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She shrugged. “It’s too soon to tell. Plan B should take care of it.”
He kissed her, letting his hands travel up her waist. “Shoot, Daisy, a baby wouldn’t be so bad.”
She slapped his hands away, looking mean enough to scratch him with her eyeballs. “Shut up, Hank Gallagher. Are you crazy? I only stopped hating you two weeks ago! You think I want your baby?”
He took her in his arms again, kissing her dusty, streaked cheeks, waiting until she softened in his arms. Soberly, he asked. “You would, right?”
“Hell, I don’t know, Hank. Do I really want a kid with the guy whose father stole Buck’s six hundred acres?” she asked, all riled again.
******
Her bitter tone must have stung him; Hank’s eyes looked hurt. “Don’t put it like that, Daize,” he said, real gentle. Letting go of her, he took the next two pieces of fence and knelt to slip pins in.
“How else should I put it, Hank? Wouldn’t be much of a choice, for me, would it?” she fired back, feeling a little desperate. “I’d be trapped.”
“How so?” he asked, lining up the next two pieces and slipping the pins in. “My Ma would watch the baby for us. I’ll make sure you get to school in September up near San Anton, get those vet tech credentials you want. It’s close enough that you can drive it every day, y’know.”
She stood back, hissing, “We’re only twenty-three, Hank. What are you saying? Heck, we haven’t even been on a date, yet!”
Teeth on edge, he shook his head, dropping the next pin in. “It’s not like I haven’t wanted to take you on a date, Daisy Mae. I asked, more times than I want to think about.” Then he laughed, remembering what Ty had said about her. “I wanted to go dancin’ with you that Saturday night we had off, and I offered to take you someplace nice for dinner, at least twice. I’d take you anywhere you wanted to go. And I had condoms Tuesday night, I just didn’t think.”
“I guess not,” she spat, eyes still on fire, arms crossed. She took a deep breath and blew it out in a huff. “Me neither. I should have thought of it, too, but that’s no reason to get ideas about making things between us permanent, Hank Gallagher.”
But that was exactly what he’d been thinking for the past three days. In fact, he’d been unable to think of anything else, checking his phone like a mad bull for a text from her. “Hell, Daisy, I’ve never wanted a girl the way I want you. Don’t you remember those forts we built, down on the creek?”
Eyes narrowed, she snapped, “Hank, it’s not like we were playing house down there. We had dirt wars. I threw mud clots at you, hard as I could, and then I tore your fort down. That’s not exactly a foundation for any kind of decent relationship, you know.”
“Anything so you’d win,” he grinned, grabbing the next piece of fence. “I never laughed so hard as I did watching you tear into my fort. You were a maniac,” he chuckled, showing white teeth, his silver-blue eyes gleaming affection. “You wanna throw mud clots at me now, Daisy Mae?”
She bit her lip but left her arms crossed. “Probably, yeah. I did all last night, anyway. You got a bucket of water?”
“I’d rather take you down to the creek by the waterfall. . . .” he said, knocking the next piece of fence. “Take you back underneath. We can watch the water spray . . .” He wiggled his eyebrows, smiling at her real naughty, then leaned down and took up another piece of fence, knocking the pin in, working fast so she could take a break.
Shaking her head, she walked to the saggy green McGreer Ranch truck and swigged cool water from her thermos. She couldn’t help watching Hank’s big shoulders, his loose jeans belted on narrow hips as he leaned over the metal sections of pen; it was so damn cute, him doing her work. Assembling the pieces of fence was such a handful for her, but he was knocking the darn thing together quickly, finishing up so they could talk. Or kiss.
It meant a lot that he’d come to find her. And he asked if “we” might be in trouble.Shoot, that’s sweet. T.J. would never have said “we”; he never would have been a man about any of this. Hank seems happy he might have me making his baby.
She walked back as Hank finished the fence. He pulled her close, so she eased against him, letting him shelter her. As his lips wandered over her neck and ears, she couldn’t help feeling the thrill of it, right down to her toes. Hank always made her feel safe.
She kissed him for real this time, to let him know she was counting on him, let her eyes get serious. “Being with you is different, y’know?”
“I know.” He pulled her closer and whispered in her ear. “You think I don’t want you in my arms every night, the way things are between us, Daisy Mae?Whatever happens is gonna be alright, I promise you that.”
“But what if it’s not?”
He kissed her eyelids. “It will be.”
*****
Daisy stood quiet in Hank’s arms, letting his warm hands hold her. It scared her, what was between them, but it was too good to resist. She wanted to hold it all inside of her and make it so it would always be there, so it lasted forever.
So few of Daisy’s good times had ever lasted. Buck and her Momma were gone now, and Daphne was always trying to make things special for her, but it wasn’t the same, really. Maybe she had a chance to get good times back with Hank.
Feeling shy, she said, “I’m almost finished here. I’m gonna have to hustle to get into Hymie’s tonight on time. You comin’ in?”
He kissed her lips, sweet and tender. “Sure, if you want me there.”
She bit her lower lip. “What about Janie?”Daisy liked Janie; it would be awkward if she showed up, looking for Hank.
