Chapter Four

Country

The table is set, pasta sauce is cooking, and Belle is drawing placemats for everyone with big sheets of construction paper she tore out of her book.

"When Ms. Fraiser gets here, I'm going to show her my room, and my toys, and my little firetruck that I put Tinker Belle stickers on. And then… we can show her where she's sleeping tonight, right?" Her tone lifts, and though she's only eight years old, I get the feeling she already knows how to manipulate a situation for her benefit.

"I don't think Ms. Fraiser is sleepin' here tonight, baby girl. She's just comin' for dinner."

"Oh. Well… we can ask her to stay the night, right? She could have a slumber party with us. Then in the morning, we can make breakfast, and Ms. Fraiser can show me how to do things with the makeup. She's pretty. Don't you think, Dad?"

"Yes, Ms. Fraiser is very pretty," I scoop my girl up in my arms and tickle her, "just like you. Now go wash up. I need your help puttin' cheese on the garlic bread."

Belle jumps free of my arms and runs down the hall to the bathroom. She lives to put cheese on garlic bread, mostly because she helps herself to handfuls of it as she's working. Regardless of her motives, I love her spirit.

The sink turns on, and though she's two rooms away, she's still talking. "Oh, Dad… after dinner, we should take Ms. Fraiser to the honey hole. She's never seen your poles."

I smile. "We'll see if she has time." I stir the sauce as I listen to Belle ramble on and sing from the bathroom. There's an innocence in her that crushes every ounce of me. I want her to have a perfect life. The fact that she's had any disappointment destroys me. Protecting her has been my top priority since she was born, well… since she was conceived. The fact that women like Daisy can't say the same really pisses me off. If I knew some asshole was touching my daughter the way Mike touched Daisy, I'd murder him on the spot. No explanations, no reasoning, no second chances.

Some things in life are non-negotiable.

To some, that might seem dramatic, but to me, it makes perfect sense. A man should never put hands on a woman. There's no excuse for it.

Belle bounces out of the bathroom and jumps up onto the sofa, kneeling as she pulls back the curtains to the front window. "She's here! Ms. Fraiser is here." She springs off the couch and meets me at the kitchen sink, staring up at me with wide eyes. "Dad, be normal. Okay?"

"Be normal?" I grin. "What does that look like?" I make a funny face, sticking my tongue out. "Like this?"

She rolls her eyes. "Dad… normal. Be normal." I can't help but laugh as she opens the front door where Daisy stands with a sweet smile. She's still wearing the short pencil skirt and the pink top I saw her in earlier today. She's gorgeous.

I wipe my hands on the kitchen towel and move toward the door, reaching out to her for a hug. "Daisy, so glad you made it."

Belle clears her throat and stares up at me with a grimace as though I'm messing things up already. "Dad! She likes to be called Ms. Fraiser. God!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." I reach toward Daisy for a hug. "Ms. Fraiser, it's good to see you again."

Daisey grins and steps inside, releasing her arms from my shoulders to bend down and greet Belle. Something about her making my baby girl a priority makes me like her more. "Hey, sweetie. How has the rest of your day been?"

Belle tucks her hand into Daisey's and drags her to the table. "Good. Really, really good." She spreads the placemats she's made across the table and stands before them with a giant grin.

"Where's yours?" Daisy asks, admiring the artwork.

"Oh, I don't need one. This is for you and Dad." She smiles wider.

"Well, thank you!" Daisy admires the art. "What does this say?"

"It says… romantic restaurant for two."

My heart stiffens and I glance down at the placemat Belle has been working on. Romantic is spelled ‘Rowmantic' and there are two stick people in the center of the page that vaguely resemble Daisy and I, if we were stick people, and we're holding hands.

I love the effort Belle's gone to, but Daisy's number one rule for tonight was nothing romantic.

I look down at my baby girl. "We're all havin' dinner together, sweetheart. You haven't eaten."

"Nope!" Belle smiles, grabbing her lunchbox out of the fridge. "I packed myself dinner earlier. Peanut butter and jelly with a cheese stick. Plus, I took two cupcakes from the cabinet." She waves toward us as she stands in the hallway, pride beaming so desperately from her little face that I couldn't tell her no, even if I wanted to.

Daisy is unsure of what to say. "I'm here to spend time with you too, Belle. I want to hear all about your day, and I want you to show me all your toys."

"Next time," she hollers, walking down the hall with her lunch pail as though it's a briefcase. "Have fun with the romance. We need a bigger family around here."

I glance toward Daisy and grin. "I think she gave us homework."

Daisy smiles. "Yeah, not sure that's going to get done, but it's very cute. This is all so super nice. Thank you."

I sit at the table with her and settle two plates of pasta in front of us. "I promise that wasn't coached."

"I believe you. That was way too genuine to be a show."

"Well, she's somethin'. I'm lucky to have her. How'd everythin' go with the principal today?"

Daisy twists a bite of spaghetti onto her fork and lowers it just as fast. "Yeah, I was going to talk to you about that."

"About what?"

She sighs. "Apparently, Mike showed up at school yesterday looking for me. He was acting erratically, and the principal had him removed from the building. He fought off a security guard and left before the cops were called. I don't know. She said if it happens again, they'll reconsider my employment."

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean, I get it. She can't have someone threatening violence on school grounds and he's attached to me. So if anything happens, it's my problem." She rolls her eyes and sips from the cup on the table. "I don't think he would do anything, but… I don't know what gets into his head when he acts like that, so I guess he could technically do whatever he wants."

Blood beats behind my eyelids as I try to refocus my attention on the conversation. How does this piece of shit keep evading me? Maybe it's because I've been distracted by his ex.

Daisy looks toward me, her gaze soft despite all the fucking shit this bastard has put her through. "It's okay. It's… what it is."

"This guy is showin' up at your work, darlin'. He's threatin' you, and your job is on the line. That ain't okay."

"I know, but what can I do? He knows what he's doing, Country. He stayed away from the house because he knows you're around, and he's threatening me at work because he wants me to talk to him. He knows my job means a lot to me."

"Why does he want to talk to you?"

She looks down and away, staring out at the window. "He wants me to go with him."

"Why, though? Y'all broke it off."

"He thinks he owns me. I think it's because we got together so young, ya know? It's like he really believes he physically owns me. That's why he comes back. It's why he gets… violent. He," she swallows hard and pushes back a tear before leaning in, "he thinks I'm going to break, and coming to work was part of the game. If I go willingly, he wins. Unfortunately for him, I'm not going this time."

Turmoil shakes me like an out-of-control train. We've just sat down for dinner, but I can't sit still. I need to move. I need to hunt. I need to find this fucker and drain the life out of him… now!

She sighs and picks up a piece of garlic bread, dipping it into the sauce before taking a bite. "This is so good."

"Belle helped." I glance toward Daisy and reach for her hand. "I can't do this."

Her brows narrow. "Do what?"

"I can't sit here and have dinner knowin' that guy is out there, fuckin' your life."

She tilts her head to the side and continues to chew. "Well, there's not much you can do. He doesn't keep a trail and—"

"How does he communicate with you?"

"He doesn't. He shows up randomly."

"But he keeps tabs somehow, so he knows where you are?"

She nods and spins pasta onto her fork. "Where is this going?"

"We could flush him out."

"How's that?"

"You think he can see your social media somehow?"

She nods. "I've blocked him a million ways, but I know he still sees it."

"So, what would piss him off the most?"

She stares toward me, chewing at the inside of her lip. "I don't want to involve you in this. You said yourself how dangerous he is. Why provoke him? What if something happens to you? You're all Belle has."

"I do this because I'm all she has. Let's take a racy picture, post it online, and leave the location tag on. That'll draw him to you."

Her brows narrow. "At the house where your daughter is staying?"

"The neighbor will take her. She plays with them kids all the time. I guarantee she'll have more fun there than she's havin' in her room playin' datin' coach."

Daisy shakes her head. "I don't know, Country. I was looking forward to a normal night. I want to spend time with Belle."

I reach forward and land my hand on her face. "Let's get this asshole out of the way, then we have all the time we want."

She chews on her lip as I lift my phone to text the neighbor. I'd love to talk about feelings all night, but time is wasting. The sooner I get this fucker, the better.