CHAPTER 14
Daisy
The next morning
I wipe the sleep from my eye and get out of bed, making my way to the window. It’s barely sunrise and I hear voices on the front lawn.
Oh my, god! It’s Duke and dad. They’re arguing. My dad’s got a baseball bat and Duke’s refusing to leave. I slide the window open so I can hear.
“I’m not leaving here without her, Tim.”
“You’re leaving right now!”
“We may be through, but Daisy and I are just getting started. She wants to be with me and I sure want to be with her. This is real.”
“Shut up with that bullshit! She’s my daughter.”
“Call the cops then. But they better bring backup.”
“I’ll take you by myself.”
Next thing I know they’re wrestling on the front lawn and I’m running down the stairs as fast as I can. This has gone from bad to worse, and has to stop.
I run down the stairs and out the front door as fast as I can. “Stop!” I yell, tears falling from my eyes.
I’m standing on the front lawn watching my father, and his best friend, who also happens to be the only guy I’ve ever truly loved rolling around like two boys duking it out for me.
Honk! Honk!
What in the world?
I turn and look down the street. Speeding along at about fifteen miles an hour is a yellow Buick about as long as a boat. Honk! Honk!
I can’t see the driver, but I already know who it is. I’m amazed she can see over the dashboard. I haven’t seen that car in at least the last five years. I thought she sold it, and I definitely didn’t know she could still drive.
My dad and Duke are still going at it when the car parks. The door slowly opens and I run to help my granny out of her car.
“Quit yer’ fussin’ boys! Knock that off. Timothy, I’m talking to you!”
I’ve got grandma by the arm and I’m taking her over to the patch of grass they currently occupy. She’s pointing her cane at them and won’t stop shouting.
“Mom?”
“And don’t you ever forget it! Now get up off that ground. Didn’t I teach you any manners? Introduce me to your friend.”
There’s something about the power of a mother that just works. The guys pick themselves up off the ground and Duke limps over to my grandma.
“I’m Duke, ma’am.”
“I know who you are. Why are you beating up on my boy like that?”
“Ma’am, what happened was—”
“He wasn’t beating up on—”
“I don’t want to hear it…from either of you! You’re both guilty of acting like children.”
“Mom, what are you—”
“Don’t what me, Timmy. You’re lucky Duke here already had you pinned down, because I came over to put a real whoppin’ on ya.”
“I was win—”
“Shut up and listen for once. That’s your problem. Timothy, you need to hear this. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s the truth. You don’t listen enough. You’re lucky that doll, Karen, puts up with you. That’s probably why she’s out of town on business so much…so she doesn’t have to listen to your nonsense. You think like a daggum analytical military man. Women don’t think in X’s and O’s. We think with our hearts and our emotions. You think in a straight line, we think in a circle. We’re probably gonna come to the same conclusion you do, we just might need a little more time to get there. But this time, we’ve arrived at the answer a lot faster than you have.”
I’ve never seen my dad put in his place before.
“Think with your heart and not your harpoon. This is a matter of two people, a matter where you got no business sticking your nose. Yeah, he may be your best friend, and she may be your daughter, but they’re two grown adults and they love each other and that’s all that matters. Case closed!”
My dad was frozen in place.
“Leave them alone and everyone will be a lot better off, especially you. You’re so darn high strung these days, with Karen out of town. You really need to get laid!”
“Grandma!” I say.
“Don’t grandma me. It’s the truth.”
“Daisy,” Duke says. I turn my head to look at him. “My place isn’t much right now, but I want you to come and live with me. Just the two of us.”
“Young man!” my grandma says. “I may have been on your side a minute ago, but I am still eighty-three years young and my values are old fashioned. My granddaughter will not be living in sin.”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s why I came prepared…with this.”
Duke takes three steps towards me. He’s still covered in sweat and dirt and even blood. He looks like a completely sexy mess, but I’m the one who turns into a mess when he drops down on one knee, and removes the little black box from his pocket. Somehow it’s still in one piece.
“Daisy, we haven’t know each other long, but we don’t need to know all we need to know. What we don’t know about each other today, we can look forward to learning about tomorrow. I’m a man who knows what he wants in this life, and that can only be you. I want you by my side now, forever, and always. Will you marry me?”
I look down at this man and see the honesty, patience, and wisdom in his eyes. Most importantly I see the conviction. The conviction that he’ll be true to me, and he’ll be there to help me grow and be the best woman I can be. And the conviction that I’m the only woman he’ll ever have eyes for. I’m the only woman for him and he’s the only man for me. I can see he loves me completely, just as I do him. We’ve got a lot to learn about each other, but we’ll figure it out as we go. I look forward to the adventure. And it sure doesn’t hurt to take that adventure with the sexiest guy I’ve ever seen, and one who’s rugged to boot.
“Yes!” I say, as he slides an absolutely beautiful engagement ring on my finger, as it sparkles in the morning sunlight.
“Okay, then. She can live with ya. But not until after the wedding!” My grandma says.
I kiss Duke, as he wraps me up in his arms. We both turn and look at my grandma and laugh.
“And I thought your grandfather was fast when we got married while he was on a seventy-two hour leave from the Navy! Fifty-two years that lasted. I think you two might last even longer, looking at how fit this boy looks, but I’m not sure I’ll be around to see it through so he better take good care of ya.”
My grandma turns to look at Duke. “My granddaughter keeps active so she’ll have you feeling fit as a fiddle for years. Plus I can see you’ve been keeping strong milking the cows and tending to your chores.” She squeezes his bicep.
“Grandma Gertrude! This is my man.”
“And she’s my woman,” Duke says.
“You two sure are meant for each other. I’m going to the Bingo parlor to give my own man a squeeze! If Danielle Steel can have five husbands, well then, I can certainly have two!”