Page 1 of In It for the Long Ride

Chapter 1

Daisy

They sayyou know you’ve found the one when everything you’ve ever wanted suddenly seems meaningless compared to an hour in your lover’s arms.

Yeah.

I know.

I wish someone would've told me that was bullshit back then, too. Unfortunately, I grew up in an era of love and music and poetry.

Oh hell, everyone was a dumbass once upon a time. It was the seventies. Why bother defending it now…

Or dwelling over it.

I sighed, knowing damn well it wasn’t dwelling when the choices of your youth were still biting you in the ass twenty or thirty years later.

I stared down at my yellow knuckles. They were still bruised from where I’d hit Montana and knocked him over his bike earlier in the week. They were sore, but improving daily, maybe I’d be able to wield some shears and actually work tomorrow.

It wasn’t particularly cold out, but my nerves were on edge and the tremor in my hands was pissing me off, so I left the heater blowing as I was parked behind the SUV I’d let Crystal and Oak borrow. I wasn’t sure what was going on. In truth, I was scared when Crystal had called and abruptly asked me to book the rental house.

Her asking me to remain outside, and keep an eye on little Blaze, who was asleep inside the SUV was the final straw. I wanted to go and get him. Every instinct was screaming at me to step out of the vehicle I was currently sitting in and fetch that baby, but honestly, the way things had been lately, I was afraid. I didn’t want to wake him up and risk him seeing something he shouldn’t.

I had a bad feeling.

My gut was doing flips, and I was fidgeting like some kind of teenager, despite my long, salt-and-pepper curls. After about forty minutes, I saw a head pop up in the back of the SUV. I threw the door of Oak’s truck open and ran toward the other vehicle.

I tapped on the window and Blaze jerked in his booster seat.

“Aunt Daisy!”

His entire face lit up when he saw me. I pointed to the lock on the door, and he undid his seat belt and slid over to pop it open. I didn’t waste a moment, I snatched him up, grabbed the seat and hauled ass back to the truck.

I threw the booster seat across the bench and slid Blaze in after it. He set it all up while I climbed in and closed the driver’s side door.

“Aunt Daisy, you’re late. My momma already married Oak,” Blaze excitedly chirped. “They got married in front of a grave because Oak wanted his momma to watch over them while they exchanged vows.”

I stared at the boy with a bit of disbelief while he continued to rattle at full speed.

“I went hunting in Georgia, and now that Oak and my mom are married, I have a bunch of cousins!”

The door on the house opened and light spilled out onto the porch, reminding me that it was the middle of the night. A man in a suit stepped out and his attention slowly settled on the vehicle I was sitting in.

“Who is that?” Blaze paused to ask.

“I–I don’t know, baby. A friend of your mother’s, from the looks of it.” I tried to sound unconcerned, but I didn’t take my eye off Crystal and what I assumed was a member of law enforcement.

I kept my face as relaxed as possible while I inwardly broke down a thousand times. She was supposed to be going away to Chicago. Crystal promised to get Blaze out of all this mess and away from the chaos, what was she doing meeting law enforcement in the middle of the damn night?

Goosebumps broke out over my arms, and I absently rubbed them as I watched the man get into an unmarked car and drive away. Crystal waited until he rounded the corner to step off the porch and walk toward us.

Oak stepped outside, too, but he made no effort to leave the porch. I watched as he sank down onto the top step like his legs wouldn’t hold him anymore. Witnessing a man that big crumble made my heart do a little flip.

The passenger door of the vehicle opened, and Blaze met his mother at the edge of the seat.

“Can I go see Oak? Can I, mom? Can I?” he chirped.

“Yep,” Crystal stepped aside so he could pass, but the minute he was tearing across the lawn, she took his place in the seat.

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