Daisy's back in town

Chapter Five

The next day, Daisy called Jack but he didn't pick up. The longer she put off telling him about Nathan, theharder it was going to get. She knew that, having already put if off for fifteen years. But what she hadn't realizedbefore she'd arrived was that the longer she put it off, the more memories of her life in this town would drag herback into the past. Before she'd arrived, the plan had been to tell Jack, give him Steven's letter, and deal with thefallout: if not easy, at least straightforward. Now, it didn't seem real straightforward either. But it had to bedone. She was leaving in seven days.

Before noon, she tried Jack's number two more times, but he didn't answer. She figured he was probably notanswering on purpose. She went to church with her mother, and afterward, they had an early dinner with Lilyand Pippen. Phillip "Pippen" Darlington was two and had a blond mullet because his mother couldn't bear to cutthe curls at the nape of his neck. He had huge blue eyes like Lily, and he loved Thomas the Tank Engine. Healso loved wearing his faux coonskin cap and shouting NO! loud enough to be heath into the next county Hehated food with texture, spiders, and his Velcro Barney sneakers.

Daisy looked at him sitting in his high chair at her mother's dinner table and tried not to frown as he pouredgrape Kool-Aid from his Tommy Tippy cup into his baked potato. Daisy's mother and Lily sat across the tablefrom her and didn't seem to mind that Pippen was making a disgusting mess.

"He's a rat bastard!" Lily was telling her, referring, of course, to her soon to be ex-husband, The Rat BastardRonald Darlington. "A few months before he ran off with his jailbait girlfriend, he took all the money out of ouraccounts and put it somewhere."

Louella nodded her head sadly. "Probably in Mexico." Growing up, if either had uttered the word "bastard" atthe dinner table, they'd have been sent from the room.

"What is your attorney doing about that?" Daisy asked"There isn't a lot he can do. We can prove the money was in the account, but not where it went. The judge canorder him to give me half, but that doesn't mean he will. And for years, Ronnie was paid under the table in orderto avoid paying the IRS, so it looks like he only makes twenty thousand a year instead of seventy-five." Lilysliced a piece of meat with a vengeance. Even though they were sisters and had grown up together, they weren'tvery close. Growing up, they'd mostly fought or ignored each other. Lily had been in middle school whenDaisy had moved away, and they'd never really maintained a relationship after that. Losing Steven had madeher realize how important her family was to her. She needed to work on her relationship with her sister.

"He said that if I tell the IRS about it," Lily continued, "he'll fight for custody of Pippen. What can I do?"

When both her mother and Lily stared at her, Daisy realized it wasn't a rhetorical question. There were darkcircles under Lily's eyes as if she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time. Her blond hair was cut short andframed her pretty face with soft curls, but at the moment, she looked anything but soft. No, she looked scared ashell. "You're asking me? How should I know?"

"Darien Monroe is a lawyer," her mother provided.

"Steven's father is retired and living in Arizona. And besides, he was a criminal defense attorney; Stevendesigned computer software programs. I know nothing about the family courts." She recognized the fear inLily's blue eyes. It was the fear of being suddenly alone with the responsibility of raising a child. But unlikeDaisy, Lily wasn't financially secure, nor did she have a career to fall back on. Not that Daisy's career had everprovided a huge income, but she was a good photographer and had connections. If she had to support herselfand Nathan on her income alone, she could. Lily had been a stay-home wife and a mom, which was admirablebut weren't marketable skills. She was terrified. "HI by to think up something," Daisy said, although she hadtroubles of her own and was only here for a week now.

Lily smiled, 'Thanks, Daisy."

"I ran into Darma Joe Henderson, the other day," her mother said as she dug into her okra, Lily's worriesapparently solved for the moment.. "You girls remember Darma Joe. She used to work at the Trusty Hardwareacross from the Wild Coyote. Her son Buck had that car accident a few years back, and they had to amputate hisleg below the knee. Well, he has a daughter who sings with the church choir. You girls might have noticed hertoday." Louella paused to take a bite before launching into, "She kinda looks like Buck, bless her heart, but shehas such a nice voice and a kind personality. She was dating the boy... oh, what was his name? I think it startedwith a G. George or Geoff or something like that. Anyway..."

Daisy slid her gaze from her mother to her sister. Lily's eyes were starting to glaze over and her head wasdrifting back. Things really hadn't changed very much since she'd been gone. She knew it would be useless toask her mother to get to the point, because she already knew there wasn't a point and there never was going tobe one.

Daisy started to laugh. Lily's eyes refocused and she looked at Daisy. She laughed too. Pippen threw hiscoonskin cap on the floor and broke in giggles as if he knew the joke. He was only two, but he'd been aroundhis grandmother enough that perhaps he did.

Louella looked up from her plate. "What are you girls laughing about?"

"That Darma Joe's granddaughter looks like Buck," Lily lied through a grin. "Bless her heart."

"It's unfortunate." Louella frowned. They continued to laugh and she shook her head. "Well, y'all have come offyour spools and taken poor Pippen with you."

After dinner, Daisy got up her nerve for the fourth time that day and called Jack; he didn't pick up, but she lefthim a message this time: "It's Daisy. I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me."

He didn't return the call, of course, so she phoned him the next day at work. She and Penny Kribs chatted aboutold times and she thanked her for sending flowers to Steven's funeral. Then she asked for Jack. "Don't tell himit's me on the line," she said. "I want to surprise him."

"He could use a good surprise," Penny said.

"He's in a nasty mood."

Great. Daisy was put on hold and after listening to about half of 'The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,"

Jack came on the line.

"This is Jack Parrish," he said.

"Hi, Jack." He didn't respond, but he didn't slam the phone down either. "Surprise, it's me, Daisy."

"Don't hassle me at work, Daisy Lee," he finally responded, dragging out those vowels for all they were worth.

Yep, definitely in a nasty mood.

"Don't make me. Meet me later."

"Can't. I'm flying out for Tallahassee this afternoon."

"When will you be back?"

He didn't answer and she was forced to blackmail him. "If you don't tell me, I'll just call back every day. Allday." That didn't prompt a response either. "And night."

"That's harassment."

"True, but filing charges is such a pain." She didn't believe for a minute that he'd actually have her charged forharassment. "Let's meet the day you get back."

"Can't. It's Lacy Dawn's birthday."

"Lacy Dawn? Stripper or hooker?"

"Neither."

"It sounds like a stage name."

"Probably a girl named Daisy Brooks shouldn't cast stones."

He had a point. "Meet me after the party."

"No can do. Those dancing bears take it out of me."

"Jack -"

"Goodbye."

The dial tone filled Daisy's ear as she thought about what to do next. Dancing bears? What was Jack into thesedays? "Hey, Ma," she called from the kitchen into the living room. And over the sound of sirens coming fromthe television she asked, "Is there some place in town that has dancing bears?"

"Dancing bears?" The sirens quieted, then her mother stuck her head into the kitchen. 'The only place I know isShowtime."

"Is that a strip dub?"

"No it's a pizza place, but it also does little kids' birthday parties. Lily had Pippen's party there last year. Hewasn't quite old enough to understand that those big scary bears weren't going to hurt him. He screamed thepaint off the walls. Juanita Sanchez was there with her grandson, Hermie. You remember Juanita, don't you?

She lived down the road in that pink stucco, bless her heart. One day..."

Daisy didn't ask why living in a pink stucco deserved a "bless her heart," but she wasn't about to ask. She calledinformation and came up with a plan. She got the number for Showtime, and dialed it. After getting transferredaround by teenagers who didn't know anything, she finally got put through to the party planner. "Hello," Daisybegan, "I've lost my invitation to the birthday party of a little girl named Lacy Dawn. I'm not sure of her lastname, but if we miss that party, my daughter will be so upset. Could you please tell me what time it starts?"

The party planner sounded older than the teens working there, and it took her about thirty seconds to get backwith the answer. "I don't have a Lacy Dawn, but I do have a Lacy Parrish."

"That's it."

"Her mother booked a front table from six to seven-thirty."

"On Saturday?"

"No. Wednesday."

"Oh my gosh. I'm so glad! called. Thank you." So, Lacy Dawn was Lacy Parrish. Obviously Jack's niece, andhe'd be back in town Wednesday.

She dialed Lily and didn't feel the least guilty for what she planned to do next. She'd warned Jack that she'dbecome his worst nightmare. At the time she'd been mostly bluffing. She wasn't bluffing now, and she wasn'tgoing away. She didn't plan to tell him about Nathan at his niece's birthday party, but he needed to know that hewasn't going to get any peace until he agreed to meet with her.

When Lily picked up, she asked if she and Pippen would go with her to Showtime Wednesday night. Her sisterwanted to know why, and she explained the situation.

"This will be good," Lily said. "Not only will Pippen be your cover, but I went to school with Billy and Rhonda.

Rhonda's sister, Patty Valencia, was your age."

"Was she a real pretty Hispanic girl with long black hair?"

"Yeah, they're both real pretty. Although, I hear Rhonda and Billy have been cranking out the kids, so she maylook a little crazy these days."

"Probably." Daisy glanced at her mother's calendar of Texas landscapes. "Are you sure you want to do this withme? Mom told me Pippen screamed the paint from the walls last time."

"He doesn't do that anymore." She turned her mouth from the phone and said, "Pippen, you're a big boy now.

Aren't you Momma's sweet baby?"

"No!"

Great. Daisy hung up and spent the rest of the afternoon helping her mother pull weeds in her flower gardens.

She brought out her Nikon and knelt amid the pink flamingos, resting her elbow on her knee to steady thecamera. She positioned herself toward Louella's shadow so that the sunlight hit one side of her face. She wishedshe'd loaded the camera with black-and-white film so that the vibrant pink of the flamingos wouldn't take onmore importance than her mother. Or if she'd brought her Fuji digital, she could have loaded it on her computeronce she got back home and made the image real high-impact.

She moved to her stomach and rested the weight of the camera equally on both elbows. She shot up at hermother, catching Annie Oakley in the background -"Daisy Lee," her mother said through a frown, "don't take a picture up my nose."

She sighed and sat up. It had been a while since she'd felt the urge to bring out her cameras and get back intosomething she used to love. She'd had to quit working for Ryan Kent, an artistic photographer in Seattle, inorder to take care of Steven.

She'd gotten into photography in high school, and when Nathan had turned four, she'd signed up for classes atthe University of Washington. After four years, she'd received her B.A. and began interning with topphotographers in the area. Her photographs hung in some studios and galleries around town. And a photographshe'd taken of a man standing on top of a crushed vehicle after the earthquake in Two-thousand and one, hadbeen featured in a local magazine.

She'd thought that once things settled, she'd go back to work for Ryan, but lately she'd been thinking of openingher own studio. One of the most successful photographers she'd ever worked for had once told her that the keyto success was finding a visible location and staying there for at least five years. Talent was important, butvisibility was most important when starting out.

The more she thought about it, the more she thought that's exactly what she'd do. Once she put the past behindher, she'd be free to start over completely. Maybe she'd sell her house. Upon Steven's death, the home owner'sinsurance had paid off the mortgage. Maybe she'd sell it, and she and Nathan could move into a loft inBelltown.

She shrugged and focused her lens on an orange-and-yellow rose. "I'm thinking of selling my house once I getback," she told her mother as she snapped the picture.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," her mother warned. "Colleen Forbus sold her house soon after her husband,Wyatt, took his journey to heaven, and she's been sorry ever since."

Maybe she could wait a few more months just to be sure. She'd find out how Nathan felt about it first, of course.

But lately she'd started to feel as if too much of her past was tied to that house. She didn't have to decide today.

It was something to think about. Something to put at the bottom of her mental to-do list.

She placed her elbow on her knees and adjusted the aperture to bring the roses and flamingos behindLouella's head into focus, giving the photograph a nice rich texture and depth of field. She snapped the photoand thought how nice it would be if everything in her life could be made clear by the turn of a focus ring.