by Kitty Parker
"Would you like something to drink?" She asks and walks past him to go into the kitchen without waiting for a response.
She takes two glasses down from the cabinet and fills each with water. She hands one to T-Dog as she passes him and sits herself down on the couch and waits as he sits himself down in the armchair. She doesn't say anything. He came here for a reason – a reason she already knows but she figures she'll let him start this particular conversation. Despite what he said to Matty after the game on Saturday, she hasn't allowed him to go to practice today. And she doesn't know if she'll allow him to go to practice tomorrow.
"I understand your nerves," T-Dog begins. "It was a scary hit he took on Saturday."
"He is six-years-old," Daisy speaks much sooner than she had been planning. "He is my son and I'm not going to let him get hurt or get a concussion over some stupid game."
T-Dog lowers his eyes for a moment as if he's being reprimanded but then he looks at her again. He holds his glass of water between both of his hands. "You remind me of my mom. She was a single mom and raised me all on her own. She raised me in the church and she raised me right and she'd kill anyone to keep me safe."
Daisy remains quiet, looking at him.
"So, I understand what you're saying to me. I know you want to keep Matty safe. I want that, too. I love these kids like they're my own and I would never want to see any of them get hurt."
"I think you and the coaches, you are so caught up in winning and being the best, you all forget that these boys are six and seven years old. They are babies," she says.
"Forgive me, Daisy, but I think you forget that your son loves football. He absolutely loves it. And he's got a god-given talent to play it," T-Dog tells her, firm yet gentle at the same time.
Daisy has absolutely no reply for that one because she can't deny something that's the truth.
…
"Was wonderin' what happened to that," Jack says as she opens the door to him.
He had left a zipped hooded sweatshirt here a couple of nights ago and Daisy is wearing it now. It's big and warm and smells like him and she admits that she hopes he doesn't want it back. She's been wearing it all day and she loves it more than any sweater or housecoat.
"I think it fits me much better than you," she smiles up at him.
Jack just smirks. "Think you're right ' bout that."
And then, because she wants to and she wants them to try and be one of those couples, Daisy stands up on her toes and she kisses him. Just a peck really. A split second meeting of lips. Quick and casual as if they are nothing more than friends.
"How was your day?" She asks and heads into the kitchen, leaving him standing in the doorway, looking a little stunned.
But after a moment, he's able to shake his head and snap out of it. "Busy. Yours?" He asks, closing the door behind him and heading to go into the kitchen, too.
"I have a baby shower tomorrow," she answers in way of explaining the cupcakes that cover the surface of the table, each one topped with a little yellow duck. She goes to the counter, pulling a container out that holds the egg noodles that she needs to boil for dinner and she sees the way Jack is looking over the spread of cupcakes. She smiles. "Chocolate and blueberry with a blue buttercream frosting," she tells him. "Here. I made you an extra," she says, holding the one up she's been keeping on the counter for him.
Jack looks at it and then her and for a moment, he doesn't move or doesn't say anything. She wishes she could read his face when it's blank like this but she supposes it's like having sex. They're just not at that point with one another yet.
He steps forward then and he reaches out and takes the cupcake from her hand and his eyes bore into hers. He is standing so close to her, their chests nearly brush together and she can feel the heat coming from his body. She wonders if he can hear her rapid heartbeat and she can smell his scent that's familiar to her now. Dirt and oil and earth. She resists the urge to just press her nose to him and take a big whiff.
"Kiss me," she hears herself whisper and no sooner that the words leave her mouth and reach his ears does he do just that.
Leans does and presses his lips to hers and she instantly seems to sink into him, her hands coming to a rest on his chest, fingers curling into his tee-shirt, and his one hand not holding the cupcake curls around her hip tightly, fingers bruising her skin but she can care less about that because it doesn't hurt. Not at all. It only makes her whimper and want more and she presses herself against him, letting him know that.
And Jack takes the silent hint and he slants his mouth over hers and his tongue is in her mouth and Daisy presses herself hard against him because this is straight out of her fantasy.
Has he been having the same fantasies about her?
They hear a toilet flush and then the running of water in the sink and a second later, they hear running feet. They manage to separate their lips just in time but they're both holding one another and their chests are heaving in tempo to the other.
"Hi, Jack!" Matty exclaims, happy to see him as always and he doesn't seem to find anything odd about the man who lives across the hall and his mama in one another's arms.
"Hey, kid," Jack manages a smile and his breathing is almost completely normal again.
"I'm going to practice today," Matty then says, happily grinning as he goes to the refrigerator to take out the jug of apple juice.
Jack seems surprised at that and he looks to Daisy but she just gives a small smile and a shrug. T-Dog is right. She'll do absolutely anything to keep her son safe. And she'll do anything to make him happy, too.
…
"Do you want your sweatshirt back?" She asks him as she walks him to the door after dinner and some television as she always does.
Jack looks at her and smiles a little, shaking his head. "Nah. Looks better on you than it ever did on me."
He leans in and gives her his usual goodbye kiss but perhaps because of what had happened in the kitchen, this kiss is a bit longer and his lips linger, seeming almost reluctant to move from hers.
When he finally breaks away and goes back to his apartment, Daisy closes her door with a smile on her face. She closes her eyes and brings the sweatshirt up to her nose, taking a small whiff. She might have Jack wear it occasionally – just so it keeps smelling like him.
…
This time, she's on the bed on her hands and knees. She's gripping the pillow, moaning into it, trying to keep quiet, and he's behind her. She thought he was going to take her this way but instead, his face is between her legs and he just keeps burying it in further and she feels like maybe he's trying to suffocate himself.
She's never even thought of having this done but when he comes over that night and comes into her bedroom, closing the door behind him and pulling his tee-shirt off as he stares at her and in his low, gravely voice, he tells her that he wants to eat her out.
And it feels like he's doing just that. It's as if the man hasn't had a meal in a week as he presses his face to her, his hands gripping her ass and drinking her down. And she feels like she's going to pass out from it all.
She shrieks with surprise as Jack suddenly flips her over on her back and the mattress springs protest beneath her. She then laughs, breathless, and he doesn't let her catch her breath before he pulls her thighs apart once more and dives right back in. This time, she can grip his hair with her fingers but she has no pillow to quiet her moans and even though she knows Matty is sleeping through this, she still tries so hard to keep herself quiet.
She wonders how he got so good at this – going down on a girl – but then she thinks of other girls before her, of Carolina, and she doesn't want to think of Jack with anyone else except her; of his mouth on someone else and his head between someone else's thighs.
She just wants to imagine that it's just him and her and there's been no past before this moment. It's just him and her and that's all it's ever been and it's all it ever will be.
When Daisy wakes up the next morning from
this particular dream, her underwear is wet and the throb between her legs is practically unbearable. Looking at the clock on her nightstand, she sees that she has a little bit of time before she has to get up to begin her day. And she doesn't do this often but after last night's dream, she knows she has to.
So she closes her eyes, sinks herself against the pillow and slips her hand under the covers and into the waistband of her underwear.
…
Daisy knows her daddy doesn't agree with her decision but he understands why she makes it. It's hard for him because he's known Jimmy and his parents forever – since Jimmy was a little boy and the Campbell family live on the farm bordering theirs. He's been disappointed with them for so long – with Jimmy for not taking a more active role in his son's life and for the Campbell's for thinking Jimmy's life was completely ruined and not showing that much interest in their grandson's life.
Daisy has been raising Matty all on her own. Everyone knows that. Jimmy gives her money every month but that money is Jimmy's way of thinking he's absolved from all other responsibility. And she doesn't want her son to think that that's all he is – a burden or financial responsibility. He's so much more than that and it's Jimmy's fault if he doesn't know that because Matty's the greatest kid in the world and Jimmy is missing out.
So, she makes the decision to have Jimmy no longer involved in any sense of the word. And Johnathan doesn't agree with that. A boy needs his father but Daisy points out to him that Matty has never had a father. He has a Grandpa and two uncles but never an actual father.
And Johnathan isn't able to deny that.
She knows it will be hard but it's been hard ever since she found out she was pregnant. Whether Jimmy is giving her money every month or not won't change that. Her baking business is doing well and she's ready to put down the first month's rent on a tiny storefront in town and all of her dreams are coming true. There's nothing stopping her and she'll be damned if anyone thinks she can't provide for her son.
She brings daddy, mom and Maybelle to look at the tiny storefront with her. It's a brick building with a purple door and one large window in front. It's so small, there will just be room for one case, a tiny counter, and a small space in the back to bake. But it's all she needs and it's everything she's ever imagined. After discussing the matter with the landlord and then discussing it with her family – though her mind is already made up – she signs the papers and the landlord hands her the key and just like that, she's on her way.
She's waited for this moment for so long and now it's here and it's completely overwhelming. She has paperwork and to fill out and she has to get a license to sell her cupcakes from this space and she has so much cleaning and baking to do but one thing at a time. Right now, she just has to bask in this and she clutches the key in her hand as her daddy and mom and Maybelle all hug her and they're all just as happy as she is.
…
Her family leaves after a while but Daisy stays behind in her store. She looks over everything again and she imagines how everything will look. She wants to open in a couple of months so the next few weeks are going to be so busy but she's alright with that. She's excited.
She's ready.
She leaves the store – securely locking the purple door behind her – and instead of heading towards the apartment building, she heads towards the auto garage where Jack works. She's never visited him at work before and she hopes that he doesn't mind that she is today.
It's a cool fall day but all of the bay doors are open and she hears music from the radio – an old country song – and the whirring of a variety of tools. Her eyes scan for Jack and which bay he would be in and she finds him in the second one closest to the office. She wonders if she needs to go to the office first but then as if he can sense her there, Jack lifts his head from the car he's working on and she smiles the instant their eyes lock.
He looks at her for a moment as if he's not entirely sure she's really there or not but then he takes the rag from his back pocket and wiping his hands, he steps from his bay and begins approaching her. She's still smiling as she stands and waits for him and his own lips are twitching a little now. He's wearing a black tee-shirt with Martinez Garage in white script on the back with nothing else to protect him against the brisk fall air and he's wearing a backwards baseball cap, holding his hair back from his face. As always, he's dirty and looking so incredibly good, Daisy almost wants to lick her lips.
Thankfully, she's able to control herself from doing so and when he reaches her, she stands on her toes and kisses him quickly on the lips, clearly surprising him.
"I hope that's alright," she then says, feeling her cheeks warm because she remembers that they're at his place of work and they've not been affectionate with one another like this in public yet and maybe he'll completely hate it or be angry with her.
"'s fine," Jack says, looking at nothing but her, his lips still twitching a little. "Everythin' else alright?" He then asks.
She eagerly nods her head and she holds up the key for him to see.
Jack's lips stretch into an actual smile when he sees it because he knows exactly what it is. And without a word, he leans down and he kisses her – right there in the front of the garage where all of his coworkers and anyone who wants to see can.
He pulls his lips from hers and he's still smiling and Daisy is pretty sure she looks likes an idiot, the size of her smile actually beginning to hurt her cheek.
"Guess that means we got a lot of work to do," he comments.
And it's so hard. She's trying to be so careful still around him but Daisy looks up at him and she just doesn't know how she can be.
…
She's not an idiot. She knows Matty is a good football player and he's so happy on that field – whether it be at practice or during a game. Her son has always loved to run. She's pretty sure he learned how to crawl, run and then walk and when he's out on that field, a football in his arm, he always runs like the wind and hardly anyone can ever catch him.
She hears the other parents talk as they watch practice. Matty is going to take the team to the youth football States game that year. Matty is going to be a star in junior high and high school and he'll get a scholarship to any college he wants and Daisy, what NFL team are you a fan of? You know Matty will get drafted.
And on and on it goes and Daisy does her best to ignore them all though sometimes, she's just tempted to turn to them and remind him that her son – that all of their sons – is just six-years-old and he just wants to have fun. She doesn't say it though. She knows these parents and they're all cut from the same football-crazed cloth.
When T-Dog ends practice and Matty comes to her, sweating and smiling, she kisses him on the head and put her arm around him as they walk towards the car.
"Did you have fun?" She always makes sure to ask him after every practice.
"Yep!" And Matty always exclaims.
And the instant he ever answers that question differently, the instant he tells her that he doesn't want to play or that he's afraid of getting hurt, that will be it. He won't play anymore and no one will ever pressure him back onto that field.
If he doesn't want to play football anymore, maybe he'll take an interest in the culinary arts.
…
First things first. Cleaning. A lot of cleaning. All weekend – except for Matty's game on Saturday and church service on Sunday. Wiping and mopping and bleaching and Jack sands down the counter in front and the counters in the back in the small kitchen. They clean until the building is sparkling and the sun streams through the window and Daisy stands there, smiling. She hasn't stopped smiling all weekend.
"Alright, everyone. Dinner back at the farm," Johnathan says, ushering everyone outside and Daisy turns, locking the purple door once more.
"So what were you thinkin'?" Jack asks as they follow behind her family, walking towards his pickup truck.
"About?" She watches ahead as Shawn gives Matty a piggyback ride.
"For the sign
," Jack clarifies. "You gonna wanna call it Daisy's Bakery?"
"I think so," she says and smiles up at him. "I actually haven't thought of it. Isn't that crazy? All I've ever wanted is my own bakery and I've gone through thousands of names for it over the years but now, that I finally am going to be opening my own, I haven't even thought of it."
He doesn't say anything to that; just pulls his keys from his pocket. But she's getting used to his silence and just because he doesn't say anything doesn't mean he's not listening. She has learned that Jack hears everything.
"What do you think?" She then asks him.
He shrugs. "I like Daisy's Bakery. But only if you do. I'll like anythin' you pick and I'll be able to make you any sign you want."
Daisy's smile softens but doesn't fade and she slips her hand into his. He's the one to intertwine their fingers together and she can't imagine the smile to leave her face anytime soon. When they get to the truck, he slowly pulls his hand from hers and opens the passenger side door for her.
"Daisy! Matty's coming with us!" Nathaniel shouts from where he and Maybelle have parked a bit up the street.
"Thanks, Nathaniel!" Bell calls back. She then looks up at Jack. "I can't thank you enough for helping me out this weekend. I know you usually visit your brother on Sundays…"
He shrugs again. "Already talked with Martinez. He's givin' me tomorrow off so I can go see him then."
"That's really nice of him," Daisy comments.
"We're friends," Jack says and that's all he says.
"Are you allowed to take him something to eat? Your brother," she then clarifies. "I don't know the rules of prison and what you can take him."
"There are rules but if I bring 'im somethin', they have to put it in a scan. Make sure I'm not sneakin' him a file or somethin'."
"Then come to see me tomorrow before you go and see him," she says, her mind made up.
Jack looks at her curiously but she just smiles and won't tell him anything more. She climbs into the truck and he's still looking at her as he closes the door. And because she's feeling happy and silly, she leans through the open window and kisses him.
