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Easy let go of her hand and lifted her chin. “It’s not you,” he told her. “It’s just where you live.” He leaned forward, and she held her breath. His lips touched her forehead gently. “Keep your head up, Daisy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Chapter 35
Daisy walked into the trailer and shut the door behind her, putting a barrier between herself and whatever had just happened. She looked around at the lumpy couch and the stained carpet and tried to imagine Easy growing up in a similar place. She couldn’t picture it, but then he and his friends had homes with yards instead of weeds. She’d just assumed it had always been that way for him. Maybe she was just as guilty of judging appearances.
In the morning, she grabbed a quick shower (only because it was cold) and slowly got dressed. She headed out the door but couldn’t force herself to do more than take slow, deliberate steps. He’d said he’d see her today, but maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe after he left he’d taken a walk around Vista Valley and Delay proper and decided to go back home- without her.
She paused just before the railroad tracks. Without her. Did she want him to take her back to Rapid City?
It didn’t matter if she did; he hadn’t offered. Nor was he likely to, not now that he knew the truth. So why was he here? Just to apologize? Maybe he was making amends, she mused. He’d bought a bike, gotten a new prosthetic, and now that he was starting his new life, he was making up for the old one.
In the time she’d known him, Easy hadn’t been a heavy drinker. She doubted he was addicted to alcohol, but maybe depression was its own kind of addiction. You just got so used to being in the gutter that it was easier to stay there. She knew a thing or two about that.
Her mama, it seemed, had long ago given up on having anything better. Even stocking her fridge for her on-again, off-again man seemed a little more like habit than hope. Daisy had never gone down that road. She knew that once you started- and if you kept on it long enough- the way back was longer than the way through, and you just kept on going- right up until you died. She wasn’t going to own a fancy hotel or run a restaurant; she’d barely finished high school. But she’d be damned if she’d die in a dirty trailer in Delay, Nebraska.
She couldn’t blame Easy for pulling himself up, and now it seemed he was finally recovering from his own bump in the road. It was just hard to feel happy for him when she wasn’t sure why he was here. If he wanted to rub it in, then why had he admitted he’d grown up basically just like her? If he was here to apologize, why didn’t he just do that and leave?
As she approached the diner, her heart knocked in her chest as she saw him outside leaning up against his new bike. He remained silent as he held the door for her. She shuffled inside and grabbed her apron as he chose a stool at the counter again. She ducked her head guiltily, as Joe glared at them both.
As if to legitimize his presence, Easy said, “I’ll have steak and eggs, scrambled. With coffee.”
Daisy filled his cup, along with everyone else’s, and started her shift. When Easy finished his breakfast, he pushed the plate away and unfolded a newspaper. Daisy knew there was nothing newsworthy going on in Delay, certainly nothing of interest to a man like Jimmy, but he continued to read for the better part of the morning.
Daisy was about to take his lunch order when the bell above the door jingled. She looked over Easy’s shoulder and scowled. Matt stomped up to the counter, looking surly.
“What do you want?” Daisy asked him.
Easy looked up from his paper, first at Daisy then at Matt. Matt eyeballed him with disdain.
“Heard some asshole was in town sniffing around.”
“He’s not,” Daisy replied. “And it’s no business of yours, anyway.”
Matt ignored her and glared at Easy. “Daisy’s mine,” he declared loudly. “So you can just fuck right off, because you don’t belong here, and you sure as shit don’t belong with her!”
Daisy watched as Easy put down the paper and got up off the stool.
“Hey!” yelled Joe. “I don’t want no trouble in here! You take it outside.”
Daisy was certain she heard the old man mutter that she wasn’t even worth it, but she was too busy staring at Matt and Easy to care.
Easy drew himself up to his full height, which was a head taller than Matt. Matt’s jaw twitched, but he didn’t back down.
“Well, you’re right about one thing,” Easy replied. “I don’t belong here. But you’re wrong about something else. Daisy isn’t yours.”
