by Renee Miller
He shoved his hands in his pockets and strode across the room.
Kristina stumbled to move out of his way.
He turned, raising an eyebrow a smirk curving his lips. “What are you afraid of?”
“Nothing.”
She straightened her shoulders. He couldn’t hurt her now. The lawyers and the police said he couldn’t.
Daniel strode toward her, his hands still in his pockets. “You’re scared.”
“It’ll be hard to impress clients from a jail cell.” She lifted her chin.
“You wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Yes I would.”
He lifted his hand to her hair and twirled an auburn strand between his fingers. “No, I think your boyfriend has your head all turned around, but you still love me.”
“You’re wrong on both counts.”
He lowered his arm and strode to the door. “I know when you’re lying.”
Daniel opened the door and paused. The sunlight streamed through the screen, giving his blond hair a whitish halo, shadowing his face slightly. He smirked and scratched his head. “I wonder if the court would allow a whore to keep her baby. I think they might reconsider if there was another home—a two-parent home—for her to go to.”
He turned, slamming the door behind him as he left.
Kristina sank to the floor, her arm coming to rest on the playpen. She glanced at her daughter, who still cooed happily at her reflection. Kristina had no love left for the angry and hateful monster Daniel had become, but when he’d touched her hair, his eyes softened just a little and her resolve weakened. If only they could go back and do it over. There had been good times. Her heart recalled every moment when he looked at her like that.
Shaking her head, she ran a trembling hand over her face. What had she done to make him so angry? Cadence whined, forcing her back to reality. It didn’t matter what she’d done. No amount of regret could put the pieces back together.
CHAPTER 3
Daniel squealed the truck’s tires as he sped down the quiet street.
“What do you think of that, you nosy bastard?” he muttered to the old man who lived next door.
The man shook his bald head and frowned at Daniel, before turning back to his flowers. Every time he came to see Cadence, the prick stood out front watering something. Did he think he fooled anyone? Kristina probably told him all sorts of bullshit about their marriage. She told anyone who would listen.
Cursing, he slammed one fist on the steering wheel and swerved, narrowly avoiding a black sedan parked in the middle of the damn road. These streets were too fucking small. Kristina’s always had vehicles lining both sides and no room for anyone to drive. Daniel cranked the wheel, ignoring a stop sign, and careened around the corner. He knew what his wife—ex-wife, was all about. She wanted to ruin him, and she nearly succeeded. His job hung by a thread and his boss had forced him to go to the court-appointed counseling. “To get your temper under control,” Carl had said. If Daniel didn’t do it, he’d be out of a job.
Arrogant son of a bitch. As if Carl knew anything about anger management. Mr. High and Mighty, Carl Canon, didn’t know a thing about hard times or dealing with a bitch. His wife was perfect, wouldn’t say shit if her mouth were full of it.
Carl had women on the side and went where he pleased. As long as wifey had enough money to shop and get her hair done, she never said a word. What did he know about Daniel’s misery?
Canon Design was as old as this shithole town, just like Carl’s family. He’d inherited a fortune and didn’t have to work to make a name for himself. Still, as much as he believed the Canon’s were white trash with more money than brains, he liked his job. As a sales rep, most of his work consisted of meeting prospective clients and discussing what they wanted Canon to do for their home or business while wining, dining, or playing eighteen holes on a Wednesday. Daniel drafted the plans, got the client’s approval, and then sent them Carl’s way to sign the contract. He seldom spent time in the office.
Canon was the closest to success he could hope for, at least while staying in this piece of shit community.
He could move to the city, and get the hell out of this area. He’d had enough job offers to know he’d never starve out there. But then he’d be nobody. Daniel had never been nobody.
He slowed as a fat woman with a stroller crossed the road ahead. She wiped her dark hair from her forehead and pulled at her baggy t-shirt. Daniel closed his eyes as she slowly waddled to the other side. Probably one of those welfare cases with ten kids and no husband to whip her back into shape. Did Kristina have any clue how lucky she was to have someone care about her like he had? Christ, he’d busted his ass to make her into the best wife she could be and made sure she didn’t turn into a fat piece of trash like that woman. What did he get for giving a damn?
Thanks to him, she lived in a nice house on a quiet street with respectable neighbors. Practically waterfront property. True, no house in Laighton screamed high class, but the one he provided was a damn sight better than the dingy eyesore she came from over on the other side of the river.
Her parents didn’t even own a house. Joe, her father, worked in construction and her mother was a cashier. Neither would improve their situation in life. Fuck, Joe could barely read. Because of Daniel, people considered Kristina worth their time and she’d kicked his balls for his trouble. There’s gratitude for you.
He squinted through the sun’s glare. Turning right again he’d barely accelerated when he had to slow once more. A woman in the car ahead kept touching her brakes, and it pissed him off. The air conditioning, cold as an arctic breeze, blew across his face. Cursing, he switched it off and pushed the button next to his arm to put the window down.
The woman ahead came to a full stop, her right signal light flashing for no fucking reason. He slammed his foot on the brake, clenched his jaw, and tried to breathe. She changed her mind about turning into the lawn to her right and continued forward. He wanted to jump out of the truck and rip her out of the car by her frizzy hair, take her keys and her license, and then find the stupid shit that let her behind the wheel of anything. This is exactly why he never allowed Kristina to get her license: one less idiot woman on the road.
Finally, the woman turned right, no signal this time, leaving the road clear. He slammed his palm on the horn and gave her the finger. She didn’t glance his way, but he knew she saw him.
He came to the set of lights across from the grocery store and stopped. The town now boasted two sets of traffic lights as it became apparent more and more of Laighton’s residents didn’t know what an intersection was or how one should use it. He pulled out his phone while waiting for the light to turn. An old man stood next to the Dollar Store on Daniel’s right, staring at the walk sign. Did he expect the flashing man to hop out and help him across the road? Finally, the idiot stepped off the curb and hobbled across the street. Daniel turned his thoughts back to Desiree and dialed her number.
Slim, blonde, and about as bright as a burned out light bulb. But she had potential because she made it her mission in life to please him. As Desiree’s phone rang, he thought back to the day he met her. It always made him smile.
Kristina had been at the doctor’s, having an ultrasound done to determine the sex of their baby. Turns out they’d driven all the way to Salach for nothing. At the time, she said they couldn’t tell because the baby wouldn’t turn. She lied. He didn’t want a girl and she tried to cover it up so he wouldn’t be angry. Kristina learned that day no one lied to him.
Desiree had been sitting in triage, her arm in a sling. Holding a copy of some women’s magazine, she chewed on a manicured nail and flipped the pages idly. He’d paused. Just looking at her he could tell she was a woman who didn’t go anywhere looking frumpy, not even to the hospital with a bum arm. Her hair fell over her shoulders in carefully constructed honey-colored waves, and she wore a pink cotton dress and strappy shoes that looked as though the slightest stumble would break them. Care
fully applied makeup accentuated her large brown eyes.
Daniel tried to impress upon Kristina the importance of always looking her best. She represented him when she went out, but she never paid attention. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time she’d put makeup on or wore anything but a sloppy ponytail. He preferred blondes too, not brunettes. He’d told Kristina numerous times she should dye her red mess a more attractive color.
Daniel had sat in the chair next to Desiree and picked up a magazine. People coughed and moaned in the chairs around him. He’d glared. Normally he’d have returned to his truck after making sure Kristina went to her appointment, but the sight of Desiree intrigued him enough to risk the germs of the degenerates and hypochondriacs filling the hospital’s emergency department. Desiree glanced at him a couple of times before he gifted her with his smile.
She looked away blushing.
He took a chance. “I’m Daniel.”
“Desiree. Um…I think I broke my wrist.”
He looked at the sling, noting her swollen hand. “How did you manage that?”
She blushed again.
He set the magazine down.
“I tripped over my cat.”
Daniel laughed. How stupid. Tripping over a cat? Daniel didn’t like pets. Stinking, stupid wastes of space. There was a reason man stood at the top of the food chain. “When you’re done, do you want to get a drink or something?” he asked.
“I’m going to be a while. But maybe another time.”
Daniel didn’t pause to think about it. He took out his wallet and searched for a business card. “Here, call me when you’re done.”
She took it. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m not busy tonight. I’m waiting for a friend, but once I take her home, I’m free.”
“Her?”
“It’s complicated.” Daniel waited as she digested this. He made no move to cover his wedding band when she looked at his hand.
She smiled and nodded after a moment. “You can explain over drinks.”
He’d worked on molding Desiree into what he needed her to be for months. Too bad she couldn’t retain simple instructions.
Desiree’s phone went to voicemail. Daniel jolted out of his thoughts and snapped his phone shut. Where the hell was she? He specifically told her to be around. She knew he hated when she didn’t answer her phone. It made it seem like she had something to hide.
The light changed and a blonde in tight spandex shorts and a bra-like shirt darted across. He mumbled under his breath, waiting for her to clear the front of the truck before turning left, the bumper a breath away from her fat ass.
She glared.
He smiled. Bitch.
He hadn’t yet committed to keeping Desiree. Sure, she was manageable, but he had so much work yet to do with her. Kristina had been so close; he hated to give her up. He shouldn’t have hit Cadence, and he wouldn’t do it again, but he’d been angry. He felt terrible when he’d seen his daughter the next day. Kristina’s father stood in the window holding Cadence while the cops informed him he could no longer go into his own house. But if Kristina hadn’t behaved so stupidly, he wouldn’t have lost control. He prided himself on always being in control.
After rescuing the phone from the passenger seat, Daniel hit redial and waited. As he sped out of Laighton, past the cottages along the lake where he used to meet Desiree, it went to voicemail once more. He punched ‘end’ and then hit redial again. She better pick up before he reached Salach or she would be in more shit than she’d ever known.
Maybe his mistake was allowing Desiree to keep her cell phone. It had only taken one mistake for Kristina to learn never to leave the house when he told her he’d call. A cell phone was out of the question, and she never questioned his decision. Desiree couldn’t seem to get it through her thick head. She needed to put him ahead of everyone else, and that included work. Waitressing didn’t demand a lot of brainpower. She should check her phone on breaks, every break, in case he needed her for something. Just because she had to turn it off didn’t mean she could ignore his calls. She’d have to give up her job. It wasn’t like she contributed anything anyway.
Daniel took very little in as he sped home, hitting redial several times and still getting her voicemail. A car passed him, red with a cracked rear window and rust along the passenger door. He cursed. If he didn’t have to worry about her bullshit, the asshole would have been eating his dust. He could barely keep the damn truck on the road he was so pissed. When Desiree’s voice filtered to his brain, Daniel tightened his grip on the phone and stepped down on the gas.
“Where the hell were you?” he yelled.
“I’m at work. I had to shut my phone off; you know they don’t like it ringing when we’re busy,” her voice shook. She knew she’d screwed up.
“So busy you don’t have time for me?”
“Dan, come on. You know that’s not true. There’s a big golf tournament today, and we’ve got a party of twelve in my section. How am I supposed to check my phone when I haven’t had a break all day?”
“That’s some attitude you’ve developed. All those guys flirting with you got you feeling like someone important, eh? You think any of them will give a shit about you like I do?”
“This is stupid. Were you just at your wife’s?”
“What does she have to do with you and me?”
Daniel slowed the truck as he approached the ‘Welcome to Salach’ sign and turned off the highway. A large truck stopped suddenly and Daniel had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting it. He dropped the phone and cursed.
“Dan? You okay?” Desiree’s voice came from under the seat.
Daniel reached under and picked the phone up, fury smoldering in his chest. If she wasn’t so goddamn stupid... he’d almost wrecked his new truck.
He glanced through the windshield and caught the grinning face of Wade Bowen in the mirror of the truck ahead of him.
Fucking asshole.
“Dan?” Desiree’s voice held a note of panic.
Daniel put the phone to his ear, and lifted his other hand to give Bowen the finger. The other truck sped away. “Listen, Kristina is none of your fucking business. You got me?”
Desiree murmured something unintelligible.
“She might have her head screwed on crooked, but she damn well listens when I tell her to do something. If I needed her, she was there. Every time,” he continued.
“I know. I’m sorry, Dan. Really. I just got busy and I forgot you had to go there today. Was it terrible?”
Daniel’s anger subsided; she knew she was wrong. He’d deal with her tonight. “Yeah, she’s turned Cadence against me. I can’t even pick the kid up without her crying for her mother.”
“That’s awful. How could she? I’d never do that to you, no matter what happened between us.”
“Yes, you would. Women are all the same.” He stopped at a red light just past the arena.
The Stingray van parked outside and kids swarmed it. Damn, he meant to sign up for the summer hockey camp. Carl liked them to be involved in shit like that.
“She just needs to remember how lucky she was to have me there to guide her and then we could straighten this shit out.”
“You don’t need her. We can have more children.” Desiree’s voice raised a notch, as it always did when he talked about going back to Kristina.
The light changed to green. Daniel turned right and followed the heavy traffic slowly inching his way to Front Street and their apartment. He made a mental note to call about getting in on the hockey camp.
“It’s the principle of the whole thing, don’t you get it? She fucked me over and that can’t be ignored. I own her. Marriage means something to me.”
“But what about us? You guys are divorced, Dan. How much more over does a marriage get?”
“Shit, I don’t have time for this. I told you before. Things don’t have to change between us. I love you, but you’ve got a lot to learn before I’d consider getting se
rious. If you’d just listen to me then I could give you what you want. But I don’t settle.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” A loud crash and Desiree’s muffled voice as she covered the phone. Of course, now she’d have to go.
“Listen hon, I have to get back. I’ll see you at home.”
“Yeah, we’ll talk about this later. You make sure you go straight home. I don’t want to come looking for you.”
“I will. If I run late I’ll call.”
“You won’t run late.” Daniel shut the phone and tossed it back on the seat.
He saw his apartment building but drove past.
He needed a drink.
***
Desiree arrived home one hour late, excuses running out of her mouth before she’d even closed the door.
“Sorry. I called, but you didn’t answer and I thought you’d gone out. We had a table come in ten minutes before closing and Mike sent Laura home early so I had no choice.” She set her purse on the counter.
Daniel sat in the darkened living room, his feet up on the coffee table. “I told you what would happen if you didn’t come home when I asked you to. I specifically said you were not to be late. Not tonight. It doesn’t matter whether I answered the phone or not. My instructions didn’t include doing what you fucking pleased if I happened to step out for a minute. When are you going to learn?”
He moved his feet off the table and stood. The room spun, and he closed his eyes to steady himself.
Women. God put them on this earth with a purpose, but not the one most women nowadays believed. No one reads the Bible anymore, that’s the problem. Daniel seethed as Desiree wrung her hands in front of her. She should be worried.
In the Book of Daniel, which was written by his father, if you couldn’t manage one woman, you were shit, not a man at all. They existed simply to ease the empty hours, and to make babies. They weren’t supposed to think. He didn’t enjoy punishing Desiree or Kristina; not the way his dad enjoyed knocking his mom around. Sure his mom deserved it most times, but his dad sometimes looked for reasons to punish her, which was wrong. It was different for Daniel. He cared about making them the best they could be, but the pair of them insisted on trying to emasculate him and he had to act accordingly. He could let some things go, but being too lenient led to trouble. Give them an inch and they’d take a mile. His mother had taught him better than that. His dad let her off easy just once and the traitorous bitch abandoned all of them.