Not Desperate

Chapter Twelve
Lying by the side of the road

Yvonne had been thinking about Daryl all weekend. She hadn’t heard from him in two days. She didn’t expect to, but she missed it all the same. She had plenty to fill her time, but not her mind. She knew she was getting in deep with this emotionally and that scared her. She tried to reason with herself. She tried to convince herself that it wasn’t real, that she felt this way because she hadn’t been around a man in so long. She tried to convince herself that she could do this, a relationship with Daryl, if he wanted that. She would be willing to give herself to that. She doubted that is what he wanted from this though. Then she thought she would be able to deal with that, if he didn’t want a relationship. If she was ever ready and willing to be with him, she knew that would be the end. She wasn’t very good at the sex thing. David had told her that enough times. She wouldn’t be able to please Daryl, and he would bolt. But he doesn’t seem like that kind of man, she kept telling herself. She was so afraid to bring it up. She wasn’t good at talking about her feelings, it always seemed that there weren’t any words that did them justice, so she just didn’t.
She was too preoccupied with her thoughts that morning to notice that her car was losing speed. She was struggling to make it over the smallest hill and dips in the road. Finally, she pulled over on the side when she realized her car was stressed. She knew very little about cars, David had always taken care of that. He knew them inside and out. She was afraid to make the little Sonata move if it was so unwilling. Daryl would know what to do, she’d call him. First though, she had to call the café and let them know she would be late. After she did that, she dialed Daryl’s number. He was on the construction site, but told her he would call T-Dog and get him to tow it back to his garage. He would look at it after he left work. So, sitting back to wait for this T-Dog guy, her thoughts returned to Daryl. She wanted so badly to see him again. She had desired him so much that she had done something that she hadn’t in a long time. Saturday night, after Michael had gone to sleep, she got into the box at the top of her closet. She had a small collection of toys that she had kept from her time with David. She brought out Mac and dusted him off. Even though it did the job, she couldn’t help but wonder how much better it would have been if it had been Daryl inside her instead of a stupid, overpriced piece of plastic.
Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice the police cruiser pull up behind her. She was thrown from her contemplations by a knock on her window. She rolled it down and greeted the officers. “Good morning, ma’am. You having car trouble?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a tow truck on the way.”
“Well, it’s a slow crime day today. Let my partner and I keep ya company while you wait. Don’t want anything to happen to a pretty lady.”
“Thank you. That would be fine,” Yvonne said. Such a charmer, she thought sarcastically. She noticed their squad car said Senoia Sherriff Department. “If you guys are from Senoia, what are you doing out of county?”
“Overnight transfer to the Woodbury Police Station. One of your locals thought he could hide out with us, but we said no. I’m Deputy Shane Walsh. This is my partner, Deputy Rick Grimes.”
“I’m Yvonne Bradley. It’s nice to meet you.”
When Rick heard her introduce herself, he wondered if she was Daryl’s Yvonne. Had to be, not many of those around here. He didn’t say anything though, he wasn’t sure if Daryl had mentioned him or not. She didn’t show any recognition when she heard his name. He walked toward her to shake her hand. “So, how long ago you call for the tow?” he asked.
“About ten minutes. Oddly enough, it’s coming from Senoia too. I have a friend who is a mechanic and he’s getting it towed to the shop he works at. Should be here in about twenty minutes or so.” She made small talk with Rick and Shane, but stayed where she was. Shane kept edging his way closer to her, leaning against her car. Rick stayed where he was, closer to the cruiser, watching Shane. If she’s Daryl’s woman, and he was pretty sure she was, he wasn’t letting Shane touch her. Exactly twenty minutes later, the tow truck pulled to the side in front of Yvonne’s car. T-Dog got out and made his way over to the three waiting for him with a huge smile on his face. He walked right up to Rick and gave him a powerful pat on the back. “Didn’t expect to see you here, man. What are you doing in this neck of the woods?”
“My partner, Shane, and I, had an overnight drop off at the station here. Just happened to be driving by on our way out and saw Ms. Bradley here on the side of the road and thought we’d stop to help.”
“Well, alright then. Let’s get this baby loaded up.” T walked over to Yvonne and held his hand out. “It’s good to meet you Yvonne. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you from Daryl. You are just as beautiful as he said you are.”
She blushed at this. The thought that Daryl had talked about her to his friend made her wonder what this stranger knew about her. “Thank you,” she said and looked over at Shane and Rick. Rick had a smile on his face, but Shane looked pissed for some reason.
“How about we give you an escort to the garage, T?” Rick said. And T agreed. He helped Yvonne into the cab of the truck and let the cruiser pass him before he pulled out. “What exactly has Daryl said about me?” she asked hesitantly.
“Just about the same thing over and over again. How beautiful you are, how kind and funny you are. He really likes your boy too. Says a lot of nice things about him. I’ve known Daryl and Rick since high school and we’ve never heard him talk about a woman the way he talks about you.”
“Rick’s in on this too? If he knew who I was, why did he let that man whore get near me?”
T laughed at that. “Rick would never have let Shane touch you. Daryl would shoot an arrow in his ass. From what I hear about him, he’s a smooth talker. If he had made you uncomfortable or gotten out of line, Rick would have stopped him. I guarantee that.”
The rest of the ride was silent. At one point, Rick and Shane veered to the left and T kept going straight. About two blocks later, he turned into the parking lot. He helped me out of the truck and took me to a waiting room, fully stocked with old magazines, vending machines and a television displaying snow. He asked me to wait there while he detached my car and got it inside the garage. While I was waiting for him to come back, my phone buzzed at me telling me I had a text.
T get there yet? D
Yes. We just got to the shop. Got to meet Rick and Shane today too. Y
Good. T will either drive you to work, or you can sit at the shop. He won’t care wither way. Just let me know what you decide. D
Okay. I’ll text you later. Thanks again. You saved me. Y
Anything for you. Talk to ya later. D
T came back into the waiting room and told me he had my car all set up for Daryl to look at it when he got there. He asked me if I needed a ride to work and I told him yes. He loaded me into his pick up and we were off. He told me that Daryl would probably want to pick me up from work, but I should call or text him about it. Because I was two hours late for work, I decided to stay late, also with Daryl taking the time to look at my car tonight and then driving to pick me up, it would be late before I could leave anyway. I text Daryl to tell him I was at work. He text me back and said that he would come get me and take me home. He would call me when he left the garage so I would be ready to go when he got there.
The day went by very slowly. I guess it always does when you want it to end quickly, but finally it was closing time. It was six o’clock and I was sweeping the floor when my phone rang.
“Hey darlin’. How are ya?”
“Tired and ready to go home. How are you?”
“I’m good. Missed you this weekend.”
“I missed you too. I’ll fix us some coffee and grab us something to eat on the way to the house, Okay?”
“Sounds good darlin’. I should be there in about twenty minutes. Not a lot of traffic tonight. I should make good time.”
“Alright. Just be careful. I’ll see ya soon.”
“See ya soon. Bye.”
“Bye Daryl.”
After we hung up, I quickly finished sweeping and put the coffee on. I grabbed some Danish left from this morning and put them in a bag. When the coffee was ready, I filled two cups and cleaned the machine. Daryl pulled into the parking lot as I was locking the door. He parked and got out, walking over to help me carry my stuff.
“Let me help. I’ll take the coffee. Don’t want to risk spilling it.”
“Thanks, you have perfect timing. You’re always there when I need you,” I said feeling a little awkward.
“I’ve already told you, I’d do anything for you. It’s no burden to be there when you need someone or something,” he said, a little awkward himself. “Looked at your car. Ya got hole in your transmission. T’s gonna order a new one and I’m gonna put it in for you. Might take a week, maybe less, but I’ll take ya to work and pick ya up if ya need it.”
“Thank you. You don’t have to do that. It’s too much to ask you to drive all that way and then go to work. I can get a ride from Amy or Beth. They don’t live far and they already offered. I’m off tomorrow anyway, so we don’t have to worry about it yet.”
“I don’t mind. Told ya, it’s no burden. I’d love to be able to do that for ya if ya need me too.”
“Well, we’ll talk about it. If I can get it covered, then you can do something else for me that I might need.” I realized how that sounded. I turned beet red, but thank God it was too dark for Daryl to see it. “I mean, there might be something more important I’ll need from you.” Shit! I just can’t get this right. I looked over and he was smirking. “I just mean…”
“I know what you mean, Yvonne. Don’t get flustered.” He laughed lightly at my predicament. “So, what’s in the bag?”
“We had some Danish left over from this morning. I took some for us. You like Danish?”
“Yup. Especially the cheese ones. Got any of those in there?”
“I think they’re all cheese.” Then we pulled into the driveway. “I have to run next door and get Michael. Take my keys and let yourself in. I’ll be back in a minute.” On the days that I had to work, Michael would ride the bus home and stay with his friend, Caleb, who lived next door. When I went to get him, I asked Caleb’s mom if she could take him to school with her for the next few days till I got my car fixed. She was more than happy to do it. He was disappointed that I wouldn’t be taking him, but was happy that I had brought home Danish, and Daryl. When we got inside, Daryl was in the kitchen plating up food for everyone. “Hope ya don’t mind I got into your cabinets. Thought I could have everything ready when you got back.”
“Thank you. Think I brought enough home? Everyone is starving.”
“Yeah, ya got plenty. Hey kid, how was school today?”
“Good,” Michael replied. “Did my homework at Caleb’s house. Can I watch some t.v. tonight?”
“Sure,” I said. “Just don’t make a mess.” He grabbed a plate ad poured a glass of milk and went into the living room. Daryl and I took our plates and coffee and sat at the table. “You’re coming over for dinner tomorrow night. No excuses. I don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. You like lasagna?”
“Yup, I sure do, and I’d love to have dinner with you.” He paused and looked into his coffee. “I really did miss you this weekend. Didn’t even have enough bars to send you a text. Thought about you a lot.”
“I missed you too. Thought about you a lot. Did you have a good time? Everybody have fun?”
“Yup. Took Rick’s son with us too. He’s been trying to get me to teach him how to use my crossbow, but his arms are still too short. Gave the kids some lessons in tracking, showed ‘em how to prepare a rabbit and went on a hike.”
“Wish I could do that. Sounds like so much fun, even the rabbit part. I would love to learn how to skin and prepare one. Never know when you’re gonna need that kinda knowledge.”
“I want us to go camping before it gets too cold. Maybe after your family leaves? The weekend after if there’s good weather. Michael can come too, I’m sure he’d love it.”
I got up to look at the calendar. That would be the same weekend of his field trip. “Well, his class is going on a field trip that weekend. They just happen to be going camping too. It would just be us. I don’t have any equipment, no tent or anything, so I’d have to buy that stuff.”
“No need for that. I got tents, but I was thinking about taking ya to the cabin. My grandfather had a hunting cabin. Merle and I spent most of our summers there. He left it to us, we share it. There’s a little creek ‘bout a half a mile away, it’s real nice.”
“That sounds beautiful. I’d love to go camping with you. Thank you, Daryl. Thank you for remembering that I wanted to go camping.”
“Been trying to plan it since you mentioned it. Was hoping we’d make it long enough for us to go. By the way, Carol invited us to dinner this week, wants ya to bring Michael too. Told her I’d ask when I saw ya.”
“Sure. What night? You could pick me up from work and we could go.”
“I’ll call her and find out.” He stood up from the table and took his phone out of his pocket. I put the dishes in the washer and motioned that I was going to check on Michael. When I got back to the kitchen, he was still on the phone. “Is Wednesday okay for you?”
“Wednesday is great. Tell her thanks for inviting us.” He spent another minute on the phone before hanging up. I was standing by the dishwasher putting Michael’s in when he came up behind me and put his arms around my waist. He took one hand and moved the hair from my neck and buried his lips there. “I want a kiss before I leave,” he whispered against my skin.
I turned around to face him. “You don’t have to leave. You can get up early and go home.”
He just ducked his head, “You’re not ready for this. I’m not ready for this. Besides, your son is here. Wouldn’t be right. Just a kiss is good enough for now.” I stood on my tip toes and touched his lips with mine. It was slow, but didn’t last long enough. He held my bottom lip between his teeth as he pulled away. “You’re so fucking amazing. I’ll text you when I get home.” He walked to the door and looked back at me before he walked out.