Daisy felt the knot of grief and longing make her throat swell. It was so unfair. She stared out the window, thinking of the awful things that happened to Iris. She was brutally raped by a stranger in the mechanic shop one night when she was working. It shattered her trust and faith in life for a long while. It also upset Daisy and her sisters who suffered for Iris. Just as this tragedy did.
The four girls were very different as sisters, and often bickered and competed while growing up. Plenty of fights, shrieking and even hair pulling occurred during their youth and childhoods. A full, crowded house of maturing and very unique girls tended to get pretty vocal sometimes. But whenever things happened that were wrong or unfair, like this—causing grief to any of them—the four pulled together tightly.
“Mel asked us to join Lillian and some of the others down at the beach as a way to kind of decompress. I texted Mom, she said Violet’s in bed. So…”
“Yeah. I can’t think of what to do with myself,” Daisy replied.
Iris glanced back at her with a small smile. “I can’t either.”
“Family, it is,” Rose said as she lifted her head and glanced at Mateo. “Is that okay with you?”
“Whatever you guys need. Of course. That was…”
The right words seemed to elude everyone. No one could find anything appropriate to say. They all let their statements wander off.
“Daisy? Help me pretend this day isn’t what it really is. How is school going?” Iris asked, glancing back at her.
“Fine. Just making my way through Philosophical Logic. It’s a strange way of thinking. I often struggle with it. But if I manage to pass it, I should finally have all the prerequisites for an English major.”
“You’ve decided on your major for sure?” Rose asked. Oh, the restrain she could hear in Rose’s voice. Daisy knew it was killing her not to sound like the Spanish Inquisition. She refrained from doing it on the plane. Once home, however, it must have been more out of respect for their circumstances.
“I’ve decided. I’m going with English. I really think I might want to edit books as a profession. There are a few English majors who graduated from my school and went on to work as editors at one of the biggest publishers in New York City. But if that doesn’t pan out, English also provides a strong basis of strengths for writing, speaking and critical thinking. It provides the basis for many follow up degrees and professions. So while I can’t fully guarantee what I’ll do as a job with it, it’s also applicable in many fields or for advanced training or degrees.”
Rose, her smart, long-sighted and goal-oriented sister who earned a master’s degree in Education ran a successful dyslexia tutoring business, and Daisy saw how hard she physically had to resist responding to that comment. Daisy knew she desperately wanted to turn around and ask, Have you researched how to go about doing that? Are there many employment opportunities for such a career? For how many other fields would that degree be desirable? What is the annual salary? What? What? What?
All the details were important to Rose, and things she had to know before making such a decision. But Daisy didn’t really know any of those things. She just loved to read. Her brain was always editing what she read automatically. The thought of living in New York and working for a big publisher sounded so awesome and exciting, why not go for that?
To avert another Rose question, Daisy asked, “How is school going for you, Mateo?”
Being rather late at finishing high school, Mateo recently earned a bachelor’s degree and was now enrolled in medical school. Mateo was actually a brilliant genius whose education was delayed due to circumstances. Rose saw to it that Mateo had everything he needed to succeed, and even the moon was now at his beck and call.
He flashed a look and a smile at Daisy in the rear-view mirror. She knew that he knew without him telling her, that Daisy was using him to block Rose from any further questions regarding her plans. Questions she couldn’t answer for Rose. But as the stereotypical big sister, Rose would demand the answers. “Oh, I’ve begun the most interesting research…” Mateo rattled off a list of items he must know that Daisy had no clue about. In response to his high-handed spouting, she grabbed a nearby discarded napkin, wadded it up and threw it at her brother-in-law. He gave her a wink and smirk as he shifted left to avoid it. Luckily, they were just pulling into the driveway of the family ranch and in no danger of hitting anyone. They parked in one of the few spots that came with the family homes near the river. The beach trail was accessible from there as well as the waterfront, which included a sandy beach and a deep swimming hole. Farther up the rocky shoreline, the water got shallower all the way to the rapids above them.
After parking, they all piled out when a voice came from behind them. “Daisy? I haven’t had a chance to see you in forever. Of course, this is not like a family reunion and I wish I weren’t seeing you for that reason. But… hey.”
Before she could respond, Lillian Rydell, her cousin once removed, gave her a huge hug. Lillian was currently enrolled in veterinarian school, which kept her away from the ranch most of the time. Daisy squeezed her back and asked, “Where’s Benny?”
Benny was Lillian’s three-year-old son. She gave them a shocking surprise when the ever-responsible Lillian showed up pregnant after a one-night stand, of all things. At the time, Lillian was ashamed since she had no idea how to find her baby’s father and zero details about him.
“He’s with my mom and dad. They all went home. They seemed sorta glad to have him to take their minds off this today.”
“Yeah, I get that. Is Jade with you?”
“Jade’s down there with Silas and Eliana.”
Daisy smiled to herself as she fell into step with her cousin. There was no lack of kids nowadays for company. They were of all ages or at least close enough in age to find peer groups to hang out with. Jade, Lillian’s younger sister by a whole decade, was with Silas, Uncle Joey’s “step-grandson.” Joey and his wife, Hailey, the grandma, raised Silas. (That was another long story.) Their other son, Jacob, married Luna and had two kids, aged seven and five. Jacob’s sister, Brianna, was also a step-cousin to Daisy. She married Finn Alexander and had two kids that were slightly older than Jacob’s.
So many generations occupied the ranch now, and it was growing in every way. Some left, but many stayed. With so many young people now, most of the original generation were growing pretty old, although a few were actually still on the ranch.
“How’s school going for you?” Daisy asked Lillian, falling into conversation. She was studying veterinarian school at Washington State University. How she managed to do that with a baby in tow truly amazed and mystified Daisy, who could barely take care of herself and go to college, and she wasn’t even attempting to earn a doctorate.
“It’s hard, but also invigorating. You?”
Daisy and Lillian wandered down to the beach, exchanging school anecdotes. Finally, they reached the beach. Someone built a fire. A few lanterns provided more lighting. Drinks and snacks were also available. Who knew or cared who brought the refreshments? Daisy snagged a drink. “Better damn reception than they had at the church,” Daisy said before she drank her libation eagerly. “That was excruciating.”