Chapter 16 Blaze
I looked over at Dylan who was wriggling in the back seat.
I hoped that he’d love Daisy as much as I do.
I had no doubt that she’d accept him. Although there were times when I wasn’t sure.
She was forgiving, and he was my son from another woman.
But he was almost the age that Junior would have been, and that might be an issue for her.
Hopefully, she might see him as a straight replacement for our son, and he could take that place. It was up to her.
He and I lived with my parents nowadays, and I wouldn’t move back into the house until Daisy said so.
That house was Daisy’s, and she’d decide when Dylan moved in and which room.
It would be a bonding experience for both of them.
Although there was the possibility that she wouldn’t accept him.
If that happened, I knew I’d have to find someone else to take him.
I’d miss the little guy, but Daisy comes first.
I pulled into the car park of the clubhouse. There were a few bikes out the front, but a lot of cars. It looks like all the ol’ladies and kids were here. I got Dylan down.
I walked out of the clubhouse and saw her.
I smiled at the sight of Daisy walking across the garden to Junior’s willow tree.
I recognized her now. She still had that light stride that reminded me of a fairy.
I liked the changes in her body. She didn’t look like she’d put weight on, more shifted it to her breasts and hips.
It looked delicious. I couldn’t wait to have her back in my bed.
She’d still have to grow her hair back long. The short haircut she had made her look too hard. My Daisy wasn’t hard. She was tough but soft. I almost groaned, remembering her softness, and imagining how soft she’d feel now.
I looked down at Dylan, who was eager to run and play.
“Off you go, my boy. Don’t get too dirty.”
“Yay! D2, I’m here, what are we doing?”
The noise announced my arrival, and I caught sight of the club members congregating under the large porch extending from the house. They cheered and waved me over. I saw Daisy’s father sitting in a wheelchair, knees covered in blankets.
“Matchstick! Wow, who did you suck up to to get released? Glad you can make it.” I leaned down to give my father-in-law a hug.
This man was my mentor and biggest motivator to become a firefighter.
He looked better than he had been at my last visit, but still a shadow of himself.
His beard was now wispy, and he had breathing tubes wrapped around him.
I’m guessing Molly had worked something out with the hospital for day release.
“Ahh, Daisy worked something out with the nurses. She certainly put them in their place. I have no idea what she does at that hospital in the city, but she’s got some pull,” Matchstick said proudly.
I frowned slightly. Daisy worked at a hospital in the city? Is that where she’d been all these years? That was only 2 to 3 hours away. I could have visited her on my off days. I had some catching up on information to do.
I smiled. That’s what I’d do going forward.
I’d go visit her in the city once I found out which hospital, and where she lived.
Me and Dylan. It’d be like those days of chasing her before she let me claim her.
She was quite hard to get. All the other girls would fall over themselves to get closer to me, while she walked away. I missed the chase.
“Where’s she living now?” I asked Matchstick.
He frowned. “Not sure. Molly would definitely know. You know, that mother-daughter connection bullshit.”
Horse laughed. “You really lost your wife; you don’t even know where she lives or works, or anything about her life! I think she’s actually left you, and you haven’t realized it yet.”
I glared at him. “I’m going to call you Donkey if you keep that laughing up.”
He just laughed harder.
I stood up when I realized Daisy was looking at Junior’s plaque. Now was probably the best time to reconnect. All those memories of our love floating around her. I wandered over and went to put my arm around her waist. She swung her head around to look at me as I touched her.
“Get your hands off me,” she growled. I pulled her closer.
“I’ve waited too long to say this, Daisy. I’m sorry,” I told her.
She wiggled out of my arms and stepped back.
“For what exactly?” she hissed.
“For not being there that night when he was born.”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter,” she said sadly. “You were never going to be there for us anyway. You were going to be like Dad. A disappointment.”
I stared at her as the words infiltrated my brain. She thought of her father as a disappointment? He was a fucking hero to me.
A roar from the clubhouse broke my thoughts.
“He did what?! Did he know she was back?” My dad was yelling. Horse was nodding while laughing. Matchstick was bent over wheezing.
“Shit, Dad!” Daisy ran to the group. I went to follow, but a hand clamped me in place.
“Stay here. You don’t want to get a black eye from your father on your birthday.
” Midwife held me in place without even trying.
“Horse was telling people about Daisy walking in on you screwing the town girl the other night. You know how your father reacts to stories of you cheating on Daisy,” he explained.
I shuddered. Dad had a temper, but where Daisy was concerned, he would back it up with his fist, and this story was all about Daisy.
I waited, watching Daisy adjust something with the oxygen machine and push her father up into an upright position.
She held his arm and looked down at her watch, standing there looking like a nurse. It was sexy as hell.
“I don’t cheat on her. I always come back to her,” I told Midwife.
“You stuck your dick in another woman. To any woman, that’s called cheating.” Midwife corrected, pushing me behind him as he went to head off my father.
“Go home, Tinker. Go and cool off. I’ll get Maisey home for you.” He ordered my dad out of the clubhouse, Bull coming up fast behind him.
“Daddy, why is Grampy angry this time?” I felt Dylan stick his hand into mine. I crouched down and cuddled him.
“I don’t know, son…I have no idea.”
I don’t think they got it. I’d made some mistakes, sure…
but I loved Daisy. She was my ol’lady. I waited for her, I’d kept space for her and not moved on despite her being away for 4 years.
She was the one I went home to. No other woman has crossed the threshold of our house.
No one else sat behind me on the bike. The house, that seat, the place beside me. They’re hers. I’m hers.