In Safe Hands by Katie Ruggle

his reddish-blond winter beard yet. Ever since she was a kid, people had said she looked exactly like her mother—they used to, at least, before her mom had been killed and Daisy had disappeared inside her house. “You okay?”
    â€œSure. Why wouldn’t I be?” After relocking the door, she headed to the coffeemaker to start a cup of French roast for her father.
    â€œYour deputy buddy was pretty insistent that I head home immediately. I only had a day and a half left on the Connor Springs project—it’ll be two days, now that I’m wasting this morning driving back and forth for no reason.” He hung up his coat and followed her into the kitchen.
    â€œSorry.” She ran through her last few conversations with Chris and shrugged. “I’m not sure why he thought you were needed here. Oh! I did mention that I wanted to have snacks when everyone comes over for training.”
    â€œTraining?”
    â€œLou Sparks asked if she could train with me and Chris, and then it kind of snowballed. Five or six people are coming over on Saturday afternoon.”
    â€œLet me get this straight.” He glowered from under his bushy, light-colored brows. “Chris sent me tearing all the way over here because you’re throwing a party ?”
    It was on the tip of Daisy’s tongue to remind him that Connor Springs was only twenty miles away, but she swallowed the words. Gabe was building up to one of his rages, and she’d rather not have to clean up broken coffee mugs or explain new dents in the walls to her guests the next day.
    â€œI’m not sure why he asked you to come here,” she said instead. “Did you want this coffee in a travel mug?”
    His hand slapped the counter, the sound making her jump. “What do you think?” He stomped over to where he’d just left his boots. Daisy poured the French roast into a travel cup and secured the lid tightly. Her dad did not need to spill hot liquid on his lap. His head was already too close to spinning around, Exorcist -style.
    As she waited for him to finish yanking on his coat, she debated whether she should ask him to pick up a few things before he left town again. When he turned toward her and she met his still-furious eyes, she silently held out his coffee instead. He snatched the cup and used his other hand to undo the locks, his abrupt movements testifying to his irritation. As soon as he was through the interior door, she hurried to close and relock it, knowing that he wouldn’t hesitate to slam through the outer door in his current mood.
    Once the locks were secured, she moved to the living room window, opening the blinds so she could watch his older blue pickup as it accelerated away from the house. He turned onto the cross street, and she gave a humorless snort of laughter. Even the jerky way he steered his truck showed his annoyance.
    Heading back into the kitchen, she debated whether she wanted a cup of coffee. The caffeine would be welcome, but her stomach was churning from her dad’s visit, and she didn’t think acidic coffee would go down too well. Setting aside the mental debate, she called Chris.
    â€œDaisy. What’s up?”
    She was a little disappointed that he sounded wide awake. It would’ve served him right if she’d jerked him out of a deep sleep. “Why exactly did you call my dad and tell him I needed him here?”
    â€œBecause you do.”
    â€œI do? Why?”
    â€œYou need groceries, for one.”
    â€œSeriously?” She groaned. “I make a throw-away comment about giving my training guests some munchies, and you have my dad drive all the way from Connor Springs?” Great, now she’d started with the “all the way” nonsense. It must’ve been catching. “That’s not a necessity. I’ll just tell everyone that it’s BYOSD.”
    â€œConnor Springs is not that far. Also…wait.