Page 72 of Choosing My Happiness
“You’d better—” she growled.
“She’s my queen, there’s no one else,” I interrupted.
“She’s been hurt enough. No taking up with girls on the side like he does.”
“I’m nothing like Blaze,” I reminded her. “I love her, and respect her. And I will show up for her every time, like I have done,” I growled, my temper flaring with the guilt. “I will not hurt her like everyone else has. Even if I have to walk away so she doesn’t see my violence.”
“She got hurt again?” Shaquilla asked in a small voice.
I gave a curt nod. “But I’ll make her feel better. I’m not likehim.”
“Can I have that bear now?” I asked.
Shaquilla dragged in a breath through her nostrils and gave a curt nod. “I’d better encourage that divorce a bit harder then,” she murmured.
* * *
I rode down the driveway apprehensively. I felt a little embarrassed at my outburst in the hospital now that I’d calmed down. I was still hoping Daisy would be there waiting for me, but I was regretful about demanding she stay. Daisy was not a possession to be ordered around. She was my queen, for me to obey.
I smiled when I saw her car parked outside my house and found her sitting in the old porch swing. She looked tired and sad. I swung off the bike and walked up the steps to her. She watched me.
“I wasn’t going to be here,” she murmured. “I was going to just stop to say thank you, and then drive home. But I can’t leave now. I don’t want to.”
I sat down beside her and tucked her under my arm. Her head came to rest on my chest, and she took a deep breath.
“I don’t want to leave you any more,” she whispered. “Everything is easier to deal with when you’re around.”
I bent my head and kissed her hair.
We stayed like this for a while, just holding each other and looking out at the yard. It felt peaceful. Daisy’s breathing slowed, and she shifted her body closer.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“What for?”
“I think our cover might be blown. I didn’t really want to cause trouble in the club,” she added.
I laughed. “Blaze isn’t as well-liked in the club as he thinks he is. Besides, it’s common knowledge that he had divorce papers served to him, so most people know that you don’t want him,” I told her. “I’m okay with it being out in the open. I love you, and I don’t care who knows.”
She sighed, and my eyes drifted closed.
“Where did you go today?” Daisy asked.
“I used the boxing bags at the gym,” I hummed, lifting my sore knuckles to rub against her cheek.
“Why?”
“So I didn’t punch Molly out and reunite her with Matchstick.”
I felt Daisy smile. “Jim,” she reprimanded me, but I heard the amusement in her voice. I smiled because she smiled.
“I also got you something.” I opened my eyes as I sat her up, and I stood. She stayed sitting as I walked to the bike and got the bear out of the packs.
“So you know you’re never alone,” I said as I walked back up the steps.
“I haven’t felt alone since I met you,” she croaked, holding out her hands for the bear. I sat beside her again as she squashed the bear to her chest, and I rested my arm around her.
She snuggled into my side again. “I wish you were BJ’s daddy,” she whispered. “He might have lived if you were his dad.”
