There were no flames! And if there were, you weren’t there to see them!”

“Licking at the ceiling, they were so high.”

“There were not!” She pouted, then crossed her arms before admitting in a quieter tone, “The fire blanket stopped that from happening.”

Even though I was grinning at the animated banter between the two loves of my life, I raised an eyebrow at her and pointed at her.

“No cooking. No baking. No use of the oven or stove in any way until Jackson gets back. If you’re hungry before he gets home, you’re to do nothing more in the kitchen other than buttering a slice of bread. ”

“ Fine ,” she said, drawing the word out as she rolled her eyes. “You’re no fun.”

“And clean up any mess you make,” Marshall said deliberately. “Let’s not piss off your Pappy, okay?”

I nodded and thumbed at Marshall. “What he said.”

“ God … fine! ” She threw her hands up in the air, but she was laughing, so I knew she wasn’t taking what we were saying too personally.

Marshall and I wandered over and took turns kissing her upturned forehead.

“Call one of us if you need us, and we’ll come straight back.

” I’d bought Marshall a new phone at the same time I bought mine.

We’d confirmed the hospital didn’t have it, so we assumed the worst. It was far easier to buy a new phone and have everything moved over than searching through the rubble for his old one only to find it broken beyond repair like mine had been.

“We’re not planning on going anywhere else. Just the house and back again, okay?”

“Okay.”

I took a moment to look at my daughter, to really take her in.

She was growing up so fast. It would be only a few short years before she’d head off to college, and after that, who knew where she’d go?

I needed to hoard all the happy days we had until then, stuff them deep into my heart so I could draw them out one by one in the years to come when I inevitably missed her too much.

Raising children was both a blessing and a curse.

It was a privilege to have such a wonderful soul in my care, but I cursed the steady-crawling passage of time that meant it was only for a short time until she decided to spread her wings to make her own way into the world.

The best I could do was give her the freedom to learn how to take care of herself and give her a safe place to land if she ever stumbled.

“Oh my God, Dad. Will you just go? Stop worrying so much. I’ll be fine .”

I coughed and shook my head to clear my thoughts, only to find her staring at me with thinly veiled condescension. “Right,” I mumbled and glanced at Marshall, who was watching me with a warm knowing.

He really did have an old soul. Not many other people his age would have known where my mind had gone, but he had.

Fate had chosen well when they matched Marshall to me. They had chosen very well indeed.