“What?”
“You don’t even know her if you think she’ll get rid of that truck. That’s her baby. Her and her grandfather rebuilt that engine when Hal was still able to work on them.”
“The body is rusted,” Jackson pointed out.
“In a few spots but it runs like a dream and someday she’ll get it painted too but she won’t get rid of that truck,” Walker insisted.
Seeing Danni around town, driving the 69 Ford then thinking she might not be here left a sourness in Walker’s stomach especially after last night. The memory of her riding him, her hair wild and cascading around her shoulders left him hot and wanting her again.
It would be for the best if she left with Jackson, he tried to tell himself, but it just didn’t ring true. Her place was here with her family just not with him.
“Does she know that you love her?”
He chuckled. “Man, you know nothing. I’ve always loved Danni.” He looked at him without flinching he said, “Like a little sister. Matt’s little sister. My best friend.”
Jackson shook his head at him. “I’m no fool, Walker. I know when another man loves my woman.”
“She’s not your woman, you left her behind.”
“She’s mine all right,” Jackson insisted, and Jackson’s words made him grit his teeth.
Walker just nodded. The thought of Jackson or any other man having Danni like he did last twisted his gut and made him angry. Anger would do him no good right now.
He had to keep his head clear. Jesse or the men who killed the blonde girl would get to him if he didn’t have a clear head. That’s how he got to him last time. He was angry and not seeing straight when Jesse threatened first their mother and then Danni. Matt and Simon were right though. He should have come to them and let them help him.
“This conversation is getting us nowhere, Jackson. Whatever your purpose was it is a moot point. I have always loved Danni and always will, but I have no claim to her and never will. If she wants to go to Louisiana with you good for her but I think you have a battle on your hands to pry that girl loose from Sherwood.”
“We’ll see,” Jackson replied with confidence.
Walker was grateful they were in town. Jackson dropped him in front of the diner where Matt waited on him wide-eyed and surprised at who had given him a ride.
“I think you need a driver’s license, man,” Matt teased him.
“No shit,” Walker replied feeling more than disgruntled after the conversation with Jackson.
Matt opened the diner door and held it for Walker to go through first. Patty the owner greeted them and told them to sit where ever they wanted. She had owned the diner for thirty-five years.
When she had bought it, she was all of thirty years old. Her and her husband, Al had run it together. He cooked while she served. Al couldn’t stand anymore to cook so when he retired last year, she hired a young man who did her cooking for her while she still served with a few other young girls willing to hustle faster than she did these days.
They took a booth by the window. The padded, red leather booths were worn by time. The tables were solid wood and scratched, some had initials of lovers carved into them.
Patty dropped their menus in front of them. “Two cups of coffee?” She asked knowing well that they would need their caffeine.
“I don’t need a menu, Patty,” Matt told her. Then he rambled off the largest breakfast they had on the menu. Walker needed to be more conscientious of his money. He ordered two eggs with a side of bacon. Matt looked at him and rolled his eyes. “I’m paying this morning and Walker will take the same as me but make his bacon extra-crispy, Patty. He’s fussy.”
She chuckled at the two of them. “Just like when you were boys coming in here stirring up trouble.”
“Not us,” Walker replied. Patty walked away leaving them alone. “You don’t have to pay for me. You know I have a trust fund.”
Matt looked across the table at his friend. “You don’t have to get your nose out of joint, Walker. If it will make you feel better, you can buy next time.”
He leaned back in the booth and played with the wrapped silverware. He did get his nose out of joint as Matt put it. Sometimes, this breakfast he shared with Matt or dinner he had at the pub was his only meal because he gave most of his money to his mother. He had to admit that he was afraid the money he had would never be enough, so he wouldn’t touch it.
His mother’s Social Security wouldn’t be at the maximum she could receive for a few more years and her medications were expensive. Most people didn’t know or understand how hard it was on seniors to live on what Social Security paid out.
Retirement? She hadn’t been able to save because she raised two boys alone. Arte Wild made sure that her boys got to do whatever it was that they wanted. That’s why it felt like a kick in the balls to him that Jesse threatened her life when the sheriff was getting close to him and it came down to him or Jesse going to jail. He made sure that Walker took the wrap for the stash of drugs because he went after the two most precious people in Walker’s world. His mother and Danni Rose.
Did that make him a murderer? He didn’t think that Jesse would really kill someone especially not the pretty blonde he was obviously having sex with but at the time of his arrest, he couldn’t take the chance with his mother and Danni.