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“The hell she’s not.”
“If she was,” Easy told him calmly, “you wouldn’t have left her in Sturgis. And don’t think for one second that I’ve forgotten that you hit her before you took off.” Easy’s eyes narrowed as Matt’s widened. “So, how about it, Matt?” he said, managing to make ‘Matt’ sound like ‘shit’. “Want to talk about this outside? I’m ready.”
It was probably a combination of Easy’s deadly calm voice and the Army Ranger tattoo prominently visible on his forearm that caused Matt to rethink his strategy. He mumbled something about needing to get back to work before he turned to leave.
Easy slid back onto his stool, once Matt had left. Several other people were staring at him and Daisy. She didn’t know what to tell them or what to make of what had just happened. Deciding it wasn’t worth agonizing over, she cleared the counter and wiped it down. What had really happened? Not much, she decided. Matt had come in spoiling for a fight, not knowing who he’d be up against.
Easy had changed his mind with just a few words. Daisy reminded herself that none of those words had included claiming her for himself. He didn’t want her. He wasn’t apologizing and he still hadn’t left. Angrily, she threw down the rag. It was busy, too busy to just confront him. Hell, if she thought Joe would let her, she’d tell Easy to meet her outside. As it was, she’d just have to wait until they were alone, and she could tell his ass to leave.
Easy didn’t belong here. She did, at least for now. And it was time to end whatever this was.
By the time dinner service was over, she was spoiling for a fight herself. She stalked to the door Easy was holding open for her and passed through it. The only difference was that she wasn’t about to back down. It turned out, though, that she was forced to do exactly that. When she opened her mouth to give him what for, he asked, “So, your dad took off?”
Thrown off balance, she could only stare at him. Ignoring her confusion, Easy slid his hand into hers and started walking.
“My old man took off, too. I mean my real old man. My mom got knocked up in high school, but he took off once he found out. Not sure why the guy I call my dad agreed to marry her, except they were young, and her old man, my grandfather, wasn’t the nicest guy in the world. Maybe he felt like saving her. I don’t know.”
“I don’t think she wanted to be saved, though. Or she was angry that she needed it or something. Because she drank a lot, and she’d go off on a tear, yelling about the shithole we lived in and the crappy job she had to work to pay the bills. And she’d remind him that I wasn’t his.”
“I wanted to be, though. I was always trying to make him proud of me. But nothing I did was ever good enough. Not my grades or football, even though I was damn good at both. And you would think that I would have wised up, that I would have just stopped fucking trying, but I never did. Although, after a while, I didn’t want to impress him anymore.”
As they walked, Easy squinted into the setting sun that was orange against the purplish sky. “After a while, I just wanted to piss him off,” he admitted. “So, I’d be better than him, I decided. We were flat broke, no money for college. I figured I’d join the Army, and they’d pay for my education. And then I joined the Rangers, because they were elite. I had it all planned out. A few tours, a fat commission, then I’d come home and get married. To a nice, pretty girl who’d take care of my house and raise my kids and never, ever mouth off to me.”
Daisy jerked her hand again, a bit more forcefully this time. “Well, that’s not me. So, I don’t know what you thought you were doing hooking up with me in the first damn place. Because I’m not like that!”
Easy let go of her hand, but before she could get away he grabbed her shoulders. “No one is like that, Daisy. That girl, she was never real. She was never even a person to me! She was just like the football trophies and the medals, just another thing I could parade in front of my old man. I never once thought about how much I’d love her, only how much she would love me.”
“Well, you’re in luck!” Daisy shot back, pushing against his chest. “Because I don’t love you! I’m ugly, and tattooed, and mouthy. And I’m a whore, too. Just ask around! No one’s surprised. They all knew what I’d turn out to be. And you did, too. So, go back home, Turnbull. Because this is where I live, and you don’t want any part of it.”
