Page 24 of Choosing My Happiness
Bull gave me a side eye and a nod. “Daiz?”
I sighed. “Just ran into my in-laws.”
He nodded.
“Tinker’s temper hasn’t improved much, and I heard you’re the reason Dylan has a father. Was he really going to turn hisown son away? Dylan is the spitting image of him, apart from the hair and eyes,” I commented.
Bull snorted and ground his teeth. I took that to mean yes, Blazewasgoing to turn his back on his son.
I continued, “I’ve also worked out that while I had good taste in in-laws…I had shit taste in men back then.”
Another snort, and a half smile.
“Yeah, Janie mentioned that,” he said, shifting Manny and digging into a pocket. “Give this guy a call when you get back home.” He handed me a business card. “He’s been recommended by the club’s firm. He has a reputation for professional tenacity.”
I stood beside him, watching the kids. There were more arriving, mostly aged 2 years or younger, but the men drifted over to join Bull on supervision duty. Most didn’t recognize me. I guess the Daisy they knew had long hair and a differently shaped body. It was slightly disappointing how little they knew me. I turned and walked back to check on Dad.
Jim noticed me first and turned with a smile. I felt the urge to move under his arm and wrap my arm around his waist. I wrapped my arms around myself instead. I did a quick check of the oxygen monitor. Sitting at 90% which was very good.
This outing looked like it was doing Dad some good. He was animated and chatting away with the boys. Jim put his hand on my shoulder and bent down to my ear.
“I’ve got this if you want to catch up with anyone,” he mumbled into my ear. I shook my head, thanking him with a smile.
“You go,” I said. He patted my shoulder and left. I watched him for a few seconds before taking a seat.
Dad was glaring at me. “Daisy, you belong to Blaze, you shouldn’t be letting him touch you like that.”
I rolled my eyes
“Dad, how did Midwife get his name?” I asked. He dropped his eyes. I continued, “That’s right, he was with me when I gave birth to my dead son, and he was there because Blaze was, as you like to say,‘having fun.’Midwife can touch me any time. He has earned the right. He stepped up, not out.” I leaned forward when I said the last sentence, snapping it in his face. I was done with his defense of Blaze, and the unspokenshouldorshouldn’trules. Blaze had another kid. He made it obvious that I wasn’t his.
The boys looked at me, and then Art awkwardly tried to draw Dad into another story from the days gone by. The argument was forgotten for the moment. I looked around and saw the sun glint off a plaque in front of a small tree. It looked like a willow tree. I would look at it next time Jim came to relieve me. I didn’t know when that would be. I just knew he would.
“Hey, Daisy is it?” I snapped my head around as some young bikers walked up.
“I’m Horse, this is Bear.” The speaker’s face shoutedtrouble. He was the one who was on the dance floor the other night, moving from girl to girl.
“Pleased to meet you.” I politely held out my hand.
“That was quite an exit the other night. Very classy. I think his reputation is in the bin now.” Horse chuckled, shaking my hand before jumping onto someone’s lap and asking them if they missed him.
Bear was laughing as he congratulated me as well. “There’s no way any girl is going to touch him now. Way to stake your claim,” he rumbled.
The smile slipped off my face.
“That wasn’t my aim,” I said quietly.
“What? What did she do?” Tinker asked. I hadn’t noticed him pull up a chair beside Dad. Horse looked at me and grinned.
“Can I tell it?” he begged.
“Sure, but while you are…keep an eye on this and get me if it gets any lower.” I wasn’t hanging around for this. I lived the moment already, I didn’t need to go over it again.
“Sure thing!” Horse assured me, moving a chair up and straddling it so he could lean his chest on the back. I left as he launched into the story.
I wandered over to where I saw that plaque. I had a feeling that I knew what it was after Jim told me that BJ was buried here with a plaque.
I was right.
