Page 40 of Enforce This

She stepped out and walked around the vehicle before offering, “New ride. I had just returned from signing the paperwork, when I discovered an entire police force in front of the salon the other day.”

She and Eric were staring pretty intensely at each other, and I started to feel uncomfortable. Her attention shifted to me, and her gaze crawled over me in a slow, calculating way.

“This one of your new biker—”

“She’s my wife,” Eric spat before the woman could insult me.

She swallowed whatever she was about to say, and her eyes widened.

“Trista Miller Aviston, this is my aunt, Daisy.” Eric hurried along with the introductions.

Daisy’s jaw was still lax and her mouth was slightly opened. He jerked the diner door open, and we went inside and settled at a table that offered a bit of privacy.

Daisy sat down, but she didn’t say anything, and hadn’t taken her eyes off me.

“She is a nursing student with a future ahead of her that I don’t intend to crush or muddy.” Eric said, drawing her attention to him.

“Is she?” Daisy whispered.

“If I don’t get her through this… She will have lost her mother, possibly her father, and her hopes and dreams,” He laid it all out for her, then placed a couple of hundred dollars on the table. “Can you take her to some low-key store for some clothes and whatever she needs to attend nursing clinicals tomorrow? She is concerned that she may be kicked out due to the days that she has missed with funerals and all that shit. I was thinking, they probably won’t be too lenient to a biker pleading on her behalf—but if a good solid standing member of the community like you were to ask for some Christian charity on her behalf…”

Daisy went back to staring at me in silence. I couldn’t read her, but it suddenly scared me a little.

Just when Eric tapped my thigh, and motioned for me to scoot, she spoke up.

“I’ll do it,” Daisy choked out. “I’ll help you save Janice Briggs's daughter. She was my best friend in high school.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I had no idea. Then again, I never had keep track of everyone my mother drank tea with.

“You heard what I said, right…? If you call the police, or anything… This could go very bad for her–” Eric emphasized.

“Yeah. I got it. I said I’ll do it.” Daisy suddenly turned and looked me in the eyes, “You ready?”

I swallowed hard and shot a glance toward Eric. Yes, I wanted it all to work out, but what if those guys came back?

What if the mafia showed up at the Nokomis hospital?

He must have seen the fear and question in my eyes, Eric grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles.

“Tris… This is it... This is our chance to say fuck you to everybody and live how we want to live… Because we can’t stay in a shower for the rest of our lives, baby… I need you to trust me and believe that I’m going to make everything okay. I need you to go with Aunt Daisy.”

I tried to nod but my face began to crumble.

“Babe… I’ll see you at two at the front entrance of the Nokomis Community Hospital,” Easy softly tried to reason and help me focus. He held me close and kissed my hairline. I couldn’t help it, hot tears started pouring down my cheeks.

Fuck.

It killed me, but I let him help me into her vehicle and watched in the rearview as we pulled away from him.

Chapter Twenty-One

Trista

I sat in Daisy’s passenger seat. The vehicle had that new car smell, and everything was shiny and spotless. It reminded me of Doug and my mom. For a moment, it was like my life had shifted back to that space and time and I was completely overwhelmed.

I spaced out and the next thing I knew she was pulling into a parking space. I wasn’t sure if she intended to get out or not, but when I took my seatbelt off, she did the same.

We moved through the store and I grabbed pens, markers, and a cheap stethoscope from the pharmacy section.

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