Page 68 of The Biker's Brother

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I know the owner of the company. Really well.”

To Rescue, she said, “I’ll talk to Brant tomorrow and ask him about terms.”

“Up to you. Daisy don’t care who she belongs to as long as she’s taken care of.” Cami doubted that, but didn’t respond. “If Brant decides you can have her, I’ll school you up on how to take care of her.”

“Alright.”

Rescue walked out of the room.

“He’s kind of a character,” Brandon said.

“I see that.”

“It’s a story.”

“It always is.”

“Yep.” He sighed. “I better take off.” She grabbed his sleeve. “Cami, you’re okay here. Promise.”

“I know. It’s just that…”

“Get some sleep. I’m going to catch up on stuff and I’ll be back tomorrow.”

She turned loose of his sleeve.

“Okay.”

At the door he turned.

“Oh. Your stuff probably won’t make it here until day after tomorrow. So make a list of what you need, clothes, bathroom stuff, whatever, and give it to Rita. She’ll make sure it’s taken care of. But if you want particular, you know, labels or whatever, you need to specify.”

She reached up and ran her hand over her hair. “My hair.”

“What about it?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get over being shocked when I see myself in a reflective surface. I can’t grow it out, but I’d like to change it to a color that’s like my own.”

Brand’s face softened. “I’ve gotten to know you like that so it looks natural to me. But I can understand how you feel.” He actually had really good reason to understand how she could feel like an alien in her own body. “We can get somebody to come take care of it.”

“That would be good.”

After Brandon left, Cami pulled on a night shirt and climbed into bed. When she reached for the bedside lamp switch, she noticed Daisy was watching her expectantly.

She patted the bed and almost shrieked when the dog came sailing through the air, jumping over where she lay, to make a perfect landing on her other side. Daisy turned in a circle and then snuggled into the side of her hip.

“Well, you’re not him,” Cami said, “but I guess you’ll do.”

Daisy let out a noisy and contented sigh.

At some time during the night Cami roused. Either she’d heard a shout and a woman’s loud laughter in her dream or someone nearby was having a boisterous time. She reached out and stroked Daisy’s fur, which had an inexplicable soothing effect. Since the dog seemed completely unconcerned, Cami rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next morning Cami woke to knocking on the door. She looked at the clock. It was after nine.

“Just a minute!”

Rescue was at the door. “That dog needs to go out. She’s not a machine, you know.”