Chapter Eleven Days And Daze
Fate
It did surprise me when she touched my hand, but I tried hard not to show it.
She allowed the handholding for a whole minute and a half maybe, then yanked her hand away. “Um, I wanted to ask about when you all arrived here. Am I understanding this right? That you and your brothers never knew about the Louisiana Walkers?”
“No, we didn’t,” I told her. “We also were in total shock about the Louisiana Walker Ranch. Like it blew our minds when we realized that it is an exact duplicate of ours. Except for the furnishings I mean. The house and the buildings were all similar to our place in Texas.” I shook my head and added, “No, not similar. Exact copies. I should know, that is what I do…design buildings.”
“Ok, so why did he leave in the first place?”
“See this is about an important motivation in the world…love.” I smiled at her. “My dad and his brother Jacob Walker were in love with the same woman. Our dad just couldn’t stay here and see them together, I guess? The ranch was inherited by the twin Walker brothers, but my dad left it to Bea and Jacob.”
“Wow.” Briget’s eyes sparkled with tears. “So, he just up and left?”
I nodded. “The day Jacob married Bea. He moved to Texas and made a new life.”
Briget swiped a tear from her eye. “That sounds so sad. He lost the love of his life and his twin. Then he was alone in the world. No family or anything.”
I agreed, “It had to be kind of dark times for him, yeah. Then he met our mom at his first job. He married her a year later and they had all of us.” I looked away and added, “Our mom died after Glory was born. There were complications during labor.”
“Oh, my God.” Briget gasped. “Your dad was left with a baby to raise?”
“Yes, a newborn, two toddlers, a kindergartener, and one in elementary school.”
“How did he…” She shook her head. “I mean how did he make his fortune and take care of all of you?”
I shrugged. “That’s a damn good question, but he used all of his time doing both. He never dated really, that any of us knew of. I suppose he’d met two women he could love and then he figured that would be it. So when he told us a couple of months ago that he and Bea were going to stay together, how could we deny him? I mean look at how he suffered.”
“He was a widowed father of five,” Briget stated in awe. “So yeah, I would think he deserves some happiness even if it is so late in life. I still don't know how he did all of that. He must have worked hard.”
“He did and he was gone for most of the day working. So mostly, the older kids pitched in to help raise the younger ones. He also hired a lady to help. She was like our nanny, Marta.” I smiled at her as I thought about her. “We all loved her so much. Always a smile on her face and she sure did have a soft spot for kids. She cooked and cleaned for us, though as we got older, many of the household duties were shared by us kids. Like I bet you didn't know that I could prepare a full four course meal, did you? Liberty fell in love with cooking and almost became a chef because of our upbringing.”
Briget stared at me and she did look surprised.
“I worked to help our family when I was just 5 years old,” I went on. “We all did. Seems like Dad decided that if we were old enough to start school, we were old enough to assume responsibilities.”
Briget shook her head and looked away.
“Look Briget, I’m not downplaying whatever it was that made you believe that you and I are so different that we cannot even date. But I didn’t grow up privileged like you think. Yes, we had enough to eat, but we had to tend a huge garden, a farm and all the animals that go with it. Our dad made sure the ranch was a real working farm. We all worked it too. We had this huge house that constantly needed to be cleaned, there were large meals to cook and many animals to be fed. Chickens, turkeys, cows, and sheep. These chores weren’t for an allowance either. We literally knew where our meals came from. Us kids literally earned our daily bread, so to speak.”
“Gosh, I’m sorry,” she said gently as she sighed. “I see that I was wrong.”
I reached over again to pat her hand. “You should have just asked Liberty, he knows I’m not a dress slacks, tweed sweater wearing teetotaler. That would be Justice actually. But to excuse him, he had to dress up for court all the time, so there is that.”
Chuckling, she shook her head at me. “You aren’t even mad at me for telling you that you were a double dealing, rich jerk?”
I chuckled with her. “Actually, Liberty had gleefully put it this way: a stuck up, rich boy, hound dog with no morals or scruples. ”
Staring at me, she burst into laughter.
“Yeah, he’s a jerk like that.” I shook my head at her. “But I have to admit, it did shock me. I just do not see myself as like this upper class person you described at all. I mean we didn’t even grow up in town. We were out in the country like this place is. Just growing up in overalls and cowboy boots. And unlike kids today, we got dirty. When our chores were done, we played outside until the sun went down. It wasn't a rotten childhood, we had a great time. Except that we all had times when we missed not having a mom. I admit that is something that affected all of us here and there. Like when other mothers would bring cookies or candy to class parties or they would get involved in school activities and field trips. Marta was great but we all knew she wasn’t our mother. Then you can imagine the shock we got when we arrived here. We had all these cousins and Aunt Bea.”
“You mean your dad never told any of you about them?”
“He really didn’t. Like that is a huge secret for anyone to keep. And he kept mum quiet for our entire lives? At first, some of us were angry that he’d kept that quiet for all these years.”
“Were you?” she asked. “Angry, I mean.”
“Nah…” I shrugged. “After I thought about it I realized it had been painful for him so he put it in the past. As I pointed out to Redemption once… none of us would exist if he hadn’t gone away. Yes, he could have tried to tell us about what we were walking into…When Glory got kidnapped by Deacon, we had no idea why. Me and my brothers went through hell, wondering what the nappers might do to her. It was horrible.”
Briget squeezed my hand. “I’m sure that was scary as hell.”
“We all raised her as she was the youngest of us.” I let out a sigh. “Then we came here because that is what the kidnapper instructed us to do. We found out we have this huge family then as you can imagine, we did not understand any of it.”
Briget removed her hand from mine and said, “Even I barely understand it. I mean everyone in Ramton knows of the Walker family. They were like leaders in the community. Our parents and even grandparents all knew the Walkers. As you heard, my mom knew Bea for years. They all did well, then their dad was killed. Next thing we knew, Dagger went to prison and that stunned everyone in the area. I mean the Walkers never broke the law. Jacob was like a pillar to Ramton. He insisted on helping everyone who needed it. My Mom said they did charity drives and used that Dojo building for the events. He held classes for martial arts for free so that the younger crowd would have a place to go after school. A really kind hearted man. After he died, most of them just disappeared. They all left Louisiana except for Raven and Rip. Ma stayed of course, but the townspeople rarely saw her either. It was like one day, they were all here and the next, they were gone.”
“I heard a little bit about that,” I said. “Seems like what my dad did is sort of a family trait, I guess? Things got too sad and he left. I lost my mom when I was just a toddler, so I never felt true emotional pain over it. From what I know, they were all older when he was killed. I cannot imagine what they all felt when that happened to Uncle Jacob and what happened to our other uncle. It came out when they caught O that she had murdered both brothers. Hell, my dad woulda been next maybe? And if so, none of us would exist.”
Briget smiled at me.
I saw her smile and asked, “What?”
“Your name is Fate and you talk about fate quite a bit. Or you think of things in that way.”
I laughed. “Liberty teases me about being a laymen therapist.”
“No, I said ‘man, you were a lame therapist.’ ”
We both looked up.
Liberty stood there behind our chairs with Belle by his side. He was grinning at us.
“Oh, fuck you.” I laughed.
“Is it time to go?” Briget asked.
Liberty nodded. “We were assigned an SUV. I just talked to Bones and we will be taking the road. Our turn will come in a half hour.”
Belle nodded. “So we need to go get our bags and—”
“—find Daisy!” Briget exclaimed while looking a bit panicked. “We gotta find her. I haven’t seen her since yesterday afternoon. I think she might be with Hawk’s—”
“—I have her,” I announced.
Looking confused, Briget shot her gaze over to me and asked, “What?”
I shrugged. “She sleeps with me… I mean I admit at first it was odd, but after about a week, I got used to it. So Daze is safe. I got her a nice kennel from the storage rooms and she sometimes hangs out in it. I would never lock her up, but we might need the kennel on this trip.”
Briget stared at me as her eyes looked huge.
I stared at her and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“She has been staying with you?” she asked quietly.
I nodded and replied, “Not all day. But every night when I got to my room, she would be sitting outside my door. So I would let her in then up on my bed she went.” I chuckled. “I admit we had quite a discussion that first night.”
“Discussion?” Briget asked.
“Oh, yeah. I told her that her mommy would be looking for her. Then she yapped at me until I gave in. She can be really loud for a little dog, ya know? She sleeps right on my chest too. I admit I had to get used to it, but if I moved her anywhere else, she would get right back up on my chest. I’m not sure why she insisted on being with me or why she chose me. But hey, she’s literally a badass pup and I’m a smart guy. I learned that first night not to argue with her.” I shrugged again.
Belle smiled at me.
“You mean you let a little dog pussy whip you?” Liberty asked as he laughed.
“You’re damned right I did!” I exclaimed. “That little dog took care of that cray-cray, gun wielding Sierra, remember? I’m telling you that little terrier saved our lives.” I paused and looked over at Briget. “With your help, of course. But Daze is the boss.”
Before I knew what was what, Briget was suddenly in my lap. Stunned, it took me a few seconds to understand that she was kissing me. It was a flat mouthed kiss, like sweet but not what I wanted once her lips met mine. So I wrapped my arms around her and tugged her close as I eased my tongue in between the seam of her lips. This kiss then got even hotter than the last one. Her mouth melded with mine as our tongues duelled in a sexy melting dance. Next thing I knew, my body went rock hard. She tasted even better than before. This woman just sparked a literal fire in me.
I broke the kiss as I stared into her dazed eyes and asked, “What was that for?”
Looking a bit lost, she blinked at me. “Huh?”
“Just a second,” I said as I peered up at a shocked looking Liberty and Belle. “We’ll meet you out at the parking area in like fifteen minutes, K?” I didn’t want an audience for this conversation.
“Ok, we’ll just act like that was totally normal.” Liberty scoffed. “Whatever ya say, brother.” Shaking his head, he chuckled as he grasped Belle’s arm.
“See ya soon, BB,” Belle said with a huge grin on her face.
They both turned and left the dining room.
I looked back over at Briget. “You are one surprise after another.”
Her face went pink. “Sorry.”
Gently grasping her chin, I said. “Don’t apologize for the best kiss I ever got.” I smiled at her.
She still looked embarrassed as she explained, “I got carried away. That little dog means the world to me. And truth to tell, I used to have talks with Daisy about life and one of the things we discussed was the guy I might end up with. I told her if she approved of him then that would be like a gold seal on it. She has the best instincts about people. But the fact that you got so close to her and treated her like that? You have to be a special human being at the very least.”
“I am humbled by that. But she really gave me no choice.” I laughed as I felt so happy that Briget was going to give me a chance. At least she sounded like she intended to? “Don’t tell me that some guys didn’t like her?”
“A few guys in fact.” Briget nodded. “After one really great date, this one guy dropped me off at my place and when she came up to us, he said she stunk and I immediately kicked him out. He fussed at me that everything had gone so well. I told him it had until he insulted my Daisy. Another one told me she wasn’t worth the trouble as she was like a living toy and…” She leaned in close and added, “He said she wasn’t a real dog. After he said that, we never even made it out the door for our first date. I told him to take his own damned self to dinner. Then one guy just did not like dogs at all. Didn’t matter what kind, he hated all dogs.”
“Not like dogs?” I asked in disbelief. “What kind of creep doesn’t like canines?”
Nodding, she smiled. “The unhappy kind, I think?”
“Well, no wonder you have some trust issues. Those weren’t men, they were idiots. Who wouldn’t fall in love with an adorable little terrier like her?” I stood and then reached my hand out to her.
Taking it, Briget stood from her chair. “Right?”
“Let’s go grab our bags and little Daze,” I said.
“Why do you call her that?” she asked.
“I don’t know, it just seems to fit her? Like she’s a bit too tough to be a real flower, but she’s lively and can argue with you until you are dizzy and she wins, so Daze fits her better.”
“I have to agree with you,” Briget said as she laughed. “I like it actually.”
We headed to the hallway.
After stopping at her room, we grabbed her bags and then went to mine.
Daisy was right at the door.
Scooping her up, Briget said, “You've been MIA, little girl.”
The terrier licked her face then yapped.
“She was with her guy,” I told Briget as I went over to get my bags.
Turning to look at me, she smiled. “Wow…So, you are taken?”
I shrugged and gave her a grin. “Package deal, I guess?”
Laughing, she placed the dog on her shoulder like a baby. “Yeah, me and her are a package.”
Daisy barked and jumped from her arms to mine.
Catching the little dog, I nodded at her. “I think Daze’s saying that her and I are the package.”
“Oh, my gosh.” Staring at me, Briget laughed. “She has never chosen anyone over me, not even Belle.”