The nurse poked and prodded, checked my vitals, bandaged the cut on the back of my head, and cleared me to go. All my injuries were superficial. Even the headache was fading.
After the nurse left, the deputy poked his head in. “West is on his way. He wants you to stay here until he can take your statement.”
West showed up ten minutes later to find Royal and me side by side on the bed, my head on Royal's shoulder, my hand in his. I recoiled at the sight of West. I liked him usually, but the last thing I wanted was to relive those horrible minutes in the alley behind the bakery.
He went first, giving me time to get my bearings.
“Vanessa is in custody, and she's not talking. She asked us to call Cole Haywood, and he's not going to let her tell us anything. I need you to run me through everything you can remember.”
I did, closing my eyes and trying to recall every single thing she'd said, even if I'd only caught a fragment. Anything that would help West find out who had sent Vanessa after Royal. And why. He asked me probing questions, most of which I couldn't answer, then clicked off his recorder and shut his notebook.
“Your dad skipped town,” he said. “I caught up with your grandmother at home. He cleaned out the cash she had stashed in her jewelry box, along with some of her jewelry. There's a warrant out for him and for your mother as an accessory. I was out looking for them when I got the call about what happened in the alley. Do you want me to call Eleanor?”
I didn't have to think about that. Grams did not need to see me like this. “No. Please, don't. Griffen is bringing me clean clothes. I need to change and get cleaned up before I call Grams. Have you heard anything about J.T.? They won't tell us anything.”
West shook his head. “I only know that he's in surgery. You're going to wait here?”
“I'm not going anywhere until I know he's going to be okay.” Something occurred to me. “I need to make a call, someone he's close to will want to know what's going on. His phone was in his pocket. Can you find it? Please? He'd want me to call and I don't have the number. Or my phone.”
“I'll see what I can do.” West disappeared through the curtain, leaving us alone.
“Where's your phone?” Royal asked.
“Somewhere near your car. Or in your car. I'm not sure. I dropped it. Stupid dress didn't have pockets.”
Sometimes women's clothes sucked. How come we never got pockets? My mind was drifting, the shocks of the day finally catching up with me. I leaned my head against Royal's shoulder.
“We baked you a pie,” I rambled. “Mixed berry. To say sorry for being such a jerk before. I should have told you what was going on with my dad.”
“It's okay, sweetheart. I knew you needed time.”
“I thought I did.” I turned my face into his shoulder, breathing deep of his scent, soaking in the heat of his body. I was terrified for J.T., but my heart was calm.
I knew who I wanted. Who was important. Royal. And the fact that he'd given me the time I needed even when it hurt him? If I didn't already know he was the one, that would have done it.
“I didn't need time,” I said. “I just needed you.”
Royal was silent for a long moment, his voice so rough when he tried to speak he had to clear his throat. In the end, his arm came around me, holding me tight to his side. “Love you, Daisy. So much.”
“I love you, too.” I did, more than I knew I could, so much that my heart hurt from letting that fierce emotion run wild. I'd spent too long being afraid of loving him, afraid of being hurt, of doing the wrong thing. If I'd known how good it would feel to just love him, I would have done it sooner.
I closed my eyes for a minute. Possibly I drifted off. There was a lovely line of drool on my chin when West came back, but I admit nothing.
Before I could ask, West said, “No word on J.T. He's in surgery, and he's hanging in there. That's all they can tell us for now.”
“Thanks, West.” I took the phone he handed me and unlocked the screen. Royal and West talked in the background, but all I could think about was Clay. This wasn't how I wanted to meet J.T.'s boyfriend. I had absolutely no doubt J.T. would want me to call him. Well, that wasn't true. J.T. might want to spare him the worry. But if the tables were turned J.T. would want to know.