The telephone rang and he let it. It rang as his tongue entered her mouth, and she tasted as she had before, onthe trunk of the Custom Lancer. Warm and sweet like Daisy. She tasted of things long forgotten. Of soft skinand need and lust and a love that had ripped his heart out.
He pushed the memories from his head as he slid one hand to her right breast. The phone continued to ring as hecupped between her legs through the heavy denim. "Daisy," he spoke to the side of her head and breathed deepthe scent of her hair. "Come to my bed and let me remind you about sex again."
The ringing stopped but instantly started again. Daisy slid out of his grasp and moved across the kitchen. "Thatmight be important," she said.
He had a pretty good idea who it was. Buddy Calhoun was supposed to come by and pick up a Corvair Monzasitting in the shop and take it to his garage in Lubbock. Buddy was the best body man in the state, and one ofthe few restorers Jack trusted to take a vehicle out of his shop. But his timing sucked. Instead of pursuing Daisy,he walked to the telephone, his boot heels an angry thud against the old linoleum floor. "This better be good,"
he said into the receiver.
"Hello," a female voice spoke, "this is Louella Brooks. Is Daisy there?"
He glanced back at Daisy. "Oh, hello Mrs. Brooks. Yeah, she's right here."
Daisy walked across the kitchen and took the phone from him. "Hello?" She looked up at him and frowned.
"What? What happened? Is she okay?" Her brows lifted almost to her hairline. "Good. Where's Pippen?" Daisycovered the side of her face with her hand. "Thank God." There was a pause and then she said, "Okay. I'm onmy way." She hung up the telephone and turned to Jack.
"What's the matter?"
"My sister has officially lost her mind. That's what's the matter," she said as she moved to the counter andpicked up her purse.
He ignored the ache between his legs as he reached for his T-shirt and pulled it over his head. "Is Lily okay?"
"No, she's a nut. What did she and mother do before I came to visit?" she asked, distracted as she shoved herhand inside her purse and pulled out a set of keys. "Run around acting weird and delusional? What are theygoing to do once I go back home?" She walked from the kitchen and through the living room. "Good gravy Ihave my act together more than either of those women. Now, how darn scary is that?"
He didn't answer because he pretty much figured it was a rhetorical question and he didn't want to upset hermore.
Through the screen door, he watched her jump in her mother's car and drive away. A glimpse of the Caddy'staillights and whine of the steering linkage as she pulled around to the street, was the last he expected to see orhear of Daisy Monroe.
Jack walked back through the empty house to the kitchen. He returned the milk to the refrigerator, and his gazefell on the white envelope she'd left behind. Steven's letter. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. Hisname was written in all capital letters in blue ink on the front.
He opened a cupboard door and stuck the envelope between two coffee mugs. He'd read it someday. But notnow. Not when the memory of Daisy, naked on the back of the Custom Lancer was still so fresh in his head.
Not when the taste of Steven's wife was still in his mouth.
Since she'd, been back, he'd wondered if being with Daisy would be as good as he remembered. The answerwas that it was better. Better in some way he didn't even try to define. He just knew that being with her wasdifferent. It was more than just sex. More than the pleasure he usually found being with a woman. More than aquickie on the trunk of a car.
It wasn't love. He knew for a fad that he wasn't in love with Daisy Lee. He might talk slow, but he wasn't stupid.
And loving Daisy was just plain stupid. He didn't know why being with her felt different, but he didn't want toknow either. He wasn't the kind of guy who dissected his life and looked for hidden meaning. No, he was thekind of guy who pushed it down deep until it went away. All he knew for certain was that sex with her wasbetter than any he'd had in a long time, and it was a good thing that she was leaving so he could return to hislife. His life before she'd blown into town and reminded him of things that were better left forgotten.
She was gone now, and there was no reason why he should think of her again.
No reason at all.
A black-and-white tow truck pulled up to Ronnie's house as Daisy and Louella drove past on their way to thehospital. It was only a few blocks out of their way on Locust Grove, and they had to see the destruction forthemselves.
Ronnie's little house was beige stucco and someone had nailed a longhorn skull over the front door. His yardconsisted of stubby brown weeds, and it would have been a drab scene if not for Lily's Red Ford Taurus stickinghalf out the front room.
"Was Ronnie home?" Daisy asked as she floored the Caddy and sped on. She figured all the cops standingaround were too busy gawking at Lily's Taurus to take notice of a speeder.
"I don't think so, but we won't know for sure until we get to the hospital."
Daisy hated hospitals. No matter the city or state, they all smelled and felt the same. Sterile and cold. She'dspent enough time in them with Steven to know that they dispensed a lot of medication and advice, but rarelygood news.
She and her mother walked through the small hospital's emergency room doors and, after a few moments, weretaken to Lily. Pippen was at home with Louella's next-door neighbor, and it was a good thing he wasn't withthem. The second the nurse pushed back the green-and-blue striped curtain separating the beds, Louella burstinto tears.
"It's okay, Mom," Daisy said, suddenly feeling like the only sane person in a family that had lost its collectivemind. She took her mother's hand and held tight. "Lily's going to be okay."
But Lily didn't look okay. The left side of her face was swelling and there was a gash on her forehead. Bloodcaked her blond hair and the corners of her closed eyes. Some sort of bandaging immobilized her left arm, thickand very white, except where bright red blood seeped through. There was an Win her right forearm, whichwasn't bandaged, and her clothes had been cut off. A young male doctor in green scrubs lifted the sheet to listento her heart and lungs. He looked up at them through wire-framed glasses.
Louella moved to the head of the bed and Daisy went with her. "Lily Belle. Momma's here. Daisy too."
Lily didn't respond and Daisy reached out to touch the side of her face that wasn't swollen. Her sister lookeddeadly pale, and if it weren't for the steady rise and fall of her chest, Daisy would have thought she really wasdead. It was too much in an already emotionally charged day, and like the flip of a switch, Daisy's autopilotkicked in, and she felt herself go numb inside.
"What's the matter with her?" Louella asked.
"All we know so far," the young doctor answered, "is she has lacerations to her left arm and forehead and herankle looks to be fractured. We won't know anything more until we get her CT scans."
"Why isn't she awake?"
"She took a pretty nasty hit to her forehead. I don't believe her skull is fractured and her pupils are responsive.
We'll know more after we get a look at her X-rays."
"Was there anyone else hurt in the accident?" Daisy asked, praying Lily hadn't mowed down Ronnie and Kelly.
"She was the only one transported from the scene."
Which told Daisy nothing. Ronnie and Kelly could have been treated at the scene or, God forbid, dead. Shehadn't seen Ronnie, but she hadn't been looking.
They were only permitted a few moments with Lily before she was wheeled away. They were told a doctorwould talk to them shortly, but Daisy knew "shortly" could take hours.
She and her mother were shown to a small waiting room, and it looked and felt like every other waiting roomshe'd ever been in. She figured that all hospitals must choose colors from the same palate. Blues, greens, and adash of maroon.
They sat together on a small blue sofa, and on the table next to Daisy sat a fake fern, a copy of Reader's Digest,Newsweek, and the Gideon Bible. She'd read
a lot of Reader's Digest over of the last two and a half years, andshe didn't even have a subscription.
A man and a woman stood near the door talking in hushed tones as if they raised their voice they'd scream.
Daisy knew how they felt. She'd been here before, so many times. Finding distractions so she wouldn't screamand fall apart, concentrating on nice, even breaths so she could pretend her husband hadn't been dying. And nowthat her sister wasn't lying on a hospital gurney with blood crusted in her beautiful blond hair.
She picked up the Reader's Digest and flipped to "Humor in Uniform."
"She looked so white," Louella said, a tremble in her voice. "And there was so much blood."
"Scalps bleed a lot, Mom." She sounded so cool. As if she wasn't trembling inside, in the place where sheshoved it all away. Down deep where she could control it. She'd gotten really good at sucking up her emotionsand going numb inside. Never letting things get too close to the surface, because if she jet that happen, she'dlose it for sure.
Like with Jack today.
"How do you know?"
"Steven," she answered, and concentrated even harder on her magazine. She didn't want to think about Jackright now. She'd have to deal with him, and the repercussions of what she'd done, but not today. For now shepushed that problem down to the number two spot on her to-do list. Lily and the potential of murder chargesmoved to number one. She wondered how much a really good psychiatrist cost these days.
"Why wouldn't they tell us anything?"
"They don't know anything right now."
A police officer walked into the room and asked if they were related to Lily. He had a crewcut and wore a blueuniform and looked as if he could bench three hundred. He identified himself as Officer Neal Flegel. "Igraduated high school with Lily and Ronnie," he said.
"You're Matt's little brother." Daisy shook his hand. "I went to a high school dance with Matt our sophomoreyear. Does he still live in Lovett?" she asked, because after all, this was Texas and manners came beforeemergencies.
"He just moved back from San Antone. I'll tell him you asked about him." He pulled out his notebook and gotdown to business. "I surely hated to see Lily in that car." He told them that the Taurus had come to a stop fivefeet inside Ronnie's living room. And as Daisy tried to figure out a subtle way of inquiring if Lily had killedRonnie, Neal Flegel asked, "Do either of you have any reason to think she might have done this on purpose?"
That had actually been Daisy's first and only thought. "No." She shook her head and tried to look perplexed. "Itmust have been an accident."
"Her foot must have slipped," Louella said, and Daisy wondered if her mother actually believed it any morethan she did. "And," Louella continued as if just struck by a thought, "she's been getting those blindingmigraines lately."
"We spoke to Ronnie and he told us they'd been fighting a lot lately"
"You spoke to Ronnie today?" Daisy almost laughed with relief. "After the accident?"
"We contacted him at his girlfriend's."
"So he wasn't even home?"
"No one was in the home at the time."
"Thank God," Daisy sighed. Her sister wasn't going to fry for murder. This was Texas. If you were going tocommit murder, Texas wasn't a good state to do it in. On the other hand, juries filled with Texas women didtend to sympathize with the wife of a cheating dog.
"Has she been suicidal?" Neal asked.
That gave both Daisy and her mother pause. Lily was depressed and pissed off, but Daisy didn't think shewanted to kill herself. Just Ronnie.
"No," Louella answered. "She just got a job working at Albertsons's deli. Things are looking up for her now."
"I was with her last night, and she was fine," Daisy told the officer. And it was the truth. Lily had been fine thenight before. Daisy had only had listen to "Earl Had to Die" twice. Once on the way to Slim Clem's and once onthe way home.
Neal asked a few more questions and when he left, Daisy asked her mother, "Do you think she tried to killherself?"
"Of course not," Louella said through a frown.
"Do you think she tried to kill Ronnie?"
"Daisy Lee, your sister's foot slipped, is all." And that was the end of the discussion.
Except that wasn't all. Not for Daisy. With Lily in the hospital and potentially homicidal, she couldn't possiblygo home tomorrow. Nathan was not going to be happy.
She excused herself and found a bank of phones next to the Coke and candy machines. She used her callingcard, and when Nathan got on the phone she tried to sound cheerful. Why, she really didn't know - other thanthat's what she was supposed to do.
"Hey there, Nathan."
"Hi, Mom."
She hesitated for a heartbeat, then cut right to the chase. "I have some news you're not going to like."
There was a tong pause. "What?"
"Your aunt Lily was in a bad car accident this morning. She's in the hospital. I won't be coming hometomorrow."
He didn't ask about Lily. He was fifteen and concerned with his own problems. "You can't do this to me."
"Nathan, Lily is really hurt."
"I'm sorry about that, but you promised!"
"Nathan, I didn't know Lily was going to drive her car into Ronnie's living room."
"I got my hair cut! No way. No way, Mom. I am not staying here. They tried to make me eat Swedish meatballslast night."
They probably hadn't tried to make him do anything, but Nathan detested Swedish meatballs and those to see itas a conspiracy. One more reason why he didn't like staying with them. Daisy sighed and wedged herselfbetween the pay phone and the deep blue soda machine. "I don't know what to do, Nate. I really can't leave yourgrandmother and Lily right now. It isn't like I'm down here partying it up while you're consigned to hell."
"I want to come down there, then."
"What?"
"Mom, I hate it here. I'd rather be there with you."
She thought of Jack.
"You can't do this to me." Over the phone line, she could hear Nathan's voice crack with emotion he tried tohold back. "Please, Mom."
What were the chances he'd run into Jack before she spoke to him? Next to none. He'd probably just hang outand watch TV at his grandmother's house. And even if the two did accidentally meet, so what? They didn't lookanything alike. They wouldn't know who the other was. Nathan never asked about Jack, and she doubted heeven remembered Jack's last name. "If that's what you really want, I'll call around and get you a flight downhere."
His sigh of relief carried over the line. "I love you, Mom."
"Funny how you only remember to mention it when you're getting your way." She smiled. "Get your aunt Junieon the phone."
After she hung up from talking to Steven's sister, she called around and got a flight out of Seattle for the nextday. It departed at six in the morning, had a three hour and forty minute layover in Dallas, and didn't arrive inAmarillo until almost five P.M. She thought about maybe driving to Dallas and picking Nathan up there. It wasa six-hour drive, one way. Maybe they could spend the night in the big D. Go to Fort Worth and Cow Town andhave barbeque. The more she thought of it, the more it appealed to her. She needed a vacation from hervacation, but when she called Nathan back, he told her that he'd rather sit for three hours in the Dallas-FortWorth airport than eat barbeque and drive for six hours the next day. So much for getting away from the chaos.
But she supposed that no matter how tempting, she couldn't leave her mother and Lily right now.
She booked his ticket, and as she walked back to the waiting room, she wondered if her family had always beenthis insane, or if they were diving headfirst into crazy creek on her behalf.
By the time she made it back to her mother, the doctor was sitting beside her on the short sofa. Daisy moved tostand by Louella.
"Is she awake?" her mother asked.
"She woke up about fifteen minutes ago. Her CT scans are clear. There isn't any brain trauma or injury to herinternal organs. It's a good thing she was
wearing her seat belt and that the car had air bags." He glanced up atDaisy. "Her ankle is broken and she's going to need surgery to pin the bones back together. An orthopedicsurgeon is on his way from Amarillo."
After the doctor left, Louella stayed with Lily at the hospital and Daisy left to take care of Pippen. She put himdown for a nap and finally changed out of her mother's Winnie the Pooh dress. With nothing else to occupy hermind, she thought of Jack. Even in that stupid dress, you turn me on, he'd said, which was just absurd.
She changed into a khaki skirt and white blouse and scrounged around in the kitchen for something to eat. Shemade a toasted cheese sandwich, some tomato soup, and a glass of iced tea. She took it to the breakfast nook,where the sun lit up the yellow table.
Having sex with Jack on the trunk of a car had been a mistake. No, having sex with him at all had been amistake. But at the time, she hadn't possessed the will power to do much more than put up a halfheartedobjection. She'd known she would regret it, but that hadn't stopped her.
She dunked her sandwich into her soup and took a bite. She'd had sex with Jack. It had been bad. No, it hadbeen wrong. The sex had been good. Fabulous. So fabulous she'd burst into tears and embarrassed herself. Herface got hot just thinking about that - about that and the desire in Jack's green eyes when he'd looked at her, hotand alive touching her all over. Just the thought of it warmed her up.
She blew into her soup. She hated to admit it, but if her mother hadn't called, it was likely that she would haveended up in his bed. She'd probably still be there.
She took a drink of her tea. But what now? She didn't know, and with everything else going on in her life, shedidn't have to think about it until everything settled a bit.
After Pippen got up from his nap, she took photographs of him out in her mother's garden. She shot him pickingforbidden flowers while standing amongst the pink flamingos. For that short time, while she gazed at the worldfrom behind her camera, her problems receded to the background.
Later when Louella came home, she noticed her mother looked about ten years older than she had that morning.
Daisy's back in town lt-1 Page 14
