Willow Smoke (93 page)

“Have
you
told
Nick
everything
that’s going
on—how
much
Reggie
is
demanding,
your dropping out of school, your trip to the doctor, Sam asking
you to take some time off?”

Daisy
shook
her
head.

“I
suspect
the
two
of
you
together
could
come
up
with
better
solutions
than
either
one
of
you
can
by
yourselves.
Sounds
like
he’s
not
pressing
you
as
hard
as
I
think
he
should
because
he
doesn’t
want
to
risk
losing
you.
Yet
what
do
you
have
in
the
long
run
if
you
can’t
problem
solve
together?
If
you
can’t
trust
one
another
enough
to share your darkest fears?”

Daisy
heard.
But
it
was
as
if
she
was
there
and
yet
not
there.
She
couldn’t
integrate
what
Cassie
was
saying.
She
heard
the
message,
but
it
was
garbled
in
code.

Cassie
squeezed
Daisy’s
shoulders.
“Why
don’t
we
take
you
upstairs?
You
look
like
you
could
use
a
nap.
Let
me
give
you
something
that
will
help
you
relax
a
little.”

Daisy
didn’t
know
how
long
she’d
slept,
but
she
wasn’t
ready
to
open
her
eyes
and
join
the
world.
In
her
mind
she
played
again
what
Cassie
had
said.
Was
her
stand-in
mother
right?
It
sounded
so
simple
when
Cassie
said
the
words.
But
what
would
Nick
do
if
she
told
him
everything?
She
didn’t
want
him
to
chase
after
Reggie
and
get
in
trouble
with
the
law.
Would
he
find
a
way
to
pay
off
Reggie
and
get
her
brother-in-law
off
their
backs?
Maybe
he
could
afford
to
do
that,
but
she
doubted
that
he
would.

Cassie
was
right.
If
she
and
Nick
were
to
have
a
future,
they
had
to
find
a
way
to
talk about all those things that
mattered—the
bad
as
well
as
the
good.
He
already
knew
she
was
a
bastard.
But
was
she
really
ready
to
tell
him
her
mother
had
been
a
whore?
Was
that
the
kind
of
mother
and
heritage
he
wanted
for
his
children? Was it pride that kept her
from
sharing
her
darkest
secrets
and
her
deepest fears—that somewhere in the
recesses
of
her
mind
she
was
so
afraid
that
Reggie
would
win,
would
get
his
hooks
in
her so
deep
that
he
would
turn
her
into
a
whore
like
he
had
her
sister?
Were
the
daughters
destined
to
re-live
their
mother’s
fate?

“Grandmother,”
Daisy
wailed
across
time,
“what
do
you
do
when
blood
goes
bad?
You were right about so many things, but not about everything. I
can’t do this
alone.
Not
anymore.
I
have
to
go
beyond
blood
for
help,
or
I’m
going
to
die.
And
I’m not ready to die. There is so much hope. I see it in his eyes when
he looks at me. Why can’t I feel it now?”

- o -

Nick
knocked
on
the
Travers’
porch
door
and
opened
it
at
the
same
time.
He
rushed
into
the
kitchen.
“Where
is
she?”
he
asked
Cassie,
who was
wiping
her
hands
on
a
towel
at
the
kitchen
sink.

“Upstairs
at
the
end
of
the
hall
on
the
right.
Why
don’t
you
slow
down
and
take
a
deep
breath.”
Cassie
reached
for
the
coffee
pot.
“You
sure
didn’t
let
any
grass
grow under your feet getting out here from
the city.”

“No.
Is
she
okay?
What’s
this
about
her
seeing
a
doctor?”
Nick
accepted
the
coffee
cup
Cassie
shoved
at
him
but
refused
to
sit
down.

“She
broke
out
in
hives.
That’s
why
she
went
to
the
doctor.”
Cassie
leaned
back
against
the
kitchen
counter
and
brushed
back
a lock of hair from her
forehead.
“The
girl’s
a
nervous
wreck,
but
she’s
got
to
explain
that
to
you.
It’s
not
my
place
to
say.”
Cassie
frowned.
“She’s
vulnerable, Nick.
She
needs
you,
and
I’m
not
certain
she
knows
it.
Daisy’s
always
been
so
fiercely
independent.
Go
slowly
with
her,”
she
said,
pointing
toward
the
stairway
leading
to
the
second
floor.

Nick
nodded,
put
his
coffee
cup
on
the
counter,
and took two stairs at a time. His
heart
raced
and
his
nose
twitched.
At
the
top
of the stairs, he steadied
himself. Go
slowly.
How
the
hell
could
he
go
slowly
if
he
stormed
into
her
room
like
he
was
putting
out
a
house
fire?

He
leaned
against
the
hallway
wall
and
pinched
his
nose.
Damn,
he
was
scared.
What
if
she
was
ready
to
walk
out
on
him?
She’d
run
to
Cassie’s
comforting
arms,
not
to
his.
Was
there
more
going
on
with
the
doctor
than
Cassie
reported?
He
had
to
get
to
the
bottom
of
what
was
happening
or
he’d
self-destruct.
But
Cassie
was
right,
he
had
to
go
slowly.
Take
a
deep
breath.
You’re
a
patient
man;
so
be
patient,
damn
it.