"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.