The Storm

Chapter 4

Daisy

He didn't come home for dinner. 

I made dinner every night for a week and he was late coming home from work every single night. And not late meaning 'Oh I'll be home by six.' Late as in, he came in after Archer and I went to bed. I stayed up reading late one night and listened as he came through the door at eleven. Billie had warned me about this. So I just made him a plate and left it in the microwave. I thought maybe we could have a friendship, considering I am basically the one raising his only child. But it's just passing small talk between us and mostly about Archer.  

But it's not for me to be his friend or not be his friend. I'm his employee, and considering what he's paying me, I won't say a word. It's just a shame is all. He has a beautiful son and he seems to be too busy working to spend any time with him. Billie told me the whole story about Davis and his late wife Sabrina. They met in the ninth grade and were basically joined at the hip until she died. They tried for ten years to have Archer. She said no one was more excited to become a father than Davis. He went to every appointment, pampered Sabrina in every way he possibly could. He was the first one to hold Archer when he was born.

"Then Sabrina died and it's like the light went out of him. He does everything for Archer that he physically needs but it's like he's afraid to love him," Billie explained. 

I can't imagine that kind of pain. Building an entire life with someone to have them die right in the midst of what should be a happy moment between you two. It's gotta be a hard blow to take and still feel the urge to keep going. 

But that's for Davis to work out and not me. My job is to take care of Archer. I started out calling him 'love bug' but now he's just my little bug. I've never met a sweeter child. I see his face light up when I open his bedroom door in the morning. Billie picked out a race car bed frame for his toddler bed and he loves it. 

"I drive like Dad-dee," he tells me. 

I make him pancakes in the morning. They are his favorite. Then I usually take him out back to play. There is an entire playground just for Archer. A jungle gym, swings, slides, even a see-saw. It's everything a kid would kill to have in their own backyard. We run, play, and wrestle. Archer calls me over constantly to show me a pretty flower or show me an insect crawling in the grass. The world is brand new to him. I explain as much as I can to him when he asks. Mostly it's running and jumping for my Bug. I imagine he's going to be a big guy when he grows up if he takes after his father. Davis is 6'6". He looks like he works out. He has pretty broad shoulders, not to mention the most perfect ass I've ever seen. Davis looks like he should be a Calvin Klein model. Tall, blonde, and a jawline that makes you tingle. He looks like a modern-day Viking without the horned helmet. He falls into that 'he's every woman's type' kind of man. He makes all the guys I date look like high school sophomores. I'm curious to see what Sabrina looks like, to see what kind of woman lands a man like him. I'm sure she's stunningly gorgeous if their child is any indication.

After lunch, Archer goes down for a nap and I do a little snooping around the house. After a month of working and living here, I'm dying to know the whole story. There are no pictures hanging anywhere. No indication of any sentiment. If Davis and Archer moved out and just took their clothes, you would have no idea who lived here, what the family dynamics are. There is zero indication that Archer even had a mother. A situation that I would like to rectify. That woman went through a hell of a lot to bring this boy into the world; she doesn't deserve to be forgotten. 

Each bedroom is picture-perfect. Catherine, the maid that comes in twice a week to clean, 'refreshes' the sheets in each bedroom and does all the laundry except mine. I don't want anyone touching my clothes, so I do them myself.