At that moment, the door to the room opened, and my heart leapt into my throat.
What is he doing here?
I suppose it was my own fault that I didn't know his name, and therefore in my mind he was only Makayla's father. He'd left earlier that day and hadn't been back for hours. I was starting to hope he'd gotten the hint and wouldn't be back again. If only I'd gotten them to let me go home earlier, I would have been far away by now. Instead, here he was coming back into my room, anddear god, holdingflowers. He was dressed much more casually now, in a T-shirt and sweats. I would not have picked him for a sweatpants guy.
Then I had a vivid flashback to that night in his room. He had been wearing sweatpants then...
Get a grip, Deira,I told myself.
Dani must have guessed this was the guy who caused the wreck, because she immediately stood up and crossed her arms. That indicated that no matter how impressed she was by the room, she wasn't planning to give him any credit. I watched her face for signs of recognition, but she just scowled. Maybe she wouldn't recognize him? It had been years, after all. And she'd only seen him a few times very briefly.
He came into the room confidently, but wavered when he saw Dani, and stopped short when he saw Makayla. My heart dropped from my throat down to the pit of my stomach. He came a little closer and frowned. Makayla frowned back at him.
They have the same eyes, I thought, panicking. It was clear as day to me. Any moment now he was going to realize it, too. But instead, he just shifted his gaze from Makayla to me. For a moment he seemed to be searching for something in my face, and his frown deepened.
"Do you want something?" Dani's question, dripping with accusation, interrupted the tension. I realized I'd been holding my breath, and released it in a sigh.
He looked at Dani and extended his hand cordially.
"Hi, I'm Cassius. And you are?"
Cassius. His name is Cassius.
Dani didn't take his hand. It hung there in the air.
"I'm the best friend of the woman you put in the hospital."
He finally put his hand down.
"What does that mean?" Makayla suddenly asked. "He put Mommy in the hospital? Is he one of the men from the ambulance?"
At the word "Mommy" Cassius's head snapped toward Makayla again, and then back to me. There was almost a panic in his eyes.
"I didn't know you had a kid," he said, almost to himself.
"Are those for my mommy?" Makayla asked, pointing at the flowers.
"Oh, uh, yes. They are." He held them out. I stared at them stupidly while Dani gave him the frostiest glare I've ever seen in my life. Makayla, clueless, reached out and took them. She looked them over appraisingly.
"I think these are pretty good. They look nice, like the ones at your shop." She laid them in my arms and turned her attention back to Cassius. "Have you ever bought someone a whole flower shop?"
"I..." He seemed confused by the question, which I suppose was fair. "No, I haven't," he finally answered.
"Oh," Makayla said, and seemed to lose interest in him.
He reached into his pocket and took out what looked like a car key. He gently reached past Dani to lay it on the table next to my bed.
"I brought you a rental car. It's in the parking lot, section D. Here's all the info, make and model, license, etc." He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and laid it next to the key.
"That's very nice of you, but I don't..." I trailed off, because I was watching Dani's face as he leaned past her for the second time. Her eyes suddenly widened in shock. She looked at me, and I knew she'd recognized him. I shook my head.
"Please, just take it. It's the least I can do," he said. He looked at me, and hesitated. "Miss..."
"I thought you were paying her hospital bills. You don't know her name?" Dani asked. He looked her over and seemed to realize she wasn't going to warm to him. He stiffened, and I recognized a hint of the man who had angrily stalked through the lobby of the resort.
"I'm a hospital patron. I let them know I'd pay the bill. They didn't need to give me the details. Someone else deals with that." So, there was the man who had thrown his weight around to get me this room. I felt a ripple of attraction and then a much deeper wave of fear, thinking once again about how much I did not want to go up against this man for custody of my daughter.
"Thank you very much for the flowers, and the... car," I said. "If you don't mind, I'm feeling a little tired, so..."