Willow Smoke (51 page)

She
didn’t
flinch
when
he
smiled
and
placed
the
chain
around
her
neck
and
fastened
the
clasp.
She
tried
not
to
tear
up,
but
she
did
smile
broadly
and
hugged
Nick
tightly.
Was
she
behaving
like
a
little
girl?
If so, so be it. This was a
gift she
would
treasure
forever.

After Frank ran Nick’s
credit card and took
care
of
the
business
transaction,
Nick
and
Daisy
prepared
to
leave.

Frank
winked
at
Daisy.
“You’ve
got
quite
a
man
there,
young
lady.
Take
good
care
of him. In my book, he deserves it. I
wouldn’t
be alive if it weren’t for him and Tom
Harrison.”

“Can
it,
Frank,”
Nick
growled.
“We’ve
got
to
get
going.
Catch
you
next
time,
through.”

“Will
do,
but
I
would
have
bled
to
death
that
night
if
you
guys
hadn’t
stayed
back
to
help.”
Frank
turned
a
warm
smile
on
Daisy.
“Hope
to
see
you
again,
young
lady.”

“So
what
was
that
about?”
Daisy
asked,
struggling
to
keep
pace
with
Nick
heading
for the car.

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got the time.”

“I don’t. It happened
long ago. In a faraway place. I don’t care to go back there. Okay?”

Daisy
registered
the
pain
in
his
eyes
and
nodded. “Sure. That’s okay.” It
was okay,
but
her
curiosity
was
running
on
overdrive.
Maybe
Thelma
would
fill
her
in,
or
even
Tom.
She
didn’t
have
to
be
too
bright
to
assume
that
it
had
something
to
do
with
their time together in the army. And
that
her
man
had
been
courageous
in
the
face
of
danger.

- o -

They
drove
until
dark
and
stayed
overnight
at
a
motel
in
central
Wisconsin.
The
next
morning
they
had
breakfast
in
the
adjacent
café. Nick peeked over the
rim of
his
coffee
cup
at
Daisy
nibbling
on
scrambled
eggs.
She
was
typically
so
buoyant
and
robust
in
the
morning,
making
him
feel like
he’d
already
lost
a
step
or
two.
But
this
morning
she
behaved
differently.

There
was
a
melancholy
quality
about
her
that
he’d
seldom
witnessed
before.
Her
eyelids
drooped;
her
posture
slumped,
as
if
she
had
the
weight
of
the
world
on
her
shoulders.
He
smiled
to
himself.
The
clincher
was
that
Daisy
usually
ate
her
breakfast
like
she’d
been
starved
for
a
week,
but
this
morning
she
played
with
it.

“So
what’s
up?”
he
asked.
“You
out
of
sorts?”

Daisy raised her eyes
from her plate to
meet
his. The
sadness in them tore at his
heart.
She
shook
her
head
in
response.

“Worried
about
your
horses?”

“It’s
not
that.”
Daisy
swallowed
and
looked
back
down
at
her
eggs
and
bacon.
“I
guess
I’ve
never
had
a
mountain
top
experience
before.”

Nick
frowned.

“I’ve
heard
others
talk
about
going
away
on retreats
or
vacations
and
having
such
spectacular
times
that
they
had
a
hard
time
going
back.
I’d
always
thought
that
was so much bunk. But now I know they
weren’t lying.”

“But
life
goes
on.”

“Yes,
but
not
like
that
night under
the
Northern
Lights.”

“No. That was a peak
moment. But
there
will
be
other
peak
times.
Maybe
at
the
track. Maybe at your place or mine.
Maybe
back
in
northern
Minnesota.
Try
as
hard
as
we
might,
we
can’t
hold
on
to
the
moment.
We
can
only
remember
it
and
look
forward
to
the
next
one.”

He
watched
her
smoky
eyes
liquefy.
“Damn,
I
sound
like
some
old
wise
sage.”

Daisy
chuckled.
“You’ve
probably
had
many peak
experiences.
Sometimes
I
feel
like
such
a
novice
at
life.”

“You’re
doing
great.”
Nick
reached
across
the
small
round
table
and
stroked
the
back
of
her
hand.
“You
have
a
lot
of
wisdom,
too. That’s part of what makes us
work—we’re
both
open
to
hearing
the
other’s
wisdom.”

“Sometimes you get
pretty hard of
hearing,”
Daisy
quipped,
a
small
smile
forming
on
her
lips.

Nick
withdrew
his
hand,
feigning
pain.
“Usually
when
you’re
not
willing
to
dream big
enough.”

“I’m
not
used
to
dreaming
big.”
Daisy
lifted
a coffee cup. “I normally
dream about
making
it
through
the
month
with
my
bills
paid,
maybe
about
getting
into
the
winner’s
circle
more
often,
or
of
having
enough
money
set
aside
for
taxes,
and,”
her
voice
faltered,
“being
part
of
a
real
family.”

Daisy
stopped
talking.
Nick
watched
her
scatter
pieces
of
egg
across
her
plate.
She’d
just
revealed
more
of
herself
than
she
had
probably
wanted
to.
Why
couldn’t
she
trust
him
more?
After
all
they’d
shared,
she
was
still
reticent
to
talk
about
herself, as if
she were afraid of his censure.

He
remembered
the
tattered
riding
pants
Cassie
had
shown
him.
Daisy
had
conquered
a
lot
in
her
short
life.
That
should
be
a
source
of
pride,
not
shame.