A knock on the door told me Daryl was back, and I answered it to find him looking shell-shocked. He pushed past me and walked into the apartment’s narrow galley kitchen to rummage through the cabinets.
“I know I stored a bottle up here somewhere. You couldn’t have drank it all already, did you?”
I leaned against the doorframe and pointed toward the cabinet on the far end of the wall. “I didn’t have any yet, but I’m not sure how I feel about you drinking my Lagavulin. Get your own bottle.”
Daryl poured himself a glass neat, never asking me if I wanted one, and sagged against the Formica countertop as he gulped down my expensive scotch. “You owe me, buddy. After what I just went through, I deserve the entire bottle.”
Fear that something had happened to Nina raced through my body, settling into my heart. “What happened? Is Nina hurt?”
Downing another mouthful of scotch, he shook his head. “No. The only person injured is me.”
I looked him up and down and saw the same old Daryl. “What are you talking about? You look fine enough to drink all my scotch.”
He took the envelope I’d given him for Nina out of his coat pocket and threw it on the counter. “She went nuts when I tried to give her this. Told me she didn’t want your letter and that you can say what you want to say to her in person. And when I say told, I mean screamed her bloody head off.”
Nina had always loved my notes and letters. The fear that I was losing her had haunted me since I’d left and suddenly became very real. Picking up the envelope, I ran my fingers over her name, unsure of what I needed to do.
“That was after she literally balled me out. Her exact words were ‘You can tell my dear fiancé that he should be nervous. Maybe I’m sick of waiting for Tristan and living here all alone. Gage is right next door in the room next to me. He’s pretty good looking. Maybe I’m ready to move on, even though I know Tristan isn’t dead. Maybe you should tell Tristan all of that and see how he feels.’ And all of that was done screaming at me!”
“Did you tell her this is only for a short time?”
He mumbled, “Then she mentioned something about fucking her hot bodyguard before she slammed the door in my face.”
As he finished his drink and poured himself another glass, I began to spin out of control. I’d expected too much from her. Leaving her alone for months and believing that she’d be fine with it was wrong. Even worse, I’d put another man right in front of her—a man she very well might be attracted to.
“I can’t stay away any longer, Daryl. I need to go home.”
His eyes bugged out of his head as he threw his hands up in the air in disgust. “Jesus Christ! You can’t go home. If Karl knows you’re there, you’ll put Nina in danger too. You need to just sit tight while we find out what that fucker’s up to.”
“You figure that out. I need to get back home. I’ve expected Nina to deal with too much.”
“She’s fine. Don’t worry about her. I’m sure it was just a bad day for her. She’s tough. She can handle it.”
“I can’t handle it.”
Unable to admit to Daryl that Nina’s hopefully empty threat had made me more jealous than I thought I could be, I just stood there as my mind spiraled trying to figure out how I could go home without putting her in any more danger.
“I know what you’re worried about, Tristan, but you can trust her and Varo. He’s a good guy.”
That made what I was feeling even worse. A good guy sleeping in the room right next to her after they pretended to be in love all day. Fucking perfect. No, I had to go home. Somehow, I had to be able to be near her.
“I don’t care. I need to go back. Now. So help me figure it out.”
“You’re killing me here, Tristan. The two of you lovebirds are just killing me.” Stroking his beard to a long point below his chin, he pursed his lips as he thought. “I have an idea, but I need to know. Can you can speak any languages other than English?”
“You mean like French or Spanish? No.”
He sighed. “Well, that doesn’t help.”
“I know sign language, though.”
Daryl narrowed his eyes to slits, as if he was considering what I’d just said. “You mean for deaf people?”
“Yeah. I had no interest in learning any language in high school, so they said I could take American Sign Language. I’m still pretty good at it.”
I began to fingerspell, quickly remembering the alphabet and some common signs like I’m sorry and thank you.
“Can you do that with gloves on?”
I closed my fist and moved it up and down to sign yes. “As long as my fingers are free, I can sign. Why? What are you thinking?”
Downing the last of his drink, he smiled for the first time since he arrived. “I’m thinking I’m a genius. Hang on.”
He took his phone out and tapped in a number before putting it to his ear. In seconds, I understood his plan. “Nina, it’s Daryl. You need to fire the gardener. I’ll have a new one there tomorrow.”
Nina’s voice came through the phone loud and clear. “Why? There’s nothing wrong with Chip. West and Gage cleared him and he’s fine.”
“I found out something that makes it appear he might be connected to Karl. I can fire him, if you like.”
“Fine, you do it. I don’t want to fire him. He’s been nothing but nice.”
“I’ll be right over to take care of it.”
Daryl put his phone away and turned toward me with a broad smile. “Okay, now that that’s taken care of, you can be the gardener. I’ll say you’re deaf and dumb and only communicate through signing. We need to get you some sunglasses to hide your eyes, but other than that, you barely look like you after all these months.”
“One problem. I can’t keep sunglasses on every moment I’m at the house, and one look at my eyes and she’ll know it’s me in a heartbeat.”
Walking past me into the living room, he shook his head. “I’m one step ahead of you. Come with me. It’s time to head to Wal-Mart to change those big brown eyes to something even your lady won’t recognize.”
I followed him, thrilled to know that I’d be close to Nina again and taking pleasure in his amusement at all of this. “You seem almost happy, Daryl. Enjoying yourself?”
“I’ll enjoy myself when all this is over and you and Nina are back together so she doesn’t ream me out anymore. Ever been to Wally World?”