Good Time Bad Boy by Sonya Clark Page B

people. A few of them even had good jobs and a little money, like Jeff and Jillian. They were nice people who judged others on their actions, not their income, so they didn’t care that Daisy was a waitress. As for school, Daisy still had a hard time figuring out why her mother and brother had a problem with that. Weren’t you supposed to better yourself? But then, he never tried and Alice couldn’t seem to stand the idea of her least favorite child possibly having a better life than she herself had. It was still a hard thought to get used to, even felt a little forbidden at times, but Daisy was determined to belong where she wanted to be, not where people thought she should be.
    Thankfully Megan would be here too. That always helped. Daisy raised her hand to knock and the door flung open before she made contact.
    Jeff Travers filled the doorway with his outsized personality. He pointed at the glass dish in her hands. “Homemade mac and cheese or that broccoli stuff?”
    “Broccoli casserole. I brought mac and cheese last time, I thought I should mix it up.”
    He made a pained face. “Ah. Jilly likes the stuff so I guess I better let you in.” He grinned broadly. “Glad you could make it, hon.”
    “Me too.” She stepped across the threshold. “Thank you for inviting me.” She started to head toward the kitchen but he stopped her.
    “I haven’t had a chance to apologize for what happened Monday night,” Jeff said. “I’m sorry about that.”
    “That wasn’t your fault.”
    “Maybe not entirely, but I’m the one who kept ordering more drinks. I never meant for things to go so far that you lost your job. Wade didn’t either, I hope you know that.”
    “Don’t worry about it. Besides, Randy didn’t agree with his grandson firing me and I’ve got my job back. It’s all good.”
    “Yeah, it’s a good thing Randy always had a soft spot for Wade. If he hadn’t agreed to play the bar all summer, I don’t think Randy would have had the stomach to fight with his wife and daughter about Josh making bad decisions. But like you said, it’s all good now.”
    “Eh.” Daisy stared at the casserole. “I’m gonna take this to the kitchen.”
    “Okay,” Jeff said. “Get yourself a beer while you’re there. I gotta get back out to the grill.”
    Daisy made her way through the house, intent on finding Jillian. She left the casserole on a kitchen counter with several other dishes and opened the door to the spacious back yard. It was full of people talking and laughing and mingling. Her breath hitched and she chided herself for bringing that bottomless pit of insecurity with her. She spotted Jillian’s red head in a group of women and decided to wait about questioning her. That was not a conversation she wanted to have in front of witnesses.
    Megan appeared at her side and handed her a beer. “This should help. If you need anything stronger, we’ll have to call your brother.”
    Daisy laughed and took a sip. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
    “That top does not make you look fat, but I hate you for wearing it because it does things for your boobs that should be illegal.”
    Daisy made a show of checking out her cleavage. “Really? Why thank you, that’s so sweet.”
    “What are besties for if not to make you feel good about your boobs?”
    “Do you know how I got my job back?”
    “Yeah, Wade Sheppard agreed to play at Rocky Top all summer if Randy rehired you.”
    “God damn it,” Daisy hissed. “Am I the only person who didn’t know?”
    Megan grimaced. “Now you know. Randy didn’t tell you?”
    “Jeff said something about it. I can’t believe this.”
    “What’s the big deal? I mean, it was pretty much the guy’s fault you got fired in the first place. What’s wrong with him doing something to make it right?”
    “What’s wrong is now I feel like I owe him.”
    “Well, based on what I heard about the way he was singing to you the other night, I got a pretty good idea how you can