Daisy's Back in Town (12 page)

"Morning." As Daisy handed over the five-dollar bill, a white Ford truck with red flames down the sides pulled into a parking slot a few cars away from Lily's Taurus. She watched with a sense of impending doom as Ronnie and Kelly stepped out of the truck. "Oh no."

The passenger door of the Taurus flew open and Lily shot out of the car like a bullet. She confronted the two right there on the sidewalk in front of the Minute Mart. Daisy could hear Lily's hysterical screaming through the glass, and she was sure the people at the gas pumps were getting a good show.

She set the straw on the counter and held up one hand, palm out. "I'll be right back." As Daisy yanked open the store's door, Lily called Kelly a whore and a fat-ass, and Kelly swung and slapped Lily across the face. Lily's sunglasses sailed off, and she raised her hand to retaliate. Ronnie grabbed her arm and shoved.

Lily fell and everything within Daisy narrowed, like looking in the wrong end of a telescope. Rage flowed through her like a toxic chemical, and she ran full steam, launching herself at her soon to be ex-brother-in-law.

Years ago, Steven and Jack had taught her how to defend herself. She'd never used those lessons before, but she hadn't forgotten. Like riding a bike. She got a shoulder into his sternum.

He grunted and grabbed her hair. He shook her but she hardly felt it as she tucked her thumb and punched him in the eye.

"Ow, you crazy bitch!"

Without thinking about it, she kneed him just below his belt buckle. She didn't think she'd hit him square between the legs like she'd been aiming, but enough that the air left his lungs in a big whoosh. His fingers loosened and she stepped back. Ronnie doubled over and several long strands of Daisy's hair got tangled in his fist.

"You ever touch my sister again," she told him between breaths, "and I'll kill you, Ronnie Darlington."

He groaned and stared at her through squinty eyes. "You can try, you stupid bitch."

Daisy didn't mind being called a crazy bitch, because sometimes it was true. But she hated being called a stupid bitch. She launched herself forward again, but someone grabbed her around the middle and pulled her back.

"You've won, buttercup."

She pushed at the arm around her stomach, but he pulled her onto her toes. "Let go. I'm going to kick his butt"

"I think it's more likely that he'd kick yours. Then I'd have to step in and knock the shit out of him for laying a hand on you. And I really don't want to do that. Buddy and I came here for a fill-up and a cup of coffee, is all.

We weren't planning on a brawl."

Daisy blinked and her peripheral vision came into focus again. She was aware of her heart pounding in her throat as she looked over her shoulder. "Jack?"

The shadow from his beige cowboy hat cut across his face, and she watched his mouth form the words, "Good mornin'," but he didn't sound like there was anything good about it.

She turned her attention to Lily standing with her back against the front of the store. She had a cut on the bridge of her nose and a red palm print on her cheek. A man in a blue T-shirt stood next to her, talking to her as she shook her head. Kelly sat on her butt on the ground, and her ponytail was pulled to one side of her head. Ronnie straightened with a grunt and felt his crotch as if to make sure everything was still there.

"I hope you can't use it for a month." Daisy spat at him, and Jack pulled her lighter against the solid wall of his chest.

Then Jack spoke to Ronnie from beside Daisy's temple. "Take your girlfriend and get out of here while the two of you can still walk."

Ronnie opened his mouth, shut it again, then grabbed Kelly, who'd started screaming at the top of her lungs. He shoved her inside his truck, fired the engine, and the two of them took off, monster truck tires squealing out of the parking lot.

"Are you okay, Lily?" she called out to her sister.

Lily nodded and took her sunglasses from the man talking to her.

"What was that about?" Jack asked. "The two of you out here spreadin' sunshine for the hell of it?" He didn't let go, and she looked up at him again. The breeze picked up several strands of her blond hair and carried them across the front of his dress shirt. She raised her gaze past his mouth and looked deeper into the shadow created by the brim of his hat. His light green eyes stared back at her. Waiting.

"That's Lily's husband and his girlfriend."

He tilted his head back and the shadow slid from the middle of his nose to the deep bow of his top lip."

The adrenaline in her veins made her feel suddenly shaky, and she was glad Jack held her so tight.

"He's a rat bastard."

"So, I've heard."

Daisy wasn't surprised that Ronnie's reputation preceeded him. Lovett was a small town. "He emptied their bank account and won't give her any money for Pippen."

Jack slid his palm across her stomach as he dropped his arm. He took a step back, and the solid wall of his chest was replaced with cool morning air. Her hand throbbed, her head hurt, her shoulder ached, and her knees felt wobbly. It had been a long time since she'd felt a man's strength surrounding her, supporting her, and she would have liked nothing better than to melt right back into his chest and arms again. Of course, that was impossible.

"I hurt my hand."

"Let me see." He turned her to face him and cradled her hand in his warm palm. The sleeves of his blue broadcloth shirt were rolled up his forearms, and over his breast pocket, was embroidered PARRISH

AMERICAN CLASSICS, in black. "Wiggle your fingers for me," he said.

With his head bent over her hand, the brim of his hat almost touched her mouth. He smelled of soap and dean skin and his starched shirt. His thumb brushed the heel of her hand and little tingles radiated outward from her palm over her wrist and traveled up the inside of her arm. Her adrenaline was doing funny things to her. Either that or she'd pinched a nerve.

He lifted his gaze and his eyes stared into hers. For several long seconds he just looked at her. She'd forgotten that when you looked real close into Jack's eyes, you could see darker green flecks. She remembered now.

"I don't think it's broke, but you probably should get an X-ray." He dropped her hand.

She made a slow fist and winched. "How do you know it's not broken?"

"When I broke my hand, it swelled up almost immediately."

"How did you break your hand?"

"Fighting."

"With Steven?"

"No. At a roadhouse bar in Macon."

Macon? What had he been doing in Macon? In the last fifteen years, he'd had a whole life she knew nothing about. She was curious about it, but she doubted he'd tell her much if she were to ask.

The clerk from inside the store moved toward Daisy and she turned to him as he handed her her sunglasses.

"Thanks, Chuck," she said and slid them on her face. He gave her the change and she took the Dr. Pepper with her good hand.

"Should I call the police?" he wanted to know. "I saw them hit the other blond woman first."

A police report might help in Lily's divorce, but Lily wasn't completely innocent. There was the little matter of Lily's stalking. She didn't know if Ronnie knew about that, but he might. "No. That's okay."

"If you change your mind, let me know," Chuck offered and headed back inside.

Daisy turned her attention to Lily and the man talking to her. "Is he with you?" she asked Jack.

"Yeah. That's Buddy Calhoun."

"Older or younger than Jimmy?"

"A year younger."

Daisy didn't remember much about Buddy beyond having the bad teeth and flaming red hair of all the Calhouns.

She glanced around at the people in the parking lot and at the gas pumps at the far end. The ramifications of what she'd done that morning began to sink in. "I can't believe I fought in public." She raised the cool Dr.

Pepper to her cheek. "I never even swear in public."

"If it's any consolation, I don't think you swore." No, it wasn't much comfort, especially when he added, "But your sister has a mouth like a trucker. We heard her clear over at the gas pumps."

Daisy didn't live in Lovett anymore, but her mother did. Her mother would be mortified. Daisy and Lily would probably be the latest topic at her single's dance. "Do you think very many people noticed us?"

"Daisy, you're standing at the intersection of Canyon and Vine. In case you've forgotten, it's about the busiest intersection in the city."

"So people are going to know that I socked Ronnie Darlington in the eye." She removed the cool cup from her cheek. Good lord, could things be any worse?

Evidently. "Yep, and that you kneed his balls."

"You saw that?"

"Yeah. Remind me not to piss you off." He glanced over her head. "Ready, Buddy?"

Buddy Calhoun turned and flashed Jack a straight white smile. So much for Buddy having the Calhoun bad teeth. His hair was a dark red too, riot carrot like the others. He was better-looking too. "Be right there, J. P.," he drawled.

J. P.?

"Try to stay out of trouble," Jack said to her as he tuned to go. "Next time someone might not be around to save you from doing something stupid, like going after a man who weighs twice what you do."

She put her bad hand on his arm to stop him. He was right. "Thanks, Jack. If you hadn't stepped in, something really bad could have happened." She shook her head. Maybe he didn't hate her as much as he wanted her to think. "When I saw him shove my sister... I don't even remember how it happened, but I just lost my mind and went after him."

"Don't make too much of it, Daisy." So much for feeling special. "You could have been anyone." His gaze dropped to her hand on his aim.

"Since I'm not just anyone, you should let me thank you properly," she offered in the hopes that perhaps they could now relate to each other on friendlier terms, and she could talk to him about Nathan.

One corner of his mouth slid up as his gaze moved to her breasts, up her chin, to her mouth. He wasn't fooled by her offer and was purposely trying to annoy her. "What did you have in mind?"

"Not what you have in mind."

From within the shadow of his hat, he finally looked into her eyes. "What then?"

"Lunch."

"Not interested."

"No, ma'am." He stepped off the curb and said over his shoulder, "Come on, Buddy."

Daisy watched him move across the parking lot to a classic black Mustang parked at one of the gas pumps. Two razor-sharp creases ran down the back of his shirt and were tucked into the waistband of his Levi's. He wasn't wearing a belt, and his wallet made a bulge in his back pocket. Buddy followed and Daisy turned to her sister.

The red welt on Lily's cheek had started to fade.

"Are you okay?" Daisy asked as Lily moved toward her.

"I'm okay." She reached for the Dr. Pepper and took a long drink. "I think I'm going crazy."

Really? "Maybe a little."

The two of them moved to Lily's Taurus and got inside. Lily spoke as she buckled her seat belt. "I'm sorry about what I said about Steven. You're right. I was being an insensitive bitch."

"I think I said you were a brat."

"I know you did. Let's go home."

Daisy started the car. "How long do you think it will take for Mom to find out?"

"Not long," Lily sighed. "She'll probably try to ground us."

Through the rearview mirror, she watched Jack's Mustang pull out of the parking lot.

"Daisy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. You were really something going after Ronnie like that."

"Don't thank me, just promise you'll stop stalking him and Kelly the skank."

"Okay." She took a drink of her cup. "Did you see her butt, though?"

"It was huge."

"And flabby."

"Yeah, and you're a lot cuter and have better hair."

Lily smiled. "And breath."

Daisy chuckled. "Yeah."

When they got back to their mother's house, Lily grabbed Pippen and lay down on the couch with him. She turned on a Blue's Clues video and nestled her nose in his little mullet. "Love you, Pippy," she said. Without taking his eyes from the television, he raised his face and kissed his mother's chin.

"Did you get the job?" Louella asked from the kitchen, where she was baking cookies and filling the house with the smell of peanut butter.

"They said they'd call," Lily answered, hiding her smile behind her son's head.

"Chicken," Daisy whispered.

Lily was a mess, no doubt about it. Daisy had three days before she needed to return to her life in Seattle.

Nathan's last day of school was today, and she needed to call him and ask how it went.

She had a lot to do. She had three days to help straighten out her sister's life, give Steven's letter to Jack and tell him he had a son. Then she could return home and get on with her life. She and Nathan could lie around on a beach somewhere, soaking up rays. She'd drink piña coladas while he watched girls in bikinis. Heaven for both of them.

But right now, all she wanted was to take a shower, put ice on her hand, and take a nap. Her adrenaline spent, she was tired and achy, but if not for Jack, she was positive she would be feeling a lot more achy right about now. Going after Ronnie like that hadn't been real smart, but she hadn't thought at all. She'd just reacted to him pushing Lily to the ground.

I think it's more likely that he'd kick yours. Then I'd have to step in and knock the shit out of him for laying a hand on you, Jack had said. He'd also said he would have come to the rescue of any woman. He'd told her not to make too much out of it.

But now as she thought back with a clearer head, she doubted he would have held just any woman a little bit longer than was absolutely necessary. Not like he'd held her, tight against his hard chest. And she really doubted he would have brushed just any woman's hand with his thumb. She also doubted he'd even known he was doing it.

She'd been so focused on everything else around her, she hadn't realized that Jack's touch had been a little more personal, lingered a second longer than just a Good Samaritan helping out any ol' woman.

She realized it now, and just the memory of his touch made her catch her breath. Her mother called out to her as she moved up the stairs to her bedroom. "Okay," she called back, then shut the door behind her. She leaned against it as a hot little tug pulled at her abdomen and between her thighs. The warmth of it spread across her flesh and her breasts grew heavy with it. She hadn't felt anything like this in a long time, but she knew what it was. Lust. Pent up sexual desire. Years of it pulling at her.