“Are you mad?” I ask, unable to keep my voice calm. “You could have killed yourself.”
“Accidents don’t happen often—”
“You can only die once, anyway.” My throat constricts with worry. I wish the r
est of the group would back me up, but the three of them are silent.
“Well, I won’t be adding it to my list of offerings yet, clearly,” Daniel says.
I purse my lips. Damn, I’m so angry I swear I’m half expecting steam to come out of my ears.
“From now on, you’ll change your offerings to something safe.” I poke my forefinger in Daniel’s chest with every word. Normally, I would do this forcefully, so he could feel the sting, but he’s in enough pain today, so I’m gentle. A good day in my family is one during which I don’t want to kill anyone—for their own good, of course. Today is not one of those days.
“I am in the business of extreme adventures,” Daniel retorts. “The opposite of safe. What would you have me offer, anyway?”
“Extreme knitting, or quilting,” I spit. Blake and Nate chuckle. Now they decide to chime in. I have the sudden urge to poke them as well. It wouldn’t be gentle at all.
“I’m sure people searching for adrenaline would line up,” Daniel says dryly.
“Make them knit while they also have to balance a ball on their nose. That would get their blood spiking,” I volley.
“Alice, relax!” Daniel insists.
“I can’t.”
Daniel gives me an exasperated look. “Why can’t you be more like Summer? Hug me, pet me?”
Blake intervenes. “Oh, but one month from now when you get crazy ideas again, Alice’s voice will still be in your head. Your ears will probably still be ringing. I know mine will.”
“I’m so happy I amuse both of you. I just want you to be safe, Daniel.”
“I am safe. It was just a scare.”
I swallow, crossing my arms over my chest. “But what if next time it isn’t just a scare?”
“Then it will serve as a lesson to someone, and they will offer quilting.”
“Not funny,” Summer says in a low voice. It dawns on me that she might have kept quiet all this time because she was still emotional from seeing Daniel. “Just promise you’ll think about ways to make this safer, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Promise,” I insist.
“Fine, I promise.”
I run a frustrated hand through my hair. He’s just saying this to placate me. I have to let this go though. I’m far too stressed to come up with intelligent arguments instead of emotional ones, but I’ll circle back to this topic later. We all have a stubborn streak in us, but even Daniel must know this isn’t a game. It’s flat-out dangerous.
“Did you have breakfast?” I ask him.
Daniel’s expression relaxes, clearly relieved to be off the hook. “Nah, had them bring me right here to meet you guys.”
“Nate here brought breakfast,” Blake tells him. “He hooked up with Alice, thought we’d go easier on him if he brought food.”
Daniel points at Nate. “You hurt her, you’re a dead man.”
Nate’s jaw ticks. “Got it. It’s the family tag line, apparently.”
***