Page 20 of Justice for Daesha

That made her laugh. “No! Oh, lord, that’s just silly.”

“Then what is it you do?”

She sighed. “Have you heard of the local band, LimestoneLegends?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve heard they’re really good. I haven’t heard them myself, but… wait.” Her smile was coy when she nodded. “You… sing. Oh my god. Do you sing with them?”

“I’m their lead singer.”

“Get out!” Amos yelled and slapped her arm playfully. “No shit?”

“No shit.”

“That’s awesome! Where do you play tomorrow night?”

“We don’t. It’s rehearsal. Every Thursday night. Then we play Friday and Saturday at first one place and then another.”

“Well, I have to say, I don’t know why I was surprised. I heard you sing at the wedding and, my god, you’ve got a beautiful voice. What do you sing? I mean, what kind of music?”

“Mostly country. I do a lot of DixieChicks, SherylCrow, MirandaLambert, stuff like that.”

“That’s awesome! So can I come tomorrow night?”

He was disappointed when she shook her head. “No. Nobody but us when we’re rehearsing. Some of the guys used to bring their girlfriends or wives, but they’d start whining about how they were tired and wanted to go home, and the guys would cut practice short to take them. So we made a rule?nobody but the musicians.”

“So you’re the only singer?”

“No. One of the guys does the songs that need a male lead, and I do backing vocals. Five of the six of us sing.”

“Ah, got it. So can I come Friday?”

“Of course!”

“Where are you playing this weekend?”

She sat there for a second and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling in thought. “You know, I don’t remember. I’ll find out tomorrow night and let you know.”

“Hey, I can pick you up and take you and then bring you home,” Amos offered.

“Uhhhhh, I’m not sure you want to do that. We play until about two o’clock in the morning.”

Man up, Fletcher, he told himself. “Doesn’t matter. That would be fine with me.”

She looked deep into his eyes and Amos could feel everything below his belt tense. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“Then we need to talk.”

“Okay. Lay it on me,” he said, and he hoped he wasn’t sorry in a minute or two.

Daesha sat up straight and shook herself before she spoke. “You told me yourself that my prosthetic made you uncomfortable, but you wanted to learn about it.”

Amos nodded vigorously. “I did, and I meant it. If it concerns you, I want to know more about it.”

“No time like the present, huh?” she asked and gave him a feeble smile.

Somehow he hadn’t thought it would be so soon, but he wasn’t sure why that caught him off guard. This was part of her everyday life, and he needed to be open to it. “Okay. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

---