Chapter Twenty-four
Daisy-Mae
The ride to West’sis quiet and thankfully uneventful, but I’m wracked with guilt.I can’t help but wonder if both Cash and Lemon blame me for this mess we’re all in.West may have pulled the trigger, but Eddie and those men were there for my house, and my thoughtlessness with hiding the deed makes them all an accessory to murder.
Fifteen minutes after turning onto ranch land, Cash takes an unmarked dirt road, and we crest a small rise and pull up to a farmhouse.I’ve never been to West’s property, but I recognize the festoon lights from our late night facetimes.Right now, they sway in the chill autumn breeze, and the porch light is on, but so far, no one looks to be inside the one-story barndominium.
Something on the porch moves.At first, I thought it was just a piece of furniture, but then it steps into the light.There’s a highland cow sitting on the doorstep.
“Holy shit.Is that thing going to let us past?”
“Who Ham?”Lemon asks.“He’s harmless.Of course, he should have been taking up space in my freezer, but my brother is a sucker for helpless things.”
“Like me?”
Lemon turns in her seat to look at me.“Daisy, you are far from helpless.”
I wish I believed that as much as she seems to.
“Stay here,” Cash says gruffly.He pulls a pistol from the glove compartment and flicks off the safety.
“Be careful.”
“Now, have you ladies ever known me to be reckless?”Cash winks and turns toward the house.
“Not helping,” Lemon says, as she cracks her window.I close my eyes and relish the cool air on my face, all the while resisting the urge to open my door and jump out of the vehicle the way my heart is trying to jump out of my chest.
We wait with bated breath for what feels like an eternity, and then every light in the house flickers to life and Cash appears in the doorway.
“All clear.”He slides the gun into his holster and opens Lemon’s door before helping her down.I breathe a sigh of relief and set about unfastening Waylon’s baby carrier from the seat beside me, but it gets stuck.Tears of frustration spring to my eyes.Waylon begins fussing, and Lemon opens my door and places a gentle hand on my arm.Cash moves around the vehicle and accomplishes what I couldn’t in a few short seconds.This makes me cry harder.
“Hey, come on,” Lemon says.“Let’s get you settled inside.”
“This is all my fault,” I sob into her shoulder.
“No,” she says, as she hugs me tightly, her firm belly flush against my much softer one.“Daisy, none of this is your fault.It’s your dipshit ex-husband’s fault.”
“Your family has been so kind to me, and I just made you all an accessory to murder.”
“I hate to break it to you, Miss Daisy, but we’ve been through rougher times, and done much worse than this.”
