Posy learned most of those things almost immediately, and we had a nice life together until everything went to shit like it tended to do from time to time.
After we left the corral, I promised myself that I would try not to think of those times, because I knew it would fuck everything up with Daisy.
And she didn’t deserve that.
She had earned a clean slate and I would give her one. No nails would be raked on the proverbial chalkboard for the sins of her predecessors and we’d be fine once she got the hang of things.
"So, considering it's already late," I began as I turned the truck onto my long, dirt-paved driveway, "would it be alright with you if we started in the morning instead of tonight?"
"Oh, um, that's fine," Daisy replied with a hint of disappointment in her tone. I nodded as I turned my eyes back toward the large, farmhouse looming ever closer. I had to when I saw her starting to wring her hands because I was worried I’d reach out to hold them in an attempt to calm her. She hadn’t earned that yet. "Should I get a ride back to my hotel, then?"
I shook my head as I gripped the steering wheel tightly. "I've got a big place—plenty of room, and you'll have privacy there."
Daisy cleared her throat nervously, and I had to clench my jaw to keep fit from twitching. I swallowed the rumble of laughter that had been building inside of me because I didn’t want to scare her away. But I couldn’t help but wonder how was it that she was so worried about being so far removed from society with a man she had only just met when she met him at the place she had?
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered why I had chosen another Daisy considering I had one before. But I guess something told me that she would be nothing like the simpering little bitch that had already been here and would more than likely provide me with a challenge.
I’d do as good by her as she did by me and while I couldn’t see into the future to know how this would go, I had a little bit of a fire sparking some faith inside of me.
"Thanks," she relented quietly, breaking into my thoughts.
"Don't mention it."
I pulled the truck up to the front of my home, cut the engine, then cleared my throat as I got out. I wasn't going to extend her a formal invitation past the one I already had—either she'd learn to start following directions now, or she could sleep outside.
I picked through my keys until I found the one that would unlock the front door, then chuckled and shook my head when I heard the passenger side door of my truck open then close. It was followed by the sound of timid feet shuffling forward, then punctuated by the wooden stairs of my porch creaking as she climbed them.
"Your girlfriend won't mind that you're bringing a stranger in?" Daisy asked quietly.
The precious new bloom was worried that there was already a firmly rooted flower in the house. That should have been the least of her concerns, but she would find that out soon enough.
I chuckled and shook my head as I held the door open for her to walk in first. Relationships were never my thing. It's not to say that I didn't think Posy and I could have been something great, but she withered like all flowers tend to do when given room to grow freely, and I gave her the choice to run.
"Don't have a girlfriend," I said to her with a smile, "don't have a wife either. It's just Scout and me out here doing the work that needs to be done."
"Scout?" she pressed curiously.
"My dog. You'll get to meet him at some point," I assured her as I let the door slam shut behind us.
Daisy nodded as she clasped her hands in front of her and waited patiently. I pulled off my cap and tossed it on the small stand by the front door, then ran a hand back through my hair.
Starting over was never something foreign to me, and I welcomed it from time to time.
The only way to be able to keep a clear head would be to get to the end of something, let it go, then try again.
Besides, it kept me on my toes and my wits sharp.
Perfection is what comes at the end of so much practice, and I had a feeling that Daisy would make the perfect addition to my Garden of Eden.
And if she didn't, well …
"I'll show you where you can sleep," I said, stifling a yawn as I brushed by her and walked up the hall.
I would just have to try again.
Chapter Four
About an hour later, I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I never could fall asleep right away, and this had always been a prime time for me to do some thinking.
Somewhere between the realms of reality and fantasy. The place where I had always fit in best.
I had never been one for plots and schemes because going with the flow always worked for me in the past. The problem I had now was that Daisy was a lot more like me than either of us realized if she had been at the corral.
After Posy left, I ended up building a small room behind the barn. Anyone that would see it would probably think of it as nothing more than a bunker. I built it to be ten foot by thirty foot and kept the inside purposely bare.
I painted the walls stark white--the color of madness. And from time to time, I would take a chair inside and lock the door behind me.
Hours spent staring at the white walls in the painstakingly constructed bunker would help me in ways that no one would ever understand, even though I knew that it would never be what I wanted it to truly be.
Until now.
When the rooster crowed on my farm in the morning, I would begin to train Daisy to be the perfect little flower in the bed of weeds that had grown and withered in my Garden of Eden.
The punishments for disobeying would fit whatever the offense had been—something I never really gave much thought to with my previous flowers.
And the bunker would be the final thing I would use to tip her over into my full control if the need ever presented itself.
I let out a broad, silent yawn as I clasped my hands over my chest. The fucking rooster hadn't crowed loudly enough to wake me up, though that could have been attributed to the sun having not come up yet.
Since there was constant work to be done due to the acreage size, I almost always got a head start before the damn thing screamed, anyway.
Only on days that I had slept in would it do its job and wake me up, and those days were far and few in between.
Nature's alarm clock, I thought with a smile as I smacked my lips together a few times.
I pushed myself up to my elbows and glanced out the window before I swung my legs over the side of the bed and got to my feet.
The sun was going to rise soon.
I could tell by how the normally black sky was starting to turn a shade of purple.
I stretched my arms over my head as I walked into my bathroom and cracked my neck. I went through my morning ritual of brushing my teeth, splashing water on my face to shake away the rest of the sleep that might have been lingering, then decided I would check on Scout before I woke Daisy up.
I made my way down the hall quietly and walked out into the semi-darkness. I had decided to move Scout at the last moment before I left last night because he's my best friend, and if I made a purchase, anyone that had been lucky enough to come into my home would have to earn the right to meet him.
My bare feet crushed the gravel as I made my way toward the barn. I pulled the heavy door open, then walked down the row of horse stalls until I found my favorite. The one that I had kept most of my flowers in until they were ready to bloom and flourish.