tothe cabinet where she kept her VHS tapes and opened it up. 'And their youngest girl, Bonnie, was there too.
She's the one who had that real ugly baby last Valentine's Day. Lord, when I picked the blanket off the baby'sface in church, I 'bout had heart failure myself. It was all bald and pink and skinny like a newborn rat, bless herheart. Of course, I lied and told her it was precious. You remember Bonnie, don't you. Short. Dark hair...'
Her mother was determined to make Daisy's head explode. Daisy stepped out onto the porch and shut the doorbehind her. She sat on the first step and rested her temple against the white post that supported the roof. Hernerves were frazzled. Her head pounded, and her patience had deserted her awhile ago. It was barely oneo'clock in the afternoon, and she knew the day was bound to get worse. Jack hated her now, and he was going tomake her life a misery, just as he'd promised the first night she'd seen him. While she understood his anger ather, she couldn't let things get ugly. If they did, the one person who was totally innocent would be the one tosuffer the most. Nathan.
She glanced downward at her bare feet and red toenails. For the first time, she noticed the perfect fingertipbruises on her thighs. She didn't have to wonder how they'd gotten there. Jack. He'd left his mark on her longafter he'd made love to her.
It was apropos, she supposed. Jack had left his mark on her years ago too, and she didn't mean Nathan. He'dmarked her where no one could see. He'd left an indelible mark on her heart and her soul. One that no mailerhow far away she traveled, how long she stayed away, or how long she hid from it, had not faded nearly asmuch as she'd thought.
Despite his feeling toward her, she was very much afraid that she was falling in love with Jack again. She knewthe signs just as surely as she knew better than to let it happen.
The sooner she grabbed Nathan and got out of town, the better. Jack knew he had a son now. He could call orwrite or visit Seattle sometime in the future. Lily was recovering and would be home soon, but she was still abasket case. Yet, Daisy had problems of her own, and she had to get away before her life fell completely apart.
From half a block away, she heard the unmistakable rumble of Jack's Mustang. She looked up and turned herattention to the black car moving toward her. As she stood, the car rolled to a stop at the curb in front of hermother's house. Jack shut the car off then turned to look at her. From across the distance, their gazes met: Hisangry; hers resigned to his anger. Daisy leaned her head to one side and looked beyond Jack to Nathan. Her sonsat in the passenger seat and kept his attention pinned to his lap. He said something, then the two of them exitedthe Mustang. Both doors shut at the same time, and Jack waited for Nathan at the front of the car. The hot Texassun baked Daisy's shoulders, and it took every ounce of her self-control to keep her feet planted at the bottom ofthe steps and not running toward her son.
The two moved up the walk, their strides keeping perfect time with the other. Nathan's hands swung at his sides;his walk, an I'm-fifteen-and-trying-so-desperately-to-be-cool amble. Yet his blue eyes were guarded; he waswondering if he was in trouble or not.
Jack had one hand buried to his knuckles in the front pocket of his Levi's, the other hung loose at his side. Asalways, he moved as if he were in no hurry to get anywhere in particular.
'Where have you been, Nathan?' she asked when he stopped in front of her. She had to fight the urge to throwher arms around him and tell him everything would be okay. 'I've been very worried about you. You know Ihate it when you leave and don't tell me when you'll be back.'
'We went for a little drive,' Jack told her.
A furrow appeared between Nathan's brows and she asked him, 'Are you okay?'
'Yeah.'
But he didn't look okay. He looked tired and upset, and his cheeks were pink from the heat. 'Are you hungry?'
'A little.'
'Why don't you go inside and have your grandma fix you something to eat.'
He turned to Jack. 'I guess I'll see you later.'
'Count on it,' he said. 'I'll call you after I talk to Billy.'
'Cool.' With his pants riding low on his hips, and his dog chains jingling, Nathan moved up the steps.
'Where did you find him?' Daisy wanted to know as she watched her son shut the door.
'At the high school. He was talking to some girl.'
'Where did you take him after that?' She turned to face him. The blazing sun penetrated the thick weave of hishat and shot pinholes of light across his nose and mouth.
'Around.'
'Around where?'
He smiled. 'Just around.'
She placed her hand across her brows and shielded her eyes from the sun. He was really enjoying this. 'Whatdid you talk about?'
'Cars.'
'And?'
'Him working for me this summer.'
'Impossible,' she said and waved the notion away with her hand. 'We have plans.'
'Change them. Nathan says he wants to work for me this summer.'
She looked up into his green eyes, surrounded by those long dark lashes of his. 'Are you going to tell me that hecame up with that all on his own?'
He shook his head and white pinholes of light slid along his top lip. 'Doesn't matter who came up with it. It'swhat we both want.'
'We can't stay here all summer.' She felt a bead of perspiration slip between her breasts. 'I've already been herelonger than I intended.'
'There's no reason for you stay. In fact, it might be better if you left.'
'I'm not leaving my son here with you. You've known him an hour and you've already manipulated him intostaying.'
'I simply offered Nathan a job helping Billy tear down a Hemi 426. He jumped at it.'
She lifted her hands upward. 'Of course he did. The child has slept on NASCAR sheets most of his life and hadhis first car picked out at the age of three. A Porsche 911.'
'Jesus!' he swore. 'You let my son pick a European piece of shit?'
Under any other circumstance, she might have laughed. 'What the heck does it matter?'
'He's a Parrish.' He grabbed his hat from his head and rubbed his forehead against his short sleeve. 'It mattersto us.' He ran his fingers through one side of his hair then jammed the hat back on. 'If he'd been raised right,he'd know better,' he said in a low grumble.
How dare he criticize the way she'd raised Nathan. She may not have always been the best mother, but she'dalways tried her best. She'd kill anyone who tried to hurt him.
'If he'd been raised right,' Jack continued, 'he wouldn't have a ring through his lip and dog chains hanging offhim.'
Her nerves snapped, and in an instant she forgot all about trying to get along with Jack for Nathan's sake. Sheno longer cared whether Jack had a right to his anger, he'd just crossed the line and insulted her son. 'He's agreat kid,' she said and poked her finger in Jack's chest. 'What's on the outside isn't as important as what's onthe inside.'
Jack glanced down at her finger then back up into her eyes. 'He looks like a hedgehog.'
'A lot of boys where we live look like that.' She poked him twice more. 'Goat-roper!'
His eyes widened then narrowed. He wrapped his hand around hers and removed her finger. 'You've turned intoa Yankee woman with no manners and a bad accent.'
Daisy gasped, and this time she went for the kill. She stood on the balls of her feet and said, 'I'll take that as acompliment coming from a second-rate grease monkey.'
'You conceited bitch.' He grabbed hold of her shoulders like when they were ten years old and fighting overwho had the best bike. They cut into each other with words, going at it tooth and nail, and all the while neverraising their voices above a low rumble.
'You always did think the sun rose and set on your scrawny butt,' he said.
