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“What?”
“Apparently the honeymoon suite comes with the ballroom,” she told him. “But Hawk and Tildy are catching a plane tonight.” She grinned at him. “Abby gave me the key. There’s a mini bar and a Jacuzzi tub.”
“Jesus.”
“I didn’t borrow Tildy’s bikini, though,” she told him. “I forgot.”
“Still not interested.”
“Why not?” she asked, though she knew goddamn well why not.
His eyes narrowed, and he leaned toward her. “We just fucked yesterday,” he said quietly. “Can’t you get enough?” He pried himself loose of her hand and turned.
“Apparently not,” she told him harshly. “Guess I’ll scout the place out for a real man. A whole man.”
Easy turned on her, anger blazing in his eyes. “What did you just say to me?”
“You heard me,” she said quietly, not wanting to attract attention. “You’re sure as shit aren’t a whole man. And it’s got nothing to do with your leg.” She raised her hand and jabbed a finger at him. “I know exactly what’s underneath that pant leg of yours,” she whispered fiercely, “even though you won’t show it to me. I know, and I… don’t… care.” She continued her one-woman invasion into his personal space. “But you sure as shit aren’t a whole man, Jimmy Turnbull! I’m also telling you that you better locate the missing pieces of that heart of yours. And you better do it right quick, ’cause I am not waiting forever for you!”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Now, I’m willing to forgive a lot, because I happen to know a thing or two about needing someone to look beyond what’s right in front of them and into the soul of a person. And no matter how much you treat me like a piece of shit, white trash, bathroom lay, don’t think for a second that I don’t see how you hold Hope, like she’s the most precious thing in the world.
“So, there’s something inside you, Jimmy Turnbull. Something that kinda looks like a heart. Something that maybe used to be a heart. Like the ghost of a heart. It’s just missing so many pieces that there’s not room for a whole hell of a lot of people in there.”
She stomped away before he could respond, careful not to totter on her high heels. She would have preferred to just leave, but Tildy blocked her path. She was holding a large, cardboard cylinder in her hand. “You didn’t have to get a gift!” she gushed.
Daisy felt heat creeping up her face and blamed Easy for it. Her stomach turned as she felt another kind of embarrassment. “I… ” she said weakly. She’d buried the ‘gift’ behind all the other wrapped presents on the corner table, hoping neither Tildy nor Hawk would notice it. “I didn’t really,” she mumbled.
To Daisy’s horror, Tildy pulled the top off and began pulling the rolled paper out of the tube. She bit her lip and looked at her feet. It wasn’t a toaster, or a clock, or whatever else people gave as gifts for a wedding like this.
Tildy rolled it flat onto a table and gasped. “Oh, Daisy.”
A fair number of people gathered around to look. Daisy was used to colored pencils more than anything else, but she’d opted for charcoal this time, and it had taken several tries to get it just right. The drawing was large; it took up half the table. Most of the details she’d drawn from memory, which hadn’t been hard because she saw the place almost every day.
It was Maria’s bar, minus Maria- or anyone else. The jukebox was against the wall; the glasses and bottles were lined up on the shelves. The only two people were Hawk and Tildy, dancing alone in the center of the room, just like they had moments earlier for their first dance as a married couple.
In the drawing, Tildy’s head rested against his chest. Her eyes were closed, her face serene. Hawk had his chin against the side of her head. His eyes were closed, too. Hawk Red Cloud, with his huge muscles and large frame, looked even larger when compared to Tildy’s wispy figure. They looked like a couple that shouldn’t work, a hulking bad ass and a rich princess, but they fit together perfectly. And they only had eyes for each other. Daisy didn’t actually know what that felt like, to be with someone in a crowd of people but still be alone together.
Chapter 27
Daisy sat alone in the hotel room, keeping one eye on the door. As much as she’d meant it when she said she wouldn’t wait forever, she had to admit she was doing just that. She sighed and grasped the neck of a bottle of champagne that Abby had thoughtfully left in a bucket of ice.
As she tugged on the cork, she made another cursory inspection of the suite. It was beautiful with thick, plush carpet and a huge, four-poster bed. The comforter was a deep, royal blue that matched the walls. The only thing Daisy regretted, other than being alone here, was the fact that she’d have to give it up in the morning.
