Chapter 9 #2
She pulled out a small velvet-lined box full of rings from under the counter. They were all pretty, some more so than others. The prices on most of them were more than he made in a single month. Daisy deserved the best, but he’d never be able to afford them.
“You don’t have to pay for it all at once,” Deloris told him. “You can pay on it when you can and pick it up once you’ve made all the payments.”
He glanced up from the ring box. “You’d do that?”
“Of course,” she said. “We do it all the time.”
Picking one was hard, but he finally settled on a modest ring with a small red stone in it.
It wasn’t the most expensive, but it wouldn’t take long to pay it off.
Deloris drew up an agreement for him and had him sign it, then set the ring aside in a small box before putting it and his signed loan papers on a shelf behind the counter.
He thanked her for her help and headed to the door, but stopped when he saw a table full of books, one in particular catching his attention.
It was covered with a thin layer of dust. No one had picked it up in some time, but he did.
He thought of Daisy as he opened the front cover, his smile widening as he thumbed through the pages.
He turned back to the counter. Deloris was still watching him.
“Did you find something else of interest?” she asked.
He walked back to the counter. “Yes, this.” Placing the book down, Deloris had a strange look on her face when she looked at it.
“Ah,” she said, a sad smile turning the corner of her mouth. “I bought this for my daughter.”
“Really?” Was there someone in this town that Daisy could relate to?
Deloris nodded. “She died last winter.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Deloris inhaled a deep breath. “Are you just curious or do you know someone who can use it?”
“My girl,” he answered.
Deloris nodded and looked down at the book. “Well, consider it a wedding gift.” She beamed at him, the sadness he’d seen in her face now gone. “I hope she finds it useful.”
“I’m sure she will.” Clay thanked her and headed outside, tucking the book under one arm when he reached the sidewalk. He headed back to the livery with a bounce in his step. It was going to be a good day.
Daisy had turned around and found someone looking at her so many times in her life, she should be used to it now. She wasn’t. Seeing Callie standing just inside the door startled her so badly, she yelped.
Callie grinned and said, “Sorry. I wasn’t sure how else to get your attention. It’s not like you’d hear me knocking.”
Daisy laughed, a hand going to her chest to still her pounding heart. “It’s okay. It happens all the time. My family does the same thing.”
Callie looked around the small house while taking off her coat and hat. “This is warmer than the tack room.”
“It is.” Liam’s house was nowhere near as large as her family’s home, but she liked it. It was less to clean, which was a plus, and with it being so small, it felt cozy and warm.
“I was about to put on some fresh coffee for Liam. Would you like a cup?”
“That would be great. It might warm me up.”
“Have a seat then, and I’ll have it in a few minutes.”
She'd never had a reason to entertain company before. Well, not any who came to see her. She’d never had girlfriends or anyone her age to talk to, so playing hostess to Callie was new and, silly as it was, exciting.
The coffee didn’t take long to brew. She carried Liam a cup, along with another cinnamon roll, before serving Callie and herself. They sat at the kitchen table, her new friend taking a small sip from her mug before looking up at her. “So,” she said. “How are things with you and lover boy?”
Daisy choked on her coffee, sputtering before having a coughing fit. When she could breathe again, her eyes lifted to Callie. Her new friend was laughing, her head thrown back while her body shook.
When Callie’s laughing fit subsided, Daisy grinned and said, “Clay is not my—lover boy.” She blushed, her face going so hot she knew it was red. “Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“I read a lot.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Old Lady Whisnant—that’s the lady I work for—gets a steady supply of dime novels, and some are…shall we say, risqué.”
“Risqué how?”
Callie grinned. “I’ll bring you one. It might enlighten you.” She raised her eyebrow again. “Unless you already know what goes on behind a man and woman’s closed bedroom door.”
She did not, and the blush on her face probably said as much. Callie laughed again, her body shaking with it, and Daisy hoped Liam couldn’t hear them talking.
“Let me guess. You’re saving yourself for marriage.”
“You’re not?”
Callie laughed again. “Hell no, and you shouldn’t either.”
It was scandalous even to think. Wasn’t it?
She’d always been told good girls didn’t bare their bodies to boys who were not their husbands, but when she thought about it, she didn’t think Rose had waited.
Her sister and Graham had been too close when they courted not to be sharing more than heated kisses, and Rose had been at his house so often before they were married, it appeared too many that they were living together when they weren’t.
“Please tell me you, and that handsome cowboy you’re with are…”
“Are what?” she asked when Callie stopped talking.
Her friend grinned and held up her hands…making a rude gesture that mimicked what a man and woman did—alone.
“Callie!”
Callie laughed. “I take it from the look on your face that the answer is no.”
Daisy’s eyes widened. “Of course not. Have you?”
Callie grinned and nodded. “Many times. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Rose and Violet would tell her to steer clear of Callie. She was too bold. Too worldly. But that’s what Daisy liked most about her. She wasn’t afraid to say what she thought. Her ideas were more modern than most, and maybe Callie was right. Maybe she needed to be more direct to get what she wanted.
“We’ve kissed,” she finally said when Callie wouldn’t let the subject drop.
“And?”
“And what?”
“How was it?”
“Nice.”
Callie rolled her eyes. “Nice? That’s it?”
She snorted a laugh. “What more is there?”
Callie shook her head. “Heart-racing, toe-curling, bloomer-melting heat! Do his kisses make you tingle in places only you’ve ever touched?”
She didn’t catch every word of that, but understood enough that she blushed.
The heat scorching her face was all the confirmation Callie needed.
Daisy felt all those things and more when Clay kissed her.
She’d thought her heart would stop, it raced so fast the first time he did, and now, when he held her close and kissed her as if it was the only thing he ever wanted to do, her body responded as if he was touching her everywhere.
She ached, her lady parts clenching as she secretly willed him to do more.
To touch her everywhere, and as she sat there listening to Callie, she wondered if he ever would.
Maybe he was waiting for a sign from her, some indication that he could. According to Callie, he was.
The front door opened a moment later. The subject of their conversation walked into the house and paused when he looked at them. “Am I interrupting?” he asked.
Callie turned her head to him and said something. Clay’s answering smile caused a bit of jealousy as they spoke to each other. They would never have that. She and Clay could never sit alone and whisper soft words to each other, and she mourned a future that normal couples had.
He met her gaze across the room, then crossed to where she sat. “Everette over at the stagecoach station asked if I could help him out with something this evening, so I’ll be late getting back, so you don’t have to hold supper for me.”
“Oh, well, it's just a stew tonight, so it’ll still be warm by the time you get home.”
“Perfect.”
As if Callie wasn’t even sitting at the table with her, Clay leaned down and gave her a soft kiss.
It was brief, nothing like the one he’d given her earlier, but it was enough.
For now. He winked at her when he straightened, then said something to Callie before snagging a cinnamon roll from the plate she’d placed on the table and leaving the house again.
“He wants you.”
Daisy grinned at Callie’s words. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she could have all she wanted. It didn’t matter if she couldn’t hear Clay speaking to her. His actions spoke volumes, and all those kisses he was suddenly giving her told her more than words ever did. Was Callie right? Did he want her?
There was only one way to find out. All she had to do was be bold enough to make it happen.