“David thank goodness you’re home!” Tiffany said quickly while rushing outside with a large white towel. She wrapped the towel around my shoulders while secretly digging her nails into my collarbone where my father could not see the pain on my face.
“She ran outside during a tantrum and refused to come back in,” Tiffany explained with a worried voice. “I was just about to bring her inside when you arrived.”
My father ignored her explanation and dropped to his knees in the rain while grabbing my shoulders gently. “Grace look at me,” he said with concern in his voice.
I tried to answer him but my teeth were chattering too violently from the cold and I could barely form words. He quickly removed his suit jacket and wrapped it around me before lifting me into his arms.
Inside the warm house the pain returned immediately as blood rushed painfully back into my frozen fingers and toes. My father carried me into the kitchen and placed me carefully onto a stool beside the counter.