“They’re doing fine. Laura is exhausted and doesn’t want to hire a nanny. Peter is too busy to swing by to see her it would seem.”
Peter had stopped babysitting for Laura when it became too painful for him to see the woman he loved happy with another man. William didn’t say anything. He simply smiled.
“How is Anna?” he asked David, the younger Steer brother.
“Dealing. She’s been a little out of it these last six months. Finding out about Daisy has knocked her for six. It has all of us. Paul’s just trying to figure out what is stopping your deliveries. He got wind of it, and it appears there is some petitioning going on at the town hall,” David said.
William sat back and waited for them to ask him a question. None of them said a thing. Paul cursed and slammed the phone down onto the gravelled path before walking over to the table.
“I can’t get them to stop that damn petition. Apparently, the trucks cause pollution or some shit. They’re not allowing certain types of trucks through the town. The company you use apparently,” Paul said. He sat down taking a large gulp of fresh orange.
“I can’t help either. The sheriff’s department cannot stop the legal side on a pollution case. The greener environment is all the rage right now.”
William allowed the men to talk over him, his own anger increasing at the complete lack of interest in their own sister. He could forgive Gabriel and Dean, but the Steer brothers should care.
“Do you know what makes me sick?” William asked, looking at the people around his table. “What makes me sick is the fact you two care more about a club you never visit, a club you don’t own, instead of asking me how your sister has been.”
“She’s not our sister,” Paul said. William saw the other man grinding his teeth, but he didn’t give a shit.
“I beg to differ, friend. I believe the DNA test you demanded Daisy take, provided all the information you needed.”
“Don’t say her name here. She’s fucked up so much in our lives already,” David said.
Gabriel put a hand on his arm.
“You two pieces of shit,” William said. He had a lot of years on the two men in front of him. “So Daisy, a twenty-five year old woman is responsible for one, if not all, of your fathers going to her mother, fucking her, and leaving a baby behind. The last time I checked a science journal it never said a woman could produce semen. If my science is correct—and forgive me, it has been years since I was in school—to make a baby, it needs an egg, provided by a woman, and then sperm, provided by a guy.” William knew the sarcasm in his voice wouldn’t be lost on anyone. “Daisy had fuck all to do with your parents' infidelity. She is innocent in all of this.”
“She’s a first-class bitch,” Paul said.
“She doesn’t know any better. For her whole life she’d been living with that first-class bitch she calls a mother. You don’t have to like what your parents did, but put the blame where it fucking deserves.”
“This is none of your concern, William,” Paul said.
Anna walked out, followed by Laura and Amy. They were all silent as the women approached. Anne was carrying a tray of fruit, which rested against her hip. “I thought you’d like refreshments,” she said.
Laura sat down next to her husband, and Amy took the seat next to Gabriel.
“I heard you yelling. Please, continue,” Anna said.
“Baby, we don’t need to talk about it,” David said.
“That can only mean you were talking about Daisy. How is she?”
William noticed her question was directed at her two husbands. At least Paul and David had the grace to look ashamed.
“You’re going to continue blaming her for everything?” Anna asked.
“Everything would have been fine if she hadn’t come out.”
Tears were rolling down from Anna’s eyes. “I know she can be a pain, but this is horrid. I want no part in it.”
She turned and walked back to the house. David and Paul went to get up to follow her. Anna turned at the last minute. “Don’t follow me. I don’t want to talk to either of you.”
They both sat down shooting glares at William. “You shouldn’t be butting your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“When a young woman comes into my club and begins to drink herself into oblivion, it becomes my problem. Daisy is hurting. I don’t want you anywhere near my club until you sort something out with her.”
William stood and walked away. He was at his car when he saw Gabriel’s reflection in his car window. “Why are you following me?”