And I was right.
THIRTY-FOURKYE
“Are you okay?” Jax asked, making me look away from Daisy to him.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired from the trip.”
“That’s not what I was talking about.”
He was talking about Daisy running into me after six years of not seeing her. Six years of avoiding everything about her from the crew talking about her to seeing her when I was in town. I couldn’t bring myself to face anything having to do with her. The cruel twist of fate that took her away from me and now it would put her here in front of me without a chance of getting closer. It was an unbearable torment.
I wondered if she ever thought of me, if she ever missed me the way I missed her. It was an easy thing to wonder, but now she was close enough to ask and I wished I could.
“Daisy? Yeah, we are good. We even just had a polite conversation. One where I got ratted out about the tattoo on my hands that I had been doing well at hiding.”
He laughed. “Bailey?”
“Yes, pointed it out immediately.”
“Yeah, she’s observant. And tough. She’s a great kid, though. That’s the one I tell you is best friends with Liam and Lily. Daisy’s done well with her.”
“You told me about their friends, but failed to mention whose kid she was. Why didn’t anyone tell me?” The anger and regret were coming over me, and I could feel my temper flaring. I had gotten it under more control as I got older, but any one of them could have told me what Daisy was going through. It wasn’t like they never talked about her, but they failed to mention one of the biggest things in her life.
“She asked us not to. Ash said she seemed sad anytime we brought you up, so we tried to not do that too much around her either. It just seemed like it would help you two keep your lives separate. You looked fucking miserable anytime something about her was mentioned, so we just got the hint and stopped mentioning everything.”
“I could have come back, though.”
“To what? Take care of her? Take care of Bailey? We’ve obviously done what we could to make sure they are both okay. She doesn’t take help easily, though.”
“I don’t know. I could have at least come back to help through the funeral.”
“She was dating someone, anyway. Not that it lasted after Bailey came around. That guy ran for the hills and Daisy was too busy to care.”
“Is she with someone now?”
“Yeah, but I don’t actually know how serious it is. He seems…fine.”
“Fine?”
“Yeah, like a good guy, a simple guy. He’s a cop, so I’m assuming her dad likes him, and he seems to want to be a family guy, so he likes Bailey enough. I don’t know if it’s serious yet.” He smirked. “She makes sure not to bring him around us much, so that’s about what I know.”
“Why? How long have they been dating?”
“Maybe four months? The gossip is that he tried for a long time to get her to go out on a date and finally she caved one day. He’s been trying to move for more, but she’s taking it slow. The girls don’t like him much, but I don’t know why.”
“The gossip, Jax? Really?”
“I have a pregnant wife whose friends pile into the apartment to tell her all about the outside world anytime they can. I overhear stuff.”
“Damn, we need to get you out more.”
“I currently can’t be more than ten minutes from my wife and child, so maybe we can do that after the baby comes.”
“Fine, fine. We will wait. Or just load everyone up and go to the track.”
“That we can do.”
“I’m serious. We should do that this week.”
“And I’m a hundred percent in. Ask Scout, it’s her week. Well, hers and Chase’s, but I’m assuming Scout would be there faster than any of us. She wants the wedding, but she hates everything leading up to it.”
I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t wrong. Scout would always take a chance to be at the track. Even on her wedding day, I bet we could get her there.
I looked at Daisy as we went outside. She was dating someone. A cop, at that. I guess it made sense. I’m surprised she wasn’t already married or something. She had only grown more beautiful and still kept her head up high, the prom queen that would never let anyone see her trip. I admired it, though. She was always trying her best, and no one could claim otherwise.
We made it through the doors just in time to watch Bailey jump into the pool, fully clothed, with a yelp of joy.
“Bailey, no,” Daisy yelled, running to the edge. Her face fell, and I could see the exhaustion now.
“Can she swim?” I asked, running to the other side, ready to jump in.
“She’s a great swimmer, and that’s the problem. She will not get out now. Bailey, come on.”
She only laughed, splashing back and forth from each side. She was a good swimmer and knew to stay out of Daisy’s reach.
“I should not have bought swimming lessons for you,” she groaned. “Bailey, come out, now. You are going to go dry yourself off before dinner.”
I couldn’t help smiling as she spun around in the water, grinning.
