Page 41 of Enforce This
As we browsed the uniforms and undergarments, I felt her eyes on me. Even more, I felt her judgement. Not the bad kind, there was a smile in her eyes.
Daisy gave a soft, apologetic chuckle, adjusted the tortoiseshell glasses on her nose and smiled.
“You’ll have to forgive me, dear. The last time one of my nephews brought home a– girl… I thought there was some kind of cheese cloth on the floor. Turned out to be some combination of dental floss or panties depending upon which nephew’s answer you believe.” She shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ fashion and moved along.
I smiled and tried to imagine what it must have been like attempting to raise those two. She had my respect for sure. She gathered a few snacks and we checked out without incident.
We grabbed some food from a drive thru and checked into a nice hotel. I changed and climbed into bed, eager to get some sleep as clinicals would come early. However, once I laid down, I was struck by the sight of Daisy. She was the aunt of two Steel Disciples, but you’d never know it with the way she was propped on that bed with a doughnut in one hand and a finger on her laptop, scrolling social media.
I shouldn’t have, but I found myself peeking over at the images on the screen. They were pictures of a living quarter with cathedral ceilings and a fireplace that stretched up the middle. The whole side of the living room was glass. The picture was taken by someone standing on the stairs giving a bird’s-eye view of the modestly well-to-do log-style home.
“You trying to sell?” I guessed.
“Hm? Oh no, I just did some remodeling. I was showing my friend, Shelly, the carpet Eric installed for me.
“Oh.” I quietly acknowledged before asking, “Is that the home Eric grew up in?”
“Yes. When I gained custody of him, I bought my current home, and we started over together.”
“He was lucky to have you.”
“We were blessed to have had each other. I don’t know what I would have done if that accident took both of them.”
“You never married or had other children?” I asked, without thinking.
My face must have reflected how horrified I was with my own lack of manners. Daisy smiled and fanned the air, dismissing any upset.
“No. I devoted my life to him. He was a wonderful student… Sure, he got a little distracted in high school, but he shipped off to the marines and I was sure that I’d saved him from…”
“All of this,” I finished, and she nodded.
“I didn’t know he was a Disciple until the day your mother died.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“You’re his wife, you should be aware that he wears black undershirts.”
When I didn’t say anything, she glanced at me and her lips parted.
“Oh…” she whispered. “You really don’t know about that life…”
“What life…”
“The, uh—the biker thing…” Daisy closed her laptop.
I shook my head not bothering to deny it.
“Well… I guess we better get some rest.” Daisy gave a thoughtful sigh and unplugged her laptop.
She gripped it like she was about to set it aside, and I abruptly blurted out, “Wait…”
She froze and looked toward me.
“Did you—?” I awkwardly cleared my throat to keep the emotion out of my voice, “You haven’t seen any posts about my mom’s funeral details have you?”
“Oh, honey…” Daisy shoved the laptop aside and leaned across to give my hand a squeeze. “You haven’t heard from Dr. Briggs?”
I averted my gaze and swallowed, suddenly regretting that I had asked her.