Page 111 of Gather the Storm

Piers’ smile was sympathetic. “It’s the least I can do. And I’d be happy to reassign Gray to another project if you’d be more comfortable not having him in the office.”

Wow… talk about being on the spot. There was nothing I wanted less than to have to face Gray at work twice a week, but I also didn’t want to make an enemy, especially not a potentially powerful one like Gray Cantwell.

It sucked making the calculation, like some complicated math problem with no real solution. Gray had assaulted me. I should have been able to make decisions based on what made me comfortable, not whether it would impact my life long-term.

But this was the real world, and now that I was in it, outside my father’s protection — and control — I was beginning to see it was all a lot more complicated than it looked.

“That’s not necessary,” I said. “We’re both adults. I’m happy to move on if Gray thinks we can do that without any awkwardness at the office. And also…”

Piers lifted his groomed eyebrows. “Also?”

“Well, I think it would be good for Gray to take some kind of…” I hesitated, trying to think of a word that wouldn’t offend Piers, who was being super nice about the whole thing. “… sensitivity training?”

I didn’t know if that was the right word for it, but it sounded more polite than how not to rape girlsjust because they’re drunktraining since we were talking about his son and all.

Piers nodded. “An anti-harassment class is a great idea, Daisy. Thank you for suggesting it. I’ll have Diana set something up and ensure he completes it before returning to the office.”

I sighed with relief. “Great.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss? Anything you’d like to share about the incident?” Piers asked.

I thought about confessing my own shame — that I’d gotten drunk with coworkers, that I’d led Gray to believe I wanted to go home with him — then changed my mind. Those things were true, but I wasn’t going to lend any weight to the school of thought that getting drunk meant someone could rape you.

No one was saying that to men.

I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

Piers stood with a smile. “My door is always open, and remember what I said: it’s never too late to talk to Diana and file a formal complaint if you change your mind.”

I nodded and let myself out of his office, taking deep breaths as I made my way down the hall.

One problem down for the day, one to go.

Chapter 60

Daisy

Iwas relieved to see that my dad’s Mercedes wasn’t parked outside of the house. He usually worked in his offices in Milford, a bigger town about forty minutes away from Blackwell Falls, but every now and then he worked from home, and I’d been worried his presence would foil my plans.

I knocked on the door, remembering the satisfied look on Calvin’s face when he’d taken my keys, feeling humiliated that I was reduced to knocking on the door of my own house.

Joan opened it a minute later, looking relieved and happy like she’d already seen me on the security camera and had known I was on the other side of the door.

She was wearing her uniform of black slacks and a white blouse, her graying hair pulled into a neat bun at the back of her head. I knew she was fifty-two and had no children, and that Ruth and I had been the reason she’d taken the job when she started working at the house shortly after our mom died.

Joan pulled me into a hug and I breathed in the smell of coffee and cleaning spray that made me instantly feel at home. “We’ve been worried sick about you.”

She wasn’t referring to my dad, but to Lenny and the rest of the staff at the house.

I smiled. It felt good to know there were people worrying about me in the world. That was something nobody told you about your mom: she was the one person in the world who was always out there worrying about you, the one person in the world who always wanted you to be okay.

There weren’t even words for the loss of that, and I was starting to feel like I’d only just begun to know what living without it was going to be like.

“I’m okay,” I said. “I guess you heard I’m not supposed to be here though.”

She pulled back to look at me. “We’ll delete some of the footage on the security camera. It won’t be the first time.”

I laughed. “Joan! I had no idea you were such a rebel.”

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