He put the phone down and looked over at Daisy. “Momma is ready for you to come home, Daisy May. Why don’t you go get your stuff together while I finish up?”
Daisy’s little face fell, but she didn’t argue. She nodded and went to the bedroom.
I watched her until she was out of sight, then looked back at Preston. “Does she have to go?” I asked in a low voice.
Preston frowned and nodded. “Yeah.” He didn’t like it either.
“You think she’ll be okay? Will your mom remember to give her the antibiotics every day? Because it is real important that she take them until they’re gone.”
“Jimmy will make sure she gets all of it. He’s good with stuff like that.”
Tears stung my eyes, and I had to walk away before I started crying and Daisy saw me. I went to the bathroom and turned on the faucet to mask my sniffling. The idea of sending Daisy back to that old, dirty trailer with a momma who didn’t care was horrible.
“Hey.” Preston opened the door to the bathroom and stepped inside. “Come here.” He pulled me into a hug and rested his chin on my head. “I know this sucks, but I promise you, she’ll be fine. I’m going to make sure you get to see her again. Heck, if you’ll stop crying, I’ll get her a phone too so you two can talk.”
I nodded. I liked that idea. “Okay.”
“Okay you want me to get her a phone?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Preston chuckled. “Done. Now stop crying. I check on them more than once a week.”
I didn’t want to make him feel like he was failing them when it was obvious he was doing everything he could to take care of them. If he had a real job, I didn’t know what it was. He had school and baseball. Over the years he’d had some side jobs, but nothing that stuck around long. Somehow he got money. I’d started to ask him about it when the bathroom door opened and Daisy stood there frowning up at us.
“What’s wong?”
I couldn’t let her know why I’d been crying. I smiled and stepped out of Preston’s arms. “Nothing. I just got something in my eye and came in here to get it out.” I reached back and turned the water off.
“Why was Pweston hugging you?”
The kid didn’t miss anything.
“I was getting it out for her,” Preston replied.
Daisy seemed to be okay with this answer, so she nodded. “I got my stuff weady to go.”
“All right, my Daisy May, let me finish eating, and then we will go.”
"But what about his supwise?" Daisy asked me looking at the refrigerator hopefully.
"I think now would be an awesome time for his surprise," I replied, and she dropped her bag and ran over to retrieve the peanut butter pie out of the fridge. Preston shot me a questioning look and I just grinned.
"I did all the hawd stuff. Just ask Manda," Daisy informed him as she held out the peanut butter pie toward him with pride.
"You made me a pie?" Preston asked with awe in his voice as he bent down to her level.
"Yep, I did. Peanut Buttah."
Preston bent over and kissed her cheek. "I bet that’s gonna be the best peanut butter pie I’ve ever had."
Daisy beamed up at him, and at that moment, Preston Drake was absolutely perfect.
Chapter Sixteen
Preston
I was restless. Amanda had left when I went to take Daisy home. She said she needed to go eat dinner with her mother. Last night she’d told her mom she was staying over at a friend’s. She said her mom would get curious if she didn’t show up tonight. The whole apartment smelled like Amanda. I hadn’t been alone with her since work today. I needed to be alone with her. The fear inside me was eating me alive. If she ever found out . . . That couldn’t happen.