Page 10 of Quid Pro Beau

EVAN: What he said.

ME: Whatever. I bet Flynn will thank me.

ROMEO: I don’t think that’s what Flynn will be doing, but I’ll let you have it for now.

ROMEO: Be careful.

ME: With what?

LIAM: With Daisy! Dumbass. She’s not a hit it and quit it kind of girl.

ME: You think I don’t know that?

ME: For fuck’s sake, she’s pregnant.

ME: I was just trying to be a nice guy.

LIAM: All right. I hope that’s true. Because if you hurt her Flynn will kill you and make it look like an accident.

LIAM: We’ll probably help him.

ME: You guys are the worst.

chapter six

Beau

I wait until what I think is a reasonable time of the morning to head over to Daisy’s. I never sleep well, so I’ve been up since before the sun rose. But by the time I park my truck by the cabins, it’s nearly a quarter after ten. Daisy had mentioned that pregnancy affects sleep, so hopefully I won’t be waking her up.

As it turns out, I don’t have to worry about it because Daisy is outside with Mouse on his leash. There is an older woman standing near them frowning and talking wildly with her hands.

I do not like the look of whatever is going on. My stride eats up the space between my truck and the women. When I reach Daisy, I instinctively reach out and put my hand at the small of her back.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“No!” the older woman snaps. “Everything is not okay. It came to my attention that not only was this young lady staying in one of the cabins without her name being on the lease, but she was doing so with a dog that exceeds the weight limit for pets in these facilities.” Somehow the short older lady manages to look down on me.

Considering I’m at least a head taller than her, that seems impressive, if not annoying.

“It’s her brother’s cabin. She’s only staying there temporarily,” I explain.

“Mr. Harrington should have sought permission before hand in writing with at least a thirty-day notice.”

I stare at the grey-haired tyrant. “Thirty days ago she didn’t know she’d be coming back to Texas.”

“A policy is a policy, Mr.,” she pauses waiting for me to fill in the blank, but I turn away from her to face Daisy.

Her eyes swim in tears and her cheeks are streaked. What kind of geriatric monster can make a beautiful pregnant woman cry.

“She says that not only can Mouse not stay, but I can’t either,” Daisy says.

“Do you want me to call your brother?”

Daisy shakes her head. “No, I don’t want to involve him in my mess. He’s already got his hands full with the estate stuff.” Her eyes meet mine and it’s like a kick to my solar plexus. “Beau? What am I going to do?”

“I’ve got you.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders and squeeze her close to me. “Let’s go get your stuff packed up.”

“But where will I go?”