Danni Rose (The Sherwood)

He ran his hands through his hair. “All right. Just have dinner with me so we can talk.”

She shook her head no. “There is nothing to talk about, Jackson.”

“Please Danni. Just dinner.”

She knew better. In her mind, there was nothing to discuss but she gave in because she thought if she had dinner with him and got it over with then she could get him to move on and leave her alone. “All right.”

“Tonight?”

“Whatever,” she declared. “I’m out of here at six.”

“I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty. We can go downtown and have dinner.”

She shook her head no. “We can find something closer. This isn’t a date.”

He wasn’t listening to her. Danni could tell. Jackson left the garage and Danni went back to work.

**

Danni bleached her hands after work to get rid of the stains from work. Then she showered and shampooed her hair. She didn’t do anything special because she didn’t want Jackson to think she was trying to impress him. She put on a black pair of dress slacks that hugged her curves but were casual. A black long, sleeved shirt and her boots that she wore to work at Ike’s. She put product in her hair to tame her curls and ruby, red lipstick. That was all she did.

When he knocked on her door, she opened it and she could see that her attempt to not impress him hadn’t worked. His eyes revealed all that he felt about her right now. He still wanted her. Danni wished that she hadn’t agreed to do this. She snatched her purse from the table beside the door and locked her front door.

“Let’s get this over with.” He tried to hold her hand and Danni pulled away from him. “Jackson, this isn’t a date.”

He held the door for her and she climbed into his truck. She clicked on the seatbelt and Jackson clicked on his then he started up the truck. Danni glanced up and she saw Walker at the side of the barn, leaning against the wood she had piled up there. She wanted to get out and run to him. His arms were crossed over his chest and his face was a mask of hurt before he covered his emotions. Then he turned and disappeared into the woods.

She couldn’t tell him this wasn’t what it looked like. It wasn’t a date. She was trying to get Jackson off her back. Trying to make him understand that she loved Walker without telling him that she did because that wouldn’t do anyone any good.

Danni wanted out of the truck. She wanted to find Walker. Jackson backed out of the driveway and onto the main street. He hesitated to put the car in drive and Danni unbuckled her seat belt. She threw open the door and hopped out.

“Danni, what the hell?”

“I told you I didn’t love you,” she told him trying to hold back the tears. “I told you I didn’t want to be with you. I let you wear me down and I agreed to this dinner thinking I could convince you. This was a mistake.”

She slammed the truck door. Jackson’s truck remained where it was in the middle of the street. She ran in front of it and across the drive. “This is because of Walker,” he shouted out his window.

Danni turned and brushed the ha

ir out of her face. She nodded at Jackson. “It is,” she agreed. “I love him, Jackson.”

“He’s no good for you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He snorted at her and put the truck in gear. “You’re making a mistake,” he told her giving her another chance to change her mind. When she didn’t, his tires squealed on the asphalt road.

Danni turned and ran to the back of the barn. She shouted for Walker. He didn’t respond. She walked further into the woods, calling his name but he was too far ahead of her. Danni went back to the cabin and changed her clothes. In jeans, a t-shirt and tennis shoes she left, hoping that maybe he had gone to work.

She drove through town looking for Walker on every corner. At the pub, she parked in the closest spot. She nearly left the truck running then leaned in and grabbed her keys. She ran in the front door of the pub. She kissed her father then asked if Walker was here.

“In the back getting ready for work.”

“I’ll see you later, Daddy.”

She went to the back where her brother was busy cooking. She said hello to him. Then she went to the break room where she found Walker.

He glanced up when he heard her shoes on the floor. “That was a short date,” he said. She heard the edge to Walker’s voice.