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When Matt had stumbled back to their motel room with a swollen eye, a busted lip, and a broken nose, she’d had to reconsider what it would mean to be someone’s old lady. She would’ve been Matt’s old lady, if as he’d planned, he’d been accepted into whichever gang at the rally had impressed them the most. Daisy hadn’t known a damn thing about how someone actually got into an MC. Matt had apparently had his own ideas about it. Once they’d checked into their motel room, he’d unzipped a bag of freshly cooked meth. Daisy had gone apeshit. Drug dealing was far beyond anything she was comfortable with.
Matt assured her he’d trade the crystal for a place in a gang and Daisy, though not happy about it, believed him. He’d come back quite a bit worse for the wear and relieved of all his ‘product’. When she said “I told you so,” Matt had slugged her and left her in Sturgis.
“No,” she told him. “I didn’t hook up with anyone in an MC.”
“Well, when are you coming home?”
She scoffed. “Never, Matt. This is home.”
“Oh, bullshit,” he replied. “Who do you even know there? I’m not there. April’s not there.”
“April’s in Florida.”
“They’re coming back,” he told her. “Tiny couldn’t find work. Your mom’s here, too. So, come home.”
“I’m not coming back, Matt. I’m done with Delay. And I’m done with you.”
“None of that was my fault! And anyway, you’re the one who kept on about joining an MC. Life on the road and all that shit! That was all you!”
“Well, I didn’t tell you to cook up some meth!” she argued. “I told you to stay away from that shit!”
“I wasn’t using it! I was going to sell it!”
“That’s not any better! And you’re going to end up in jail, Matt. You can’t-”
“I don’t sell it, either,” he said quietly. “Believe me. I learned my lesson. So just come home. I’ve got some things going and-”
“What things?” she demanded. “If you’re not selling drugs, then what?”
“I took a job at the plant.”
A heavy silence hung between them and despite everything, Daisy still felt sorry for him. Matt had been determined not to end up like his old man, wasting away at the plant until his bad knees and messed up shoulder had put him on disability. Since she’d known Matt, the topic of most conversations was how to get the hell out of Delay. That he’d taken a job at the plant meant he’d given up on ever leaving.
“I can’t, Matt. There’s just no way.”
“Why not?” he argued. “What the hell do you have going on there that’s so great?”
“I have to go,” she told him.
“Go where?”
“Out. With friends.”
“What friends? You hooked up with some asshole?”
Daisy sighed. Honestly, that was the long and the short of it. She was hooked up with someone. And usually he was an asshole. “Bye, Matt,” she said and disconnected the call.
Hawk’s truck pulled into the parking space just outside her room and she went out to greet them. Tildy moved closer to Hawk so Daisy could fit.
“How’s your ink?” Daisy asked.
“The scab’s nearly gone.”
“Don’t pick at it,” Daisy advised.
Tildy shook her head. “I won’t,” she said and leaned back in the seat. “This week has been so crazy. My dress came in. Along with Sarah’s. It’s been murder trying to find a tux that would fit Hawk.”
Daisy grinned. “I believe it,” she said glancing at the large man. “He doesn’t seem like the tux type.”
Hawk grunted, but kept his eyes on the road. “Only for her.”
“He looks so good in it, though,” Tildy insisted.
“I believe that, too.”
“Abby’s got the ballroom ready and the menu is all sorted out.”
“You’re having it at her hotel? Fancy.”
“Well, she’s giving us a break,” Tildy explained. “Otherwise we could never afford it.”
Daisy frowned. “So, your folks aren’t helping out?”
It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Tildy came from money. Everything from the way she spoke to the way she accessorized her outfits, said she was high class. She never wore a lot of expensive jewelry, but there was always a scarf or a matching handbag.
Tildy was quiet for a moment, then shook her head. “No. They don’t even know. We haven’t talked in a long time.”
“What’s a long time?”
“About six months.”
Daisy whistled. That was almost as long as she’d gone without speaking to her own mother.
“I don’t know how it’ll all work out,” Tildy said. “I decided not to invite them to the wedding.” She looked impossibly sad and Daisy couldn’t feel anything but sorry for her. “I don’t know what would hurt more, them not coming, or coming and putting me down. Or Hawk. I won’t let them insult him.”
The large man said nothing but patted her knee gently. He pulled into Shooter and Sarah’s driveway and killed the engine.
