I looked back at Tex. “I think she’l say yes.”
“Yeah?” he looked uncertain.
I did my best not to laugh.
It didn’t work.
“Shee-it,” Tex said, turning away from me.
The door opened and Daisy strol ed in, her hair barely tamed by two pigtails sticking out the sides of her neck. I left Tex to his worried thoughts and Duke to his pissed off state of mind and walked out from behind the counter.
Daisy waved to me and then looked to Lottie.
“You ready, Sugar?” she said to Lottie.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Daisy’s going to take me to Smithie’s, show me some moves, make sure I get my Porsche,” Lottie explained.
“Mom’s gonna come with us.”
I thought about Mom hanging out at Smithie’s watching her daughter practice strip routines.
My family.
Then I turned to Daisy.
“Would you mind swinging by our apartment building?
Ada might want to come. With Mom out of the house, she doesn’t have much company and she might be bored.
She’d probably like to see your moves.”
This was weird, but this was true.
“No problem, darlin’,” she said to me then looked to Tex and cal ed, “Tex, you playin’ bodyguard?”
“Fuck yeah,” Tex said.
“Let’s go,” Daisy ordered and off they trotted.
Jane came in ten minutes later, Al y ten minutes after that.
Ten minutes after that, my cel rang and I flipped it open because it said, “Eddie cal ing.”
“Hey,” I said.
“You okay?” he asked.
Uh-oh.
“Should I not be?”
“With you, Chiquita, it’s a crap shoot.” Wonderful.
I strol ed from behind the counter, letting Al y deal with the customer there so I could deal with Eddie. He took my ful attention at the best of times.
I stood at the window, looking out.