“That doesn’t mean he had a vasectomy.”
“No, it’s not positive proof, but I know it deep down. You know what I mean?”
“That’s shitty,” Daughtry’s brow furrowed. “He knew you wanted babies of your own but wouldn’t give them to you? Why did you stay anyway?”
“Because of my boys,” I admitted for the first time. “If not for my boys, I would have broken up with him when he was between deployments. And honestly, if he hadn’t left the army after his last one, which lasted for 13 months by the way, I probably would have left him then.”
“He had been gone a year when he died, then.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “That was the longest deployment he’d had while we were together.”
“So, he’s really been gone for almost two years,” Daughtry pointed out. “At least physically.”
“Yeah.” By now I was sitting cross legged in front of Daughtry, sorting out the parts and pieces of the engines that had been scattered around the ground in front of him.
“Who are you with now?”
“No one,” I looked up sharply. “If I was, then we wouldn’t have had that… whatever it was.”
Daughtry looked relieved all of a sudden and I didn’t understand why.
“That’s good,” he said as he stood up from the bucket. “Got any more of that candy?”
I leaned to the side and grabbed the handful of candy pieces out of my pocket and handed them up to him. He opened another one and stuffed the rest into his own coveralls before he started to walk away.
“I’m headed in, you can sort this however makes sense to you as long as it’s organized. Doesn’t have to be done today. I’ll get you some help and you can tackle it in the next week or so.”
“Thank you,” I said loudly as he got farther away. He just waved over his shoulder and didn’t say another word.
I smiled to myself as I realized that with just a few words and some candy I had tamed the beast
7.
DAUGHTRY
“A box of yours was delivered to my house,” I told Jamie as she walked into my office to use the time clock. “Want me to bring it over this evening?”
“I’ll send one of the boys over to get it,” Jamie told me with a smile. “Thanks.”
“So, sit for a minute and let’s chat,” I told her. Her face fell and I realized she thought she was in trouble. “Nothing’s wrong, Firecracker, just want to get a feel for how things are going.”
“Oh,” Jamie looked relieved as she sat down across from me. “Okay.”
“You’ve been here a few weeks now and things are going well with Johnny’s truck. Lout said you helped him out with the timing on that old Bronco he’s been working on and he would have spent hours going in circles without you there.”
“It was just something simple he overlooked,” Jamie deferred. “Nothing major, easy to miss.”
“Either way, he liked working with you. I’ve heard good things from the other guys, too.”
“Good,” Jamie looked a little uncomfortable with the praise, and I was happy to see she wasn’t full of herself.
“I”ll eat crow again and say I’m glad you’ve joined our crew.”
“No need, Daughtry. I’m glad you gave me a chance. I know you were pressured to do it by your family.”
“I was,” I admitted. “I definitely was, but I’m glad they did it. They had to get my mama involved and she was the weight that tipped the scales. I hate to cross her.”
“I’d like to thank her someday,” Jamie smiled. “Is she still out of town with Jenna?”
“Yeah, but she’s headed home soon. Jenna’s kicking Mom and Pop out of Colorado. Said she needs space to ‘grow’ or some shit like that.”
“That’s gotta sting,” Jamie winced. “Jenna’s their baby. I can’t imagine how I’ll feel when Heath doesn’t need me anymore.”
“How are your boys adjusting?” I asked her. “I see the two of them around the neighborhood with a couple of other kids sometimes. Never the other boy you mentioned. They doing well in school?”
“The youngest two are. Adam isn’t adjusting well,” Jamie laughed, but there was no humor in her voice. “He’s not adjusting at all.”
“Surly teenager problems?” I asked her.
She winced, “Something like that.”
“If you ever need time, let me know and we’ll cover you. Never really had anyone on the crew with kids and family until Sonny and Lout started up theirs, but I understand kids can take you away sometimes.”
“I’ve got Neva to help me,” Jamie smiled. “She makes her own hours and a lot of time works in the evenings. It’s perfect though because she can be there to see the boys off to school, work a while, and then be there when the bus drops the youngest two off. Adam’s school is only a few blocks away so he walks back and forth.”
“That’s good,” I nodded. “But if there’s ever a time she can’t make it, you let me know. We’re a family here in the shop and of course you’re family, even more with Eli and Luke at your back.”
“Yeah,” she smiled. “I heard from Luke last night. He’s going to be home in less than two months, this time for good.”
“I bet Noah is over the moon,” I laughed knowing her dad would feel better when all of his children were permanently on American soil and close to him. “He’s always talked about you, you know.”
“He did?”
“Yeah, his Jamie Lea,” I chuckled. “Hung the moon and stars and kicked ass while she was doing it.”
“I didn’t know that,” she whispered. “That’s cool.”
“Okay, you’ll let me know if there’s something going on I need to hear about?”
“Will do,” Jamie stood up. “Thanks, Daughtry.”
I watched Jamie walk out of my office and when she gestured to see if I wanted the door shut, I nodded at her.
It had gotten harder and harder to be with her every day and I was at the end of my rope. Working with her on that restoration was going to be the death of me. She was bright and knew her shit, sometimes more than I did, so that wasn’t a problem.
The problem was that I was used to working next to men who smelled like grease and sweat. She smelled like fucking apples and sunshine and my cock had stayed at half mast for the last two weeks. Apparently it had missed the memo that she and I were ‘friends’ now.
Every time I looked at Jamie, I had flashbacks to that drunken night and they were enough to make me consider dropping to my knees and begging her for more. It was so hard to talk to her about mundane things sometimes because I’d get a whiff of whatever scent it was that she wore and all thoughts left my brain as my cock got stiff and weeped for just one more taste of her.
Her coppery red hair had spilled all over my pillow that night and like a lovesick fucking teenager, I hadn’t washed that pillowcase since. I’d occasionally roll over in bed or move just right and her scent would come to me, causing me to need to ‘handle things’ on my own.