Page 54 of The Outsider

Plus he was... amazing.

She blinked. She was beginning to hero worship him a little bit, and it was ridiculous. She needed to remember that he was just a human man. She needed to remember the condoms in the bedside drawer. He wasn’t any better or any worse than a normal dude.

No. Okay. Maybe thinking about the condoms in the drawer had been a mistake. Because that made her feel a little bit warm, and she couldn’t afford to go feeling warm.

“I disagree,” she said.

“That’s nice. But, he is my brother, and he does run the ranch. So, I think that his opinion on it might be a little bit more important.”

“No,” she said. “His opinion is based on his own bias. I think that people respect you. And I think that you being part of the family, part of all this, I think it matters. I know the way that everybody talks about the family here on the ranch.”

“What did they say?”

“Just how... great you are. How fair. Some of them remember working for your father, and I think everybody is very impressed with how you have handled yourselves. The people say all the time what a great man you are, Daughtry.”

He looked uncomfortable at that. Hell, she was uncomfortable saying it. But nobody had ever said such glowing or nice things about her. If they did, she would want to know. Someday, maybe she would earn it. Someday.

“Well. Thank you.”

“Plus...” She scrunched her face up. “If it wasn’t for you, I would still be making moonshine in the middle of the woods. Starving... I... Thank you.” She needed to say it. She had avoided saying thank you, and really meaning it for a long time, because it made her feel like she was beholden to him. But the truth was, she was beholden to him. And she should be. Because what he had done for her was more than a little bit wonderful. It was more than a little bit of amazing. It was life-changing.

All the books in all the little free libraries hadn’t quite done it.

But a hand up from Daughtry had given her this.

“Bix, I really appreciate that, but the truth is, if it wasn’t for how strong you are you wouldn’t be here. You took the opportunity you were given and you proved yourself twenty times over. You don’t owe me.”

She understood what he was doing. That he was trying to be nice. But actually, it hurt a little bit. She was okay owing him, she decided. Because he had done something great for her. There wasn’t anything wrong with acknowledging that. And a month ago, shewould’ve said there was. A month ago, she would’ve said that she didn’t want that.

“So, when will we go shopping?”

“Two days. We’ll take a truck and a trailer so that we can haul it all. Congratulations, Bix. You’ve got yourself a business venture. One on the right side of the law.”

“Wait a minute. Does that mean we’re actually going to... get a license?”

“We will indeed be getting a license.”

Her heart stuttered. “I probably won’t be able to get one. I have a record.”

“The ranch will be able to get one.”

He said it with such certainty. So much trust. That things would work just the way they were supposed to, and not even a little bit different.

What must it be like, to be able to trust in things like that?

“I...”

“You should bring your ID. We can go get you a bank account as well. You’re going to need one.”

She blinked. “A bank account.”

“Yes. So that you can have your checks deposited. You can even use one of those newfangled debit cards to buy your things.”

She knew that he was teasing her a little bit, but it made her throat get scratchy. “My dad would be... Well, if he was that he would be rolling over in his grave. As it is, he just sat bolt upright in his prison cell and screamed into the void.”

“What did your dad ever do for you?”

It was an uncharacteristic moment of him looking absolutely grim.

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