Willow Smoke (74 page)

Daisy
wanted
to
kick
herself.
Why
hadn’t
she
seen
it
all
along?
If
it
had
been
anyone
else,
she
would
have
noticed
more
signs.
But
it
was
her
sister
and
Daisy
so
wanted
her
to
do
the
right
thing...to
dump
drugs
and
Reggie.

“Reggie
wanted
me
to
give
you
a
message,”
Maxine
cooed.

“What’s that?”

“He
just
wants
you
to
know
that
bygones
are
bygones
and
he
holds
no
grudges
against
you
or
your
boyfriend.
Can
you
believe
that,
baby?
He
wants
us
to
be
a
regular family. Once he gets this
job
done,
he’ll
come
back
home
where
he
belongs.”

And
pigs
can
fly!
How
could
her
sister
be
so
gullible?
She
had
no
common
sense
or
any
other
kind
of
sense.
Daisy’s
stomach
lurched.
She
had
to
get
out
of
there
before
she
barfed.
Pushing
her
chair
back, she
stood
and
went
to
the
sink
to
rinse
out
her
cup.
“I’ve
got
be
going,”
she
said.
“I’ve
got
a
horse
who
needs
some
medication
within
the
hour.”

“Horses!”
Maxine
scowled.
“That’s
all
you
care
about.
You
could
spend
more
time
with
me.
And
aren’t
you
going
to
say
anything
about
Reggie?
He’s
being
mag...magnanimous.
And
you
don’t
even
say
squat.”

Daisy’s
shoulders
sagged
and
her
chin
dropped
to
her
chest.
“Maxine,
I
want
you
to
be happy. I guess if Reggie makes you happy, so be it. But I can’t trust him.”

“You
don’t
want
to
trust
him.”
Maxine
reached
for
the
nearly
empty
pack
of
cigarettes.
“He’s
going
to
make
more
money
than
your
Nicholas
Underwood.
Because...because
he’s
more
of
a
man.”

Suppressing
a
grin
and
the
memory
of
Nick’s
foot
squashing
Reggie’s
wrist
to
the
floor
in
the
hospital
waiting
room,
Daisy
nodded.
“You
believe
what
you
want,
Maxine.
I
can’t
live
your
life
for
you.”

“Thank
God
for
that.
I
wasn’t
born
to
be
a
goody-two-shoes
like
you.
It’s
amazing
to me that any man would want to
share
a
bed
with
you.
That
Underwood
must
be
hard
up.”

“Thanks
for
your
love
and
concern,
but
I
haven’t
seen
Nick
for
a
week.”

“Oh?”
Maxine’s
eyes
narrowed.
“You
mean’s
he’s
no
longer
in
the
picture?”

“Doesn’t seem to be.”

“Damn,
Reggie
won’t
like
that.
He
wanted
us
to
be
a
family.”

“Right.
And
if
you
believe
that
you
must
think
Reggie
is
Santa’s
elf.”
Daisy
couldn’t
stop her legs from shaking.

“That’s
enough,”
Maxine
screamed.
“Out
of my
house.
Now!
I
don’t
need
your
help
or your money. Go! Beat it!”

Daisy grabbed her purse.
“I’m out of here.
You
know
how
to
get
hold
of
me
if
you
need
anything.”

“I won’t.”

“Right.”

“This
time
take
the
pill
like
a
good
boy,”
Daisy
muttered,
trying
to
push
the
dosage
over
MrShowman’s
tongue
with
her
fingers.
At
last,
he
swallowed,
and
Daisy
withdrew
her
arm
and
massaged
the
gelding’s
throat.
“Well
done,
big
guy.
Makes
me
think
that
all
males
should
be
gelded.
Might make them more tractable.”

“Ouch,”
rasped
a
deep
voice
from
outside
the
stall.
“Do
you
have
any
particular
male
in
mind?”

Daisy
peeked
swiftly
over
her
shoulder
and
tried to control the pace of her heart.
She
patted
MrShowman
on
the
shoulder
before
stepping
toward
the
stall
door.
“Thought
you
learned
not
to
sneak
up
on
someone
working
with
a
horse.”

Nick
pulled
on
the
brim
of
his
hat.
“And
it’s good
to
see
you,
too.
I
did
learn
that
lesson.
But
your
reference
to
gelding
all
the
males
you’ve
ever
known
sort
of
got
me
off kilter a bit.”

“That’s not what I said,”
she protested,
unlatching
the
door
and
stepping
out
into
the
alleyway.

“No, but it’s what you
meant. And I still might like to have kids someday, if I can
ever
convince
the
right
woman
to
have
me.”

“Good
luck.
So
what
are
you
doing
here,
Mr.
Underwood?”

“Two
things,”
he
said,
with
a
smug
grin. “I’m
checking
up
on
my
investments.
And
I’m here to make a
date with that
right
woman
I
just mentioned.”

“Oh.” Daisy crossed her
arms. “I thought you weren’t going to pressure me.”

“I’m not. But I’m not
going to lie either. I am a man of honor, after all.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“And
you
didn’t
miss
me
at
all
this
past
week?”

Daisy’s
skin
tingled.
“Oh,
has
it
been
a
week
already?”

“You
don’t
do
coy
very
well,
kid.
Lying
doesn’t
become
you.
So
how
is
our
fellow
doing?”

Welcoming
the
change
of
subject,
Daisy
peered
back
into
the
stall.
“He’s
fine.
We’ll
try
to
enter
him
in
a
one
mile
race
on
the
grass
next
Saturday.”