Danni Rose (The Sherwood)

“Why?” Danni gazed at him waiting for a response.

“I don’t get to give Jesse a piece of my mind.”

She smiled at Walker. “What would you say, Walker? What is there to say?”

“I don’t know,” he replied.

She hugged him hard. She wanted to make it better for him, but she knew that only time would heal him. Time and moving on with their lives.

Tomorrow would be better, she hoped because today was just not good.

Chapter 18

He had promised Danni he was leaving town, but he wanted to say goodbye to his mother. He promised Damon Kane that no one would see him when he allowed him to return to Sherwood on Friday.

In the shadows of the trees that surrounded Sherwood Cemetery Jesse Wild watched the funeral services. He couldn’t be at the funeral home for the memorial service. His mother was cremated but she had a burial plot at the old cemetery where the procession of cars now pulled through the iron gates that remained open all day, every day.

As a child, he thought it was spooky coming here at night with Walker. They tried hard to scare each other. He was selfish and a prick. He knew his mother was angry at him when he setup Walker. She had told him she would never forgive him.

That night at the bar, he should have just put the gun away. He was desperate to get to Walker. He was smarter than him. He would know what to do with the information that he had before he got them all killed. Then Damon returned his call. Then, they met. Damon told him to sit tight. He was getting nervous, so he kidnapped Danni in case Damon didn’t come through for him.

He just wanted to protect the only person he had left in the world that Jesse gave a shit about. It must not seem like it, to an outside looking in but he did.

Jesse watched the cars stop alongside the road. He saw Walker get out of the first one, head down. Sunglasses blocking his eyes, so Jesse couldn’t see the emotion he felt but he knew how hard this was on his brother. Unlike him, Walker was selfless.

He had tried to do the right thing. He took the money with Danielle to pay off his debt. He saw the murder. She was sitting in the car. By the time they got back to Laura, she was dead. He glanced down at the ground, remembering the pretty blonde.

She was young and funny. She had her whole life ahead of her and he knew that he was responsible for taking that from her as if he had strangled her himself.

That is when the remorse set in. He was kicking himself in the ass for living a life that was without morals. His mother had taught him better.

Danielle hadn’t wanted to leave him. She told him that she loved him. He remembered standing in the diner parking lot, next to her car. Seeing all this hope on her face. The same love and hope that Danni had for Walker. His brother was a lucky man and he deserved every bit of Danni’s love and devotion.

He heard the pastor of his mother’s church begin to pray. He wanted to drop to his knees and pray with them too. God didn’t hear Jesse Wild anymore. He was convinced of this.

He listened to the pastor recite his mother’s favorite prayer. “Thou, I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil…” He snorted. Death wouldn’t bring him the peace that it brought his mother. Death wouldn’t bring him home to his mother again. He would never be joined with her in a better place. There was only place for Jesse.

That morning, he had dropped an envelope full of cash, one hundred thousand on Bindi Richard’s front porch. She still had Margo to raise. Danielle had talked about how hard it was on Bindi to raise her younger sisters. Her working the diner had helped. He had taken that from Bindi. It was all he had. He was trying to make amends as best he could for Danielle, for Laura and for his mother Artemisia’s death.

Then the pastor, released everyone. Slowly, they headed back to their cars. He remembered when his grandparents died. They went to someone’s house and had a buffet lunch. He wondered if they would go somewhere and mourn his mother’s life or maybe celebrate it. She wouldn’t want them to shed any tears. Artemisia Walker Wild would want them to celebrate her.

Pastor Barnes shook Walker’s hand and he too left the cemetery. He had promised Damon he wouldn’t speak to anyone. He would watch from the woods. Tomorrow he was disappearing for a while. He wanted to say goodbye to Walker.

He looked around. The cemetery was empty, so Jesse slipped out into the open. Danni saw him first. He could see the surprise on her face. She gripped Walker’s arm. Then his brother saw him and if not for Danni holding him, Jesse knew that Walker would have come after him.

Jesse approached cautiously. He looked at the open grave where his mother’s ashes would be laid to rest. He wiped his hand across his face. “I’m sorry Walker.”

His gaze was hard, and he knew that he didn’t deserve Walker’s forgiveness. He didn’t expect it, but he had to say the words. “I’m leaving the country tomorrow. I won’t be a bother to you anymore.”

“I guess that hit was your doing. It was all over the news.”

“I didn’t kill him myself, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Walker looked to the grave where Jesse was looking. “What happened to you?” He asked.

“I just caught up in something bigger than me,” he replied. “Damon got me out of it.”

“Good for him,” Walker replied. “How the hell you even know people like Damon Kane is beyond me, Jesse.”