AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sarah smiled at Hope as Shooter held her across the room. “It’s totally worth it,” she told Tildy.
“Enjoy the rest of your trip!” Daisy told her and headed to the kitchen to get herself something to drink. She pulled a bottle out of the fridge and pried off the cap. She turned and stepped right into Easy, who had come up behind her. She jerked back and sloshed beer all over herself. “Damn it,” she said and reached for a paper towel.
“Sorry,” he replied and picked up the mostly empty bottle.
“It’s not your fault. I didn’t hear you.” She sopped up the mess, dabbing at her shirt and avoiding looking at him.
“Daisy-”
She sighed. “Do you have anything to say that I actually want to hear?”
Before he could respond, her phone rang again. She threw down the sodden paper towel and yanked her phone out of her pocket. “The assholes are coming out of the woodwork tonight,” she muttered and stabbed the answer button.
She brushed past Easy and headed toward the back door. “What?” she snapped into the phone. She didn’t really want to talk to Matt, but she definitely didn’t want to talk to Jimmy, either. The devil you know, she thought as she opened the screen door and stepped outside.
“Stop hanging up on me!” Matt demanded.
“I was kind of hoping you’d take the hint,” she replied. “What do you want, Matt?”
“I miss you.”
Daisy rolled her eyes and plucked a leaf off a nearby tree, twirling the stem in her fingers.
“Come home.”
“I told you. I am home.”
“You don’t sound like it,” he pointed out. “In fact, you sound damn miserable.”
“No one’s smacking me around,” Daisy replied, “so there’s that.”
He sighed. “I said I was sorry for that. It won’t happen again.”
“Matt-”
“It never happened before.”
That part was true. Matt had done his share of yelling and pushing, but he’d never hit her before that day.
“So, just come home. I miss you,” he repeated. “I miss how we used to be.”
Daisy pressed her lips together. She didn’t miss Nebraska or Matt for that matter, but she had to admit it was nice to be wanted. It just sucked that it was the wrong guy saying it.
“I got a place of my own,” he told her. “And I can put in a good word for you at the plant.”
“They’re never going to hire me,” Daisy told him, because it seemed easier to say than arguing about being over him.
“They might.”
“Matt, they’re not going hire a girl with a prostitution conviction. It won’t happen. I’ve got a good job here and-”
“So, they hired you. The plant’ll hire you, too.”
Daisy bit her lip and felt guilty about lying on the application. She’d probably have to lie for the rest of her life. She didn’t relish the thought.
“Forget it, Matt. We’re done.”
“Daisy-”
Daisy hung up on him, hopefully for the last time, and shoved her phone back into her pocket. She turned around and came face to face with Easy, lurking in the shadow of the house.
“Jesus!” she cried. “You scared me.”
It was getting dark outside, but she could still make out his face. She froze.
“You’re a whore,” he said quietly.
Daisy’s heart pounded, and she felt like she was going to be sick. “Jimmy-”
“You’re a fucking whore.”
Daisy shook her head. “It’s not really like that. I-”
“I let you into my life!” he shouted. “Into my house! And you’re a god damn whore!”
Daisy’s eyes flitted to the house. The back door opened and Sarah came through it. Daisy felt on the edge of panic and took a step toward him. “I’m not,” she told him quietly. “Please don’t-”
“Do not fucking touch me!” Easy shouted.
“Jimmy!” Sarah yelled and Shooter followed the sound of their voices out into the backyard.
“She’s a hooker!” he told Sarah loudly, then he turned back to Daisy. “I guess that’s where you’ve been for the last eight months!”
Sarah looked from Easy to Daisy. “Daisy?”
Daisy pressed her lips together as Tex, Abby, and Caleb came out. They weren’t exactly surrounding her, but she felt trapped just the same. She shook her head and refused to answer. The sting of tears pricked the back of her eyes, and she blinked rapidly, willing them not to fall. Crying would solve nothing, and the last thing she wanted to do was explain.
“She just got out of jail,” Easy informed them. “For prostitution.”
Daisy laughed, sharp and bitter, and glared at him. “You forgot resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.”
“Maria doesn’t hire felons,” Caleb pointed out.
Daisy shrugged. “She’s also too busy to do background checks.”
“You bitch,” Easy snapped.
“Easy,” Shooter said quietly.
“You bitch!” he yelled louder. “You come here and lie- to all of us. You’re nothing but a skank ass whore!”
“That’s enough,” Caleb said, trying to defuse the situation. He crossed toward her, reaching out his hand. “Daisy-”
She jerked back from him, nearly stumbling. Tears welled up in her eyes and blurred her vision. “Don’t touch me!” she shouted at him. “Not you! Never you!”
