Chapter 7
Daisy
“Ryzer, we’re out of hot sauce,” was the only thing Dee-Dee said.
Yet, Ryzer sighed at the dinner table. Daisy stopped mid-sip of her steaming bowl of stew to stare at the man across from her.
The rest of the crew finished dinner an hour before Daisy made it back from seeding the fields.
After being mortified, essentially painting a sign on her forehead that said ‘breed me’, she managed to keep from fumbling all over herself filling the tractor.
It would have gone faster but she couldn’t reach the drum that fed the machine, so she stood around, festering in her own embarrassment while Ryzer poured all the sacks of seed into the tractor.
Then hopped inside and started the long process only to stop multiple times when Ryzer would interject about something.
She would have thought him overbearing, but none of it was condescending.
Helpful, but he did interrupt every hour or so until the massive field was finished.
She only realized after that seeding the field also meant watering, fertilizing, and prepping the field for winter.
She dragged her sore body back to the house behind Ryzer without an ounce of shame.
Worn out wasn’t even a proper description.
He put a bowl with a hefty chunk of bread down in front of her at the dinner table and let her clock out.
Mentally. Emotionally. Physically. She was a husk of a person, moving on pure autopilot.
Spoon to lips, blow on steaming liquid, slip into mouth, chew any large chunks, swallow, repeat.
Every few bites she dipped a piece of that bread into the herby broth to soak for a second before popping it in her mouth.
The frosty glass of water was replaced with a whole pitcher and a straw.
Which would have made her feel silly only to realize Ryzer had one too.
“It has been a minute since we been into town. Whip up a list of anything else you need, I’ll head in tomorrow.”
“Oughta take little one here with ya.” Dee-Dee nodded at her, which clued her in that maybe she ought to pay attention. Daisy blinked sluggishly once before focusing on the pair staring at her.
“Huh?” She glanced between them with bewilderment all over her face. Open mouth breathing, eyes slightly glazed over, her whole body one stiff breeze from falling over, she felt like her head was in a wind tunnel and her body was full of helium.
“Ryzer, ya tyrant, you worked her like a dog.” Dee-Dee snapped her head to him, waggling a finger in his face.
“I worked her like I work anybody else,” Ryzer scoffed, swatting away Dee-Dee’s digit. “Plus, I warned her.”
“You’re a—”
“Um, why am I going with him?” Daisy interjected with a quick cough to clear her throat.
The pair shifted to glance her way. Having Dee-Dee fuss over her was uncomfortable and she didn’t have the energy nor emotional bandwidth to dig into that itchy feeling.
Instead, she directed them back to the point at hand.
“Other than to be an extra pair of hands to hold stuff?”
Dee-Dee glanced at Ryzer then back to Daisy with her eyebrows furrowed down.
Wearing curlers around her smaller, rounded tip horns and a robe wrapped around her flannel pajamas, she was the beacon of comfort.
Yet, her face was full of worry as she tilted her head slightly. “So, you can talk yer family.”
“Oh,” she exhaled. “Right.”
Her data pad didn’t have service this far away from the warehouses, and with the ship in ruins, there was no internet for miles. She’d been so busy she didn’t even think to ask.
“I guess I should tell them what’s happened,” Daisy sighed, gaze falling to her soup. “Especially given my payment is late.”
“When’s the last time you called yer ma?” Ryzer folded his arms on top of the table and leaned over his emptied bowl. Daisy didn’t answer, instead stuffing the last few bites of her stew into my gullet. Ryzer huffed, taking up his bowl. “Yer coming with me into town. Consider your sore rump lucky.”
“Lucky?” she squawked, spoon clattering to the bowl bottom. Daisy rushed to dab up any spilled stew. But her focus kept darting up to Ryzer, following him through the kitchen to the hallway toward the bathroom.
“Yeah, tomorrow is cleanin’ day. Where the whole farm scrubs the barns from top to bottom. It’s worse when yer sore.” Ryzer smirked at her before he turned into the bathroom. “Boss gets the claim first rinse, then you can scrub all the dirt off yer toes.”
“Thanks!” she called after him, but she didn’t feel very grateful. Ryzer snorted, signifying he understood she was being petulant. However, Dee-Dee smiled down at her as she switched out the dirty bowl for a fresh plate with pie.
“Babbleberry pie fixes all ailments,” she winked at her.
“Thank you,” Daisy chuckled wearily. She meant it that time.
Poking at the crusty pie full of dark purple filling with green crunchy bits, her eyes fell closed as she popped a hefty fork full in her mouth.
She’d almost forgotten what babbleberry tasted like, as the last time she got some was at a weigh station two clicks west of nowhere in a galaxy she couldn’t name.
It was one of those vending machine pastries in vacuum sealed wrapping.
That little pastry was the most indulgent thing she’d had in months… the pie in front of her, though?
She moaned softly. The fork slid out between her lips and she still licked the prongs, then her lips.
Daisy slowly opened her eyes, savoring the flavor of fresh fruit and syrup and real pie crust. There was butter and salt on her tongue playing with the tangy punch.
She went to tell Dee-Dee exactly how she felt about the pie when her eyes locked onto Ryzer.
He was frozen in the kitchen frame. His fingers wrapped around the wood and a distinct crack filled the air.
Her heart skipped a beat as Ryzer let out a sharp, hard puff of air as he pushed off the door.
He glanced at the frame, then shook his head.
“Dee-Dee, uh, put on there some new hoof-shoes, I oughta replace mine soon. How about you?”
Dee-Dee glanced up at him from her little yellow notepad.
She shrugged, bending her knee and glancing back over her shoulder to look at it.
“Uh, yeah, mine could use replacing. Best grab Dallen some while yer out or the boy will forget he’s got hooves.
Bet Jones already got an order in that just needs pickin’ up.
Oh, might as well get Little One here new boots. She’s wearing Fel’s old ones.”
Ryzer’s gaze returned to Daisy and she suddenly remembered to suck in air. Oh no, that’s not good. Ducking her head, she returned to her pie again. At least if she was eating and focusing on not stabbing her tongue with the fork, she couldn’t accidentally embarrass herself further.
“I wondered where them boots were from,” Ryzer grumbled. It was under his breath, but the one thing she learned by working with him all day was he was never quiet. Daisy peaked up through her fringe, watching him stalk back out the kitchen. He took something with him and she couldn’t place it.
Longing. That’s what it was. She longed for him to stare at her hungrily again.
It was so intense that it stopped time for her.
Her insides were a mess. Like she’d dropped a kitten in a box full of cat-nip scented yarn, her stomach was in knots.
Thighs clenched, she counted down the delicious bites of her pie in hopes of cooling down.
It’s just strange. I caught him off guard. It wasn’t like he heard my moan and decided I was more than a pain in his rear end. I’m just the girl who crashed her ship into his yard.
“You alright, Little One?” Dee-Dee chirped as she slapped her list onto the front of their fridge.
“Yeah!” Daisy laughed sheepishly. Ripping out of her seat, she brought her dishes to the suds to soak as she’d seen everyone else do. “I’m gonna go grab clean pajamas to jump into.”
“Sleep tight,” Dee-Dee sang after her as Daisy scurried to her room.
An armful of fresh clothes later, she waited for the sounds of the shower to cease.
She couldn’t explain why she hid in her room like a meerkat in her hole, but the second his bedroom door shut, she raced out into the hall.
Her feet nearly toppled over each other as she caught the long, jagged crack up the door frame to the kitchen.
There were splinters sticking out of it. Oh, he really cracked it.
However, the sound of his door opening sent her skittering into the bathroom. Steam permeated everything. It filled her lungs and cleansed the soil from her nostrils. She cranked the water back on and let it get to a healthy boiling temperature before standing underneath it.
Maybe my sore rumpus is lucky. Because everything hurt and melting under that water was comparable to eating that first bite of pie.
Only, she didn’t moan in the shower, afraid he’d hear it and imagine the wrong thing.
Even if she was slicker than an oil spill.
Her poor clit ached, and she knew the second she closed her eyes to touch it who would be behind those lids.
So, she didn’t.
Longing and aching and in need of reprieve, she scrubbed her skin raw, washed her hair, then got out when the water started to run cold.
Dried off and dressed, she found the house quiet and mostly dark minus the lamp she left on in her room.
She turned it off moments before she dropped into bed.
Sleep took her from the world of the living quickly and deposited her into a dark, inky space where she floated.