Willow Smoke

by Adriana Kraft

  At least she was taking out her anger on the table rather than on him.

  She looked back up at him. “One of these days the two of you are going to have to learn to trust each other more than you do, or your secrets are going to destroy a damn good relationship.” Cassie glared at her husband. “I have chores to do in the barn,” she said tartly. “See that you control yourself while my nose is absent.”

  Clint chuckled. “Or you’ll pry it out of me later.”

  “Of course. I always do.”

  The redhead sauntered through the kitchen to the porch swaying her hips with purpose. Nick laughed. There was little question how she’d wheedle information from her husband.

  Wincing at the slamming of the porch door, Clint arched his eyebrows. “Women can be infuriating no matter how long you’ve known them.”

  Nick nodded in agreement.

  “We’ll keep the surveillance on Reggie. Do you want to keep it on Daisy?”

  Glancing at the doorway, Nick knew Cassie was right. If Daisy ever found out he was having her followed, she’d flay him over a slow burning fire. But it was the only way he knew he could keep her safe. And even then there were no guarantees.

  He shrugged his shoulders and pushed his glasses firmly against the bridge of his nose. He nodded at Clint. “Yeah, Daisy, too.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Daisy scrutinized Blue Horizon, who was entering the practice starting gate under the guidance of her female exercise rider. For once, Thelma Harrison was quiet, resting her arms on the rail fence beside Daisy. The part owner had made it a habit to come out to the track whenever Blue was scheduled for a workout.

  This day was no exception. Blue would be working four furlongs from the gate. This would be a huge preparatory work. If she showed something and came out of the breeze fit, then they would try to find a race for her within the next two weeks.

  “Blue looks terrific, doesn’t she?” Thelma murmured.

  “She’s full of herself this morning. We’ll see how she comes out of the gate. Soon we’ll know.”

  Daisy punched the button on her stop watch as soon as the gate popped open and Blue Horizon lunged forward under the encouragement of her rider. Blue’s strides lengthened and she tucked her head down to her broad chest like she enjoyed what she was doing. Daisy smiled when the filly blew by where they stood. She glanced down at her watch and let out a low whistle. “Forty-eight flat. Very nice.” She turned to Thelma. “I believe we do have a racehorse here.”

  “I sure hope so. Tom’s having second thoughts. But I love that beast. I just hope she can do well.”

  “We’ll see soon enough. Some horses work fine in the morning, but run poorly in the afternoon.” Shading her eyes from the early morning sun, Daisy studied the filly approaching her. Nothing looked amiss. The horse looked like she’d prefer to run another mile or so. “I don’t think Blue will disappoint,” she said to Thelma. “She’s got a nice set of wheels. And smooth action.”

  Both women followed the exercise rider and filly back toward their barn. “It amazes me that this track is right in the middle of the city,” Thelma said. “Arlington is beautiful, but this is much more handy for the city fan.”

  “Sure is,” Daisy agreed, never taking her eyes from the legs of the filly walking in front of them. “Many days I just walk to work when we’re running here at Hawthorne. Funny, I love Arlington, but this is home. Guess I’ve always been a south side girl.”

  “Know what you mean. Tom and I moved to the near north for a while, but we missed what was familiar. We’re in Kenwood now—close to forty-seventh. Not in the kind of mansion Nick has, but we’re doing fine.” Thelma chuckled. “We’re back where it’s safe to be a White Sox fan. Don’t know how Nick can be a Cubbie, though, and live on the south side. But then he seldom does what’s expected.”

  Daisy glanced sharply at Thelma, who was giving her a slow smile. Pursing her lips, Daisy said, “That’s for sure.”

  They reached the barn and Daisy placed a halter loosely around Blue’s neck and then helped the exercise rider slip off the saddle and bridle. “She wanted to run. I had to work at getting her back down to a gallop,” the rider explained.

  Daisy nodded. “She looked good out there. Thanks. We’ll have two more ready to go tomorrow morning.”

  “Great. I’ll be here. Got to run. Cassie has a couple for me to work yet this morning.”

  Daisy paid little attention to the young woman jogging off toward Cassie’s barn; she was focused on Blue’s knees. Daisy bent and rubbed her fingers gently and knowingly up and down each front leg. She worked her fingers in and about the knees feeling for heat, feeling for something wrong. Blue never flinched and her knees felt tight and cool.

  Satisfied at last, Daisy stood and blew out a lung full of air. She turned toward Thelma and gave her a brilliant smile. “Thelma, we’ll race within the next two weeks.”

  “Hurrah,” Thelma squealed, dancing a little jig.

  Blue raised her head and backed up. Her eyes flared. “Oh, sorry,” Thelma apologized. “I forgot.”

  “It’s okay,” Daisy replied, handing Blue over to a groom. “Just don’t do it again. A lot of horses aren’t as laid back as Blue Horizon. So would you like some coffee? I’ve got some brewing in the tack room.”

  “I seldom pass up coffee. You ought to know that by now, girl.”

  “These cups may not be the cleanest,” Daisy said, filling two cups with coffee. “I’ve been meaning to take them home and run them through the dishwasher. Sam will never do it. He wouldn’t care if the cup is black as long as it holds coffee.”

  “If you’ll help me remember, I’ll take’em home with me. The least I can do for the partnership.” Thelma cast her eyes about the cramped space. “It’s hard to believe that this is headquarters for a multi-million dollar franchise.”

  Daisy pushed both hands through her hair. “I don’t think of it that way. The owners are the ones with the millions.”

  “Yes, but this is offices for the management team.”

  “Sure. I guess that’s right.”

  “Not many businesses would have their core management team work in these kinds of surroundings.”

  “Maybe management loves their work more here. Besides, my office is outdoors at the track, in the stable, and at my desk at home where I spend a lot of time looking at potential races.”

  “Speaking of potential.” Thelma raised her eyebrows. “How goes it with our Nicholas Underwood? I understand the two of you are a hot item again.”

  A hot item! She glanced at the calendar on the wall over the desk. The days were flying by. Her life had become almost comfortable. She’d sent Reggie a check through Maxine, and hadn’t seen either one since. Her nights were split fairly evenly between her apartment and Nick’s house.

  A hot item. You could say that, all right. Their sex life had never been hotter, and she couldn’t imagine it getting hotter still. But maybe. She gave a Thelma a shy grin and was too aware that she was blushing. “We’re doing fine, Thelma. We’re doing just fine.”

  “Harumph. Sounds like more than that to me.”

  Daisy scowled. “What has Nick been saying?”

  “Now don’t get your back up, girl. Nick hasn’t said much at all. It’s just how he behaves.”

  Chuckling, Daisy said, “You and Mrs. B.”

  “What? I know Mrs. B. Everybody does. What’s she got to do with this?”

  “She claims to know what a person is feeling by the way they walk.”

  Thelma placed her coffee cup back on the desk and jutted out her chin. “And you, of all people, question that. What the hell were you doing when we came back from the track to the barn if not watching how Blue walked? The way she walked communicated something to you. Now it didn’t do much for me, because I don’t know horses, but I know people. And Mrs. B. is right. If Nick gets any happier, we’ll have to tie a rope around him like they do to hot air balloons.”

  Daisy shook her h
ead and leaned back in the swivel chair. “That sounds like a lot of hot air to me. Though you do have a point about the horse.”

  “So are you going to marry the man?”

  Daisy sat up straight. There was no easy way to avoid the question. She wished she had an answer that would satisfy Thelma; hell, she wished she had an answer that’d satisfy her own curiosity. “Why is the marriage thing so important?”

  Thelma steepled her fingers. “It might be unusual for the younger generation, but traditionally when two people love each other they get married and,” Thelma’s voice cracked, “if they’re lucky, they have some kids.”

  “I’m sorry, Thelma. You and Tom would make such great parents.”

  “It’s okay. We’ve adjusted,” she smiled weakly, “the best we can. But we were talking about you, girl. What about you? Don’t you want children?”

  Tilting her head to one side, she paused and then responded, “I haven’t really thought much about kids. I wouldn’t want my children to grow up like I did.”

  “No, of course not. No mother would want that. But you have Nick Underwood. Your children wouldn’t know the poverty and stench that you knew. They would be raised in an entirely different world.”

  “And that bothers me, too,” Daisy confessed. “I’ve planned and worked hard all these years to improve myself and to have a better life, but I don’t want to forget where I came from. You know, there was a lot of good back there, too. People did the best they could with what little they had. No one will love me more than my grandmother. And,” Daisy pressed her forehead between thumb and index finger, “my mother loved me. Maybe the booze, and drugs, and guys were her way of self-medicating a broken heart. But I know she loved me.”

  “I’m sure she did, honey. I’m sure she did. And you’ll never totally leave that world behind when you marry Nick. And you can raise your children in ways that they can appreciate the gifts that they have and maybe even understand their roots.”

  Thelma scrunched her mouth as if debating with herself. “But you need to be careful, girl. The further we get from those days of real hardship, the more likely we glamorize them. It’s kind of perverse, I guess. We struggle so hard to make a better life. We succeed. And then we look back with fond memories.” Thelma shook her head.

  “Maybe it’s family that we’re remembering more than the circumstances,” Daisy offered.

  “Maybe you’re right. So when will you say yes?”

  Daisy smiled broadly. “Thelma, you sure are persistent. I really don’t know what I’m going to do. Nick and I seem so different. And we seem so right. And I can’t really leave my world behind, even if I wanted to. I still have a sister and a brother-in-law.”

  “Ah yes, I’ve heard what that lowlife tried to do to you in the hospital, of all places, while your sister was just hanging on.”

  Daisy shrugged. “We can’t pick our relatives.”

  “No, but we can pick husbands.” Thelma puffed out her cheeks. “One thing for certain, you and Nick will have some tall children. You might have your own basketball franchise.”

  “How can you say that?” Daisy turned away from Thelma and picked up a pencil and started crossing off things from her to do list. “Like I said, I don’t even know that I want to have children.”

  Thelma stood. “Well, maybe you ought to think a little more about Nick. You’ve got a lot of time to think about being a mother, but he doesn’t have nearly as much time to think about being a father.

  “Cripes, if you had a baby next year, Nick would be sixty-two when the kid graduated from high school.” Thelma rose. “Thanks for the coffee, Daisy. Keep me posted on Blue. And think about what I’ve said. You’ve got the world opening up before you like a beautiful iris, but a flower wilts if it isn’t properly nurtured.”

  Daisy didn’t trust herself to look at Thelma. She nodded, keeping her glassy eyes fixed on her work schedule.

  “Kids,” she snorted. Why was everyone insisting on making things more difficult for her? She knew she was in love. She didn’t need anyone to explain that to her anymore. But she needed time to figure out what to do about it. She needed time to handle Reggie.

  She doodled on a piece of paper: circles, squares and hearts. She toyed with making box-like letters. Daisy. Nick. Underwood. Daisy Underwood. She gawked at the words. Her breath stuck somewhere in her throat.

  Daisy leaned over the desk and rubbed a finger over the letters. The name looked good. It looked right. Could she become Mrs. Nick Underwood?

  God, how old that sounded. No, she’d be Daisy Underwood. Maybe Mrs. Daisy Underwood in some settings. But Mrs. Nick Underwood would be far too formal and stultifying. What had he called her while they were in the Boundary Waters? Willow. From the beginning, he’d thought of her as Willow. She chuckled. Had Mr. Underwood been searching for his own Diamond Willow when he stumbled across her in the barn?

  Daisy blinked and Thelma’s words came back to her. Children. She hadn’t really fantasized about having children with Nick. Maybe that was a fantasy beyond fantasy. But was Thelma right?

  Nick’s time clock was ticking much faster than her own. Did he even want children? They’d never discussed children. Of course, she wasn’t even willing to talk about marriage, so how could they talk about children?

  What a mess. This brand new world everyone seemed to think was open to her didn’t come without its costs. And she wasn’t even sure that all the price tags were clearly posted. Time. She needed time to decide what to do about Nick, about Reggie, about herself. Daisy shivered, aware that she wasn’t totally in control of that time clock either.

  Later that afternoon, Daisy stepped out of Nick’s shower and heard the downstairs doorbell ring. She threw on a robe and hurried down the curved stairway so Mrs. B’s nap wouldn’t be disturbed. She opened the door a crack and it was shoved in her face. She stifled a scream. Reggie stood before her with a cocky grin on his lips.

  “Didn’t think I’d find you here, bitch? When are you gonna learn? I’m not stupid, like that sister of yours.”

  “What do you want?” Daisy folded her arms tight across her abdomen suddenly wishing that the doorbell had awakened Mrs. B. The old woman was so hard of hearing she’d probably never flinched.

  Reggie’s eyes scrolled up and down her body. She glanced down and saw her bare feet poking out beneath the robe. At least the robe was thick, but she was still presenting him with much more of a show than she wanted. And he was taking every advantage of it he could. He stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him. Daisy stepped back into the foyer glancing furtively over her shoulder. No Mrs. B. When would the woman get up to begin preparing supper?

  Reggie laughed at her. “No need to be afraid of me, Daisy girl. You’ve always been the one I’ve wanted, you know that. I’ve just been biding my time with your sister until you grew up.” He paused and ran a leering eye over her body again. “I’d say you’ve grown up real fine,” he drawled. “To bad that bastard, Underwood, got to you first, but that’s life. You can’t always be first. At least you should be well broken in now.”

  “Don’t you touch me!”

  “Or what?” Reggie sneered. “You gonna sic that crotchety housekeeper on me? Or maybe your shining knight will show up. Nope, he went to Winnetka on an errand. Maybe he’s got another pussy stashed up there.” Reggie laughed. “Wouldn’t surprise. But I didn’t risk coming here to talk about Underwood. I came to talk about us. About our little arrangement.”

  Daisy scowled and tried to breathe normally.

  “You must have misheard the deal, bitch. I only got one check from you. I said five hundred a week.”

  Daisy gasped. “A week,” she squeaked. “You said a month. I can’t come up with five hundred a week.”

  Rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, Reggie glanced about the foyer and ran a finger along its rich oak trim. “Oh, I think you can come up with that, and much more. I’m not blind. You’ve got yourself a real gravy trai
n. All you have to do is keep Underwood satisfied.” Reggie lurched forward and grabbed Daisy by the arm.

  “Ouch. That hurts.”

  “Not as much as you’ll hurt if you don’t come through with the bread. I think you’ve been holding out on me. You’ve got more than enough cash. If not, I’m sure Underwood will do most anything to keep you in his bed. And he probably wouldn’t miss a piece of silver disappearing. He’ll give you any jewelry you ask for.” Reggie snickered and squeezed harder. “Maybe I ought to go to a jewelry store with you and pick out what I want.”

  “No,” Daisy moaned, trying to back away. “I’ll come up with the money, somehow.”

  “You better, bitch. Remember, you’re simply buying insurance protection. It’s a cost of doing business. It’s a cost of being part of my family. Nothing too bad will happen to your precious sister, or damn horses, or that prissy Underwood, or even you, dear one,” he said, moving his hand to cover a breast, “as long as you take care of my needs.”

  Daisy grabbed his arm with her free hand. She yelped and fell forward as he twisted her breast in his fist. Momentarily blinded by the pain, Daisy bit her lip not wanting to scream. Thankfully, Reggie released her and stepped back.

  “Remember what I said, bitch. You be responsible to your family and no one will get hurt.” He snickered at her massaging her breast. “And you if think that was pain, you haven’t experienced pain yet. I’ll expect five hundred dollars each week.” He moved to leave and stopped. “And no more checks. Cash only. You give it to me or Maxine. Take care now, Daisy darling. We don’t want Mr. Underwood to discover our little arrangement.”

  When she heard the door latch closed, Daisy whirled and raced up the stairs. Back under the shower, she thoroughly scrubbed every spot on her skin that Reggie Lassiter had touched. He was defilement personified.

  Daisy’s tears mingled with the streams of water from the showerhead. Five hundred a week. Regardless of what Reggie thought, she didn’t have that kind of money. Unless she touched her college fund. Her lungs heaved with her sobs.