Chapter 2
Brandt was still cursing Remi when he pulled onto the job site and got out of his truck.
Barron heard Brandt’s truck as he pulled in and walked over to the edge of the roof to see if Remi was with him. He shook his head when he saw that Brandt was alone. “You find him?” Barron asked, looking down at Brandt as he approached.
Brandt looked up at him. “Oh, yeah. I found him.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Could have been worse,” Brandt said. “I could have killed his girlfriend.”
“What?!”
“Don’t what me. I didn’t kill her.”
“Who? When did he get a girlfriend?”
“He’s keeping company with a string of them,” Brandt said.
“That’s my point. When did he get ONE of them?”
“Recently, the last three weeks apparently.”
“Damn. Okay. Why you want to kill her?”
“Shooting dirty looks at Abby while she’s outside with her kids.
Giving her shit when she goes over to ask them to turn the music down in the middle of the night.
Confronts me yelling and screaming at me about getting off their property when I go over there to find out where the fuck he is because he’s sure as hell not at work. ”
“Oh, hell no!”
“Yeah. The bitch is lucky she walked away.”
“Who is she?” Barron asked.
“I don’t know. Olivia somebody or other.”
“Is he coming to work?” Barron asked.
“Who knows?” Brandt asked, as he headed to the other side of the building Barron was standing on the top of.
“You hear that shit?” Barron asked as he went back to his crew that was re-tarring the roof they were standing on.
“Yeah. I feel bad for him,” Shaun said.
“I do, too, to an extent, but at some point you gotta put your big-boy pull-ups on and get shit done,” Barron said.
“Yeah, but his life is completely turned around from what he expected it to be,” Shaun said.
“It ain't your fault,” Kiernan said.
Barron and Kiernan shared a knowing look.
“He’s right,” Barron said. “It’s not your fault, Shaun.”
“I know that. But I feel like I’m contributing.”
“It’s been almost two months since they broke up. While you made your intentions known, you didn’t go public with Bailey until just recently here. And even if you had, none of what happened with Remi and Bailey was your fault. You never said a word or gave even a hint about how you felt about her.”
A loud noise sounded on the far edge of the roof as Brandt set foot on the roof from the ladder they had extended there.
“I know. But I still wish there was something I could do to help him climb out of this pool of misery he’s stuck in,” Shaun said.
“We talking about Remi?” Brandt asked.
“Yeah. Shaun feels bad for him.”
“We all feel bad for him,” Brandt said.
“I keep telling him it ain’t his fault.”
“It’s not.” Brandt said. “Kiernan, how bad has it been living next to him?”
“Until the last few weeks not bad. Then suddenly he hooked up with this new girl and they’re having a party every single night. We just keep waiting for him to replace her with a new one and hopefully the next one will be a little less party-monster,” Kiernan said.
“She rude to you?”
“A couple of times when I went over there, it ain’t no big thing. Wasn’t any need to stir things up. I just steer clear.”
“Abby said she’d shot her a few hateful glances.”
“Did she?! Well, I’ll be checking into that when I get home.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell you?” Brandt asked.
“She’s worried about not rocking the boat.
She don’t want to have to leave and go anywhere else.
I ain’t said anything about her attitude with me because I don’t really care.
She ain’t worth nothing, and I figure as long as breathing rubs her the wrong way, I’ll just be sure to keep doing it.
But giving my wife shit, I don’t stand for that in any way, shape, or form.
This is our home. Abby should be able to feel comfortable and welcome wherever she’s living. ”
“Why is Abby worried about rocking the boat? Hasn’t she figured out yet, y’all are supposed to be here?” Barron asked.
“Things weren’t great before,” Kiernan said. “This is the best any of us have ever had. I think she’s still not convinced that she won’t wake up to it all being gone.”
“Kiernan?” Brandt said.
Kiernan looked up at Brandt.
“Y’all aren’t going anywhere unless you want to. You’re part of this clan. What can I do to make her understand that?” Brandt asked.
“Appreciate that, Brandt. It’ll come in time. She’s just grown up with no security. She’ll figure it out. She’s much better than she used to be about believing we’re home finally. But I’m definitely going to talk to her about not taking shit from anybody. Especially somebody not of this clan.”
“Maybe give Remi a break, though. Don’t take it to him,” Shaun said.
Everybody looked at Shaun.
Shaun glanced up and found everyone looking at him. “What? I already said I feel bad he’s having such a hard time.”
“He’s causing it to be more hard than it has to be,” Brandt said.
“That much is true,” Shaun said.
“You know? I really don’t think it’s Bailey he’s grieving so much, and I don’t think he even knows it,” Barron said.
“What do you mean? You think it’s Cristie?” Brandt asked.
“Yeah. I think his Dragon is grieving the loss of his real mate, and all he’s doing is reacting to the misery of his Dragon. I have no doubt he’s missing Bailey, but I’m thinking the total funk he’s in is because his beast got a look at his real mate and Remi walked away.”
“Sounds more understandable,” Brandt said. “Maybe I’ll talk to Havoc and see if he’s heard anything from Maia about how Cristie is doing.”
“If not, maybe he can call her and ask, point blank,” Barron said.
~~~
Daisy hummed to herself as she hopped out of her jeep and practically skipped her way into Vince’s Place. She paused just inside the door, blinking until her eyes adjusted from the bright sun outside to the interior of Vince’s.
“Well, hello there, Ms. Daisy!” Vince called out.
Daisy grinned and went straight to him, leaning over the bar to kiss him. “Hi, Uncle Vince.”
“What you doing in here this early?”
“I’m on my way to the studio. I have some students coming in this afternoon, but I’m thinking I need a milkshake to get me through.”
Vince laughed, knowing full well she wanted her favorite flavor. “Strawberry?”
“Yes, please!”
“Coming right up.” Vince turned his back to her and started making her milkshake, just the way she liked, with extra strawberries.
As Daisy watched, murmuring voices from the far left of the place caught her attention. The murmurs were accented by drunken giggles and laughter. She focused a little more on the couple’s voices and realized one of them was very familiar.
“Is that Remi I hear?” Daisy asked.
Vince glanced over his shoulder at her as he pushed the button on the commercial blender and nodded as he rolled his eyes. “They been in here all damn day. You’d think at some point he’d manage to get himself to work. Don’t know what’s going to happen with that boy.”
“He’s going through a hard time,” Daisy said sadly.
“No, he’s got his head up his ass. There’s a difference.”
Daisy smiled and shrugged a little as Vince poured her milkshake into an extra-large to-go cup and handed it to her.
“Maybe he’s got his head up his ass because he’s going though a hard time.”
“He ain’t the first. You can’t let it wreck your whole world or where you going to be when things get straight again?”
Daisy just looked over toward Remi and whoever his friend was, then back at Vince. “Hope he figures it out soon. I feel bad for him.”
“You’re too sweet. Gotta toughen up some.”
“My daddy says that all the time.”
“He’s right. You want some food or a snack or something?” Vince asked.
“No. This is it. I’m just a little addicted,” she said, handing him a ten dollar bill.
“Nah, it’s on the house,” Vince said, trying to hand her back her money.
“No, it’s not. You have to make money or you won’t be here next time I want a strawberry shake,” Daisy said, grinning at him.
“Let me at least give you change.”
“Nope!” she said, backing away from the bar. “It’s a tip. I love you! Bye!”
“Love you, too, baby. Drive safe,” Vince called out.
As the door closed behind Daisy, the girl Remi was with imitated Daisy. “I love you, bye!” she mimicked, laughingly. “He’s far too old for her. She should try getting somebody her own age.”
Remi, who was leaning on the table, doing his best to stretch out while still seated at the table, forced himself to a semi-seated position and kind of wobbled a bit as he looked toward the exit. “I think she might be my cousin,” he said, trying to focus bleary eyes on the door.
“You think? You don’t know?” Olivia asked.
“I didn't look.” He lifted his nose into the air and sniffed dramatically. “Yeah, smells like Daisy.”
“Well, Daisy just stopped by a bar to buy a milkshake and tell the bartender she loves him. It’s pathetic really.”
“Pathetic?” Remi asked.
“She’s hitting on somebody old enough to be her dad. It’s gross.”
“He’s our uncle,” Remi said.
“The bartender is her uncle?” Olivia said condescendingly.
“Yeah, and mine,” Remi said. “I don’t think she meant it like in love.”
“Are you correcting me in public?”
Remi’s head wobbled as he swiveled back and forth looking for anybody else that might have heard him. “No. There’s nobody else here to be public.”
Olivia’s forced smile morphed into a flat line of pursed lips. “You will not correct me like I’m a child. I will not stand for that.”
“I’m not correcting you. We’re having a conversation,” Remi said.
“In which you are treating me like a child!”
“I didn’t treat you like a child.”
“Yes, you did,” she said, jumping to her feet as she glared at Remi. “I will not take this disrespect!”
Remi sat back in his chair and simply looked at her for several moments.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” Remi asked.
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
“Not really. I mean, I was wondering what your hangup is about respect, but I figure I’m not sure I really want to know after all.”