Willow Smoke (58 page)

Seeing
no
need
to
respond,
Nick
remained
silent.

“Another
round?”
the
scantily
clad
waitress
asked.

“No,
I’m
done,”
Nick
said.
“How
about
you?”
he
asked
Cassie.

“No.
I
expect
we’re
all
done.”

“Just
bring
me
the
bill,”
Nick
told
the
waitress.
Once she left, he said, “Since I’m
the
big
spender
I’ll
take
care
of
the
drinks.”

Cassie
grimaced.
“You’re
angry,
Nick,
and
you appear to be hurt. I didn’t mean
to
judge you. It’s just a fact that
you’re
wealthy
and
Daisy
is
relatively
poor.
She’s
not
bothered
by
the
differences
in
your ages—that
probably
bothers
me
and
you
more—
but she has yet to adjust to being around your kind of
wealth. That doesn’t make either one of you good or bad. It just is.”

Nick
slumped
back
in
his
chair.
He
ran fingers
through
his
thinning
hair.
“Suppose
you’re right. I just thought it’d thrill her
to
be
part
of
buying
Hip
sixty-four.
Instead,
she threw him in my face.”

“I’m not certain she
meant to do that,”
Cassie
soothed, “at
least not as harshly as it
came
out.”
Cassie
folded
her
arms
and
eyed
Nick
intently.
“My
father
may
have influenced
Daisy.
He
was
your
basic
hands-on
horse
trainer.
He
never
wanted
to
buy
the
big
horse.
He
wanted
to
raise
him
from a foal. That was the real dream.”

“Did
he?”

“Depends
on
what
you
mean
by
a
big
horse. He
never
made
it
to
a
Triple
Crown
race—never
expected
to.
But
he
felt
he
raised
a
good
stakes
contender
in
Cassie’s
Hope.
That
was
good
enough
for
him.
After
her,
and after
I returned to training full-
time,
he
agreed
to
buy
better
quality
horses
because
he
knew
his
time
was
running
out,
and
he
felt
I
deserved
to
work
with
more
horses
who
could
compete
at
higher
levels.”

“Maybe
that’s
Daisy’s
hang
up,”
Nick
offered.
“She
may
think
we’re
just
buying
a
winner.
But
we
all
know
that
even
top
sales
horses
often
fail
to
win
back
their
purchase
price.
It’s
a
gamble.
A
big
one.”

“That
you’re
able
to
take.
That
she
can’t.
Daisy
has
to
question
her
role
in
all
of
this.
You
buy
a
horse,
and
no
matter
what
the
cost,
she
picks
up
a
nice
percentage.
How
does
she
earn
that?
Maybe
she
feels
a
little
like
a
kept
woman.”

“Daisy?
Kept?”
Nick
leaned
forward.
“I
don’t
think so. She’s the brains of this
outfit,
and
its
backbone.
She
provides
the
labor
and
the
savvy.
She’s
got
to
know
I’m not
trying to buy her.”

“Aren’t
you?
Are
you
afraid
she
won’t
want
to
hang
around
with
a
slightly
balding,
forty
something
fellow,
if
you
can’t
buy
her
expensive
horses
to
play
with?”

“No! That’s not the way
it is.”
Nick’s
windpipe
constricted.
He
massaged
his
diaphragm.
“She
can’t
think
that.”

“Why
not?”
Cassie’s
pupils
flashed
warning signals.
“In
her
world,
everything
is
bought
and
paid
for
one
way
or
another,
including
women.
They
might
be
whores
that pimps manage. Or they might be more glamorous arm candy for
guys who can afford to pay much more. But they’re still bought.”

Nick’s
mind
exploded.
Was
he
actually
using
Willow?
Was
she
a
willing
partner?
Had
he
bought
her
like
a
piece
of
meat?
Surely,
she
could
walk
away
from
him
if
she
wanted
to.
But
could
she?
Really?
Had
he
cut
off
her
escape
by
feeding
into
her
love
of
horses?
He
closed
his
eyes,
trying
to
avoid
some
of
the
accusing
answers.

“I
know
you
don’t
want
to
hurt
Daisy.”
Cassie’s
voice
was
soft.
“But
how
will
you
avoid
it?”

“Marry her,” he blurted
out.

“It takes two people to
do that. Last I
noticed,
Daisy
doesn’t
exactly
see
herself
as
the
future
Mrs.
Underwood
playing
hostess
to
the
business
world.
I
expect
that
scares
the
hell
out
of
her,
if
she
even
allows
herself to fantasize about it. You don’t
live
in
a
cocoon,
Nick.
Even
if
you
can’t
see
that,
you
can
count
on
Daisy
being
aware
of
it.
You
bring
a
lot
of
trappings
with
you.
I
expect
most
women
you’ve
known
were
bedazzled
by
all
the
glitter
you
bring
with—but
not
Daisy.
Have
you
met her family
yet?”

“No.”

“I’m
not
surprised.
That’s
likely
intentional.”
Cassie
paused.
“You
scare
her,
you
know.
Maybe
you
should
be
a
little
more
afraid
of
her.”
Cassie
rose,
picked
up
her
purse
and
headed
toward
the
ladies
room.

Nick
remained
alone
at
the
table.
He
shut
out
Daisy’s
friend’s
words
by
turning
his
attention
to the strains of
Mack
the
Knife.
He
didn’t
want
a
relationship
with
any
woman
to
be
based
on
fear.
On
that
point,
Cassie
Travers
was
absolutely
wrong.
Daisy
might
be
hesitant
about
his
money
and
his
age, but she wasn’t afraid of
him.
And her family didn’t matter to
him one iota.
And if it took some money to make her
relatives
happy,
so
be
it.
His
first
wife
hadn’t
come
and
gone
without
costing
him
a
sizeable
sum
of
money.
He
lifted
his
glass
and
drained
it.
Setting
it
back
down
on
the
table,
he
grinned
thinly.
Women
were
costly.
Period.