the right moment (Sea Breeze: The Next Generation #6)

Chapter 4

Chapter four

Daisy

I stood rinsing dishes after dinner in the kitchen. Daddy and Jimmy were in the living room watching football while Mom was placing the dishes I was rinsing in the dishwasher. I'd finally found a hair-tie to pull my dark curls back on top of my head, but every so often I'd pick at the split ends. My damp fingers were not much of a help, though.

"What's bothering you?" Mom's voice piped up. I handed her a plate and watched as she placed it between the rows. Her blonde hair was up in a bun with a few loose strands hanging down the back of her neck and on the sides. Her baggy sweatshirt hung down as she bent over and placed the remaining dishes in the machine by the sink. I still found it hard to believe that she was this pretty. I pulled a paper towel from the roll on the counter and dried my hands off.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"You've been quiet tonight." I shrugged and leaned against the counter top.

"I'm just tired. It was a long day." I rubbed my eyes and tried to hold back the yawn that crawled up my throat. That was the truth. I was tired and it had been a long day, but there was more to the story. There always is. It's like an iceberg. All you can see is the top, but underneath the freezing cold water there's always a greater number of ice hiding below. The only difference is that Trisha Corbin would let the iceberg sit. Me, however, she'll poke until I give up what I'm hiding.

"Another long day, huh?" I nodded and watched as Momma crossed her arms over her chest. "Another long day with mothers walking in with their kids." I was waiting for this. I knew it was coming. It comes weekly now. The discussion about kids. I used to not mind talking about kids with my mom, but now I dreaded the whole topic.

"Momma..."

"Daisy, I know that job gets to you. I can see it in your eyes, baby." She took a step forward and rested her hand on my cheek. This was something else I had not had when I was little. I hadn't had a mother that cared enough to notice that there was something wrong with me. I hadn't had a mother that loved me enough to want to talk to me about things like this.

She was right. My job can hit harder than one would expect it to. Seeing mothers walking in with their daughters or sons who are sick or are just at the office for a check-up can bring back memories. Memories that I didn't want. Memories of not having a mom to take me to the doctor when I was sick. If there had been an situation where I had needed to go to the doctor it had been Preston to take me and Jimmy and Brent had been left with the responsibility of taking care of me when Preston wasn't there. A mother's love was something I had lived without for seven years, and when I saw children younger than that in the office with a mother who loved them, it made me remember that fact.

"I'm fine, Momma." I held her hand in mine and gave her a reassuring smile. She probably wouldn't buy it, but it was better than standing there and letting her have my frown.

"I love you, Daisy May. Don't ever forget that." I nodded and she kissed my cheek gently. Her palm patted the soft skin of my face before she walked away and out the door.

Reagan

The second day of work was much more eventful. It wasn't even one yet and we already had gotten three calls. The first was a false alarm, the second had been another domestic abuse report, and the third was the call of a kid found unconscious in a bathtub. Jimmy had ridden with her to the hospital. I hadn't heard anything since the ambulance left the home. Neighbors had said that they heard screaming from inside the house and called the police immediately. They also said that this wasn't the first time that they've had to call the police on the family living there.

I was sitting at my desk setting up my computer. The various sounds of voices and phones ringing filled my ears as I tried to type in my information. It was making it hard to concentrate. That was another thing I hated about this job was all the damn noise that came with it. It gave me a fucking headache.

I was thinking about going to the break room to try to find some peace and quiet when Donovan, the guy who was in the space behind Jimmy's, whistled at me and nodded towards Jimmy's desk.

"He's got a visitor." He stared at the doorway with a glint of excitement in his eye, and when I looked up, I saw what had his attention. She had on black flats, and attached to those flats were the nicest set of legs I'd ever seen. They were long and moved with a grace that only a select few of women could master. My eyes traveled up her body to get a look at the curves that filled out a pair of black shorts and a red top. There was nothing revealing about the top, but the way it was hugging her upper body made the wheel in my imagination turn. Then I saw the perfect round face with pink lips and startling blue eyes that looked like it was from fucking heaven complete with a head of light brown burls. Who the fuck is that?

"Excuse me, do you know where Jimmy Taylor is?" She asked Charlie. He, too, was obviously mesmerized because he could barely form a damn sentence. I couldn't blame the kid. The girl looked like she'd stepped out of every man's wet dream. I wanted to touch her to see if she was real.

"Uh, no ma'am, but his partner is sitting over there. Maybe you could ask him." Charlie's words came out a little quicker than he was wanting them to. I almost laughed at him, but decided against it. I wasn't that big of an ass. The girl's blue eyes looked around the room. Her head was turned to look over her shoulder leaving the bare skin of the side of her neck exposed. My mouth was starting to water at the sight. Damn. I needed to know who the hell this girl was and why was she looking for Jimmy?

"Hey, sweetheart, you looking for Taylor?" I asked her. Her eyes met mine and she blinked a few times. Her head nodded as she clutched the bag that was in her hand. I motioned her to Jimmy's desk and she walked over slowly. Her brown curls fell over into her face when she put her head down.

"He's not here right now, but maybe I could do something for you." I leaned back and put my hands behind my head.

"Um, well, I kind of just wanted to give him something," she said. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and stood a distance away from Jimmy's desk. I let a slow smile spread across my face and watched as her chest bounced up and down with her breathing.

"I'm his new partner so whatever you give to him you can give to me," I said smoothly.

"Partner? Jimmy never mentioned that he had a new partner." Her voice was audible, but soft. It reminded me a timid child's almost. The way it was high-pitched, but was quiet as well. It was something that could only work for a girl who looked like her.

"Well, I just started yesterday, but if someone would have told me that Jimmy had visitors that looked like you I would have been here the second I got in on Friday." Her blue eyes widened and she turned away from me. I heard the rustling of the bag in her hands as she tightened her grip on the paper. I was just about to ask her her name when Jimmy's voice rang out through the room.

"Daisy?" He said, sounding a little more concerned than excited. She looked up and let out a breath. How the fuck did Jimmy Taylor get a woman like her?

"Jimmy, I..." He wrapped his arms around her tightly and clutched her to his chest. The way he was holding her was not a friendly type of hold. It was passionate, desperate even. Jimmy's eyes opened and he looked at me. He let go of the pretty girl and motioned her towards the front door. That was when I saw the look in his eyes. A look I was all too familiar with, and I saw in the eyes of many cops everyday. It was a look that said we'd been defeated, and with that I knew that the little girl in the bathtub didn't survive.