Free Renegade Reject by Emily Minton, Dawn Martens Page A

do,” I reply, walking toward the bar.  Wayne and Holt follow closely behind, sitting down next to me. 
    I’m just taking a drink of my first beer of the day when Mary rushes into the room.  “Maker was in a wreck.  It’s bad. We need to get to the hospital.”
    Shit!  Maker may be a useless drunk, but he’s still Daisy’s dad.  Jumping up, I look toward Holt and Wayne.  “I’ll pick up Daisy, and we’ll meet you there.”
    The parking lot clears out quickly.  I’m heading toward Daisy, while everyone else is on their way to the hospital.  I make the fifteen-minute drive in less than ten, and walk into the diner just as the lunch rush is staring to die down. 
    DAISY
    I’m only an hour into my shift when I hear the sound of a bike pulling up out front. I’d know that sound anywhere. That’s my man’s bike. I’m not sure why he’s here early, and I don’t care.  I toss my order pad on the counter and rush to the door. 
    As soon as I pull the door open, he steps inside.  Immediately, he pulls me into his arms.  He buries his face in my hair and whispers my name.
    “You’re early. You know, I don’t get off for another seven hours,” I say, wrapping my arms around his waist. 
    He doesn’t say anything, just pulls me in for a kiss.  He’s kissed me a million times over the last month and a half, but this kiss is different from all the ones before; it’s desperate, rough. 
    Pulling back, I ask, “Is everything ok?”
    Again, he ignores me, pulling me against him for another kiss, and this one is just as desperate.  When he breaks the kiss off, I push on his chest. “Preach, you’re worrying me. What’s wrong?”
    “I need you to take the night off, babe.  Can you do that?” he asks me, his voice sounding strained.
    I nod, too frightened to say anything else.  After he releases me, I walk back to the kitchen. “Is it okay if I leave early?”
    Shelia looks up from the grill and stares at me.  I’ve been working for her for over four years, and I’ve never taken off early or called in sick, so she knows something is up.  “What’s wrong?”
    Shaking my head, I start to whisper, “I don’t know.  Preach just told me that I needed to take the night off.”
    She walks away from the grill and looks out the order window.  “Go on, girl. He looks like he’s in a world of pain. The lunch rush is over. I can call someone else in to cover dinner, so no worries.”
    “Thank you,” I say as I hand over my apron to her and clock out.
    I go back to the dining area and see Preach standing over by the window. I place my hand on his shoulder, and he turns to me. “I’m ready.”
    Grabbing my hand, he leads me out of the diner without saying another word.  We head straight to his bike, climbing on in silence.  His actions right now are confusing the hell out of me, scaring me actually. He was fine when he dropped me off, but now he’s anything but fine. Something must have happened at the clubhouse, and whatever happened, it was big. 
    Instead of driving toward my house, he heads to the other side of town.  I have no idea where we are going until he pulls off onto Streets Avenue, and I see the hospital looming ahead of us.  A few minutes later, we park in front of the emergency room entrance.  He climbs off the bike, pulling me off behind him.  “Your dad’s been in an accident.”
    “What?” I whisper, shock and fear making my voice sound strained. ”Is he okay?”
    He pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around me.  “I don’t know, babe, but I do know he’s hurt.”
    Not wanting to waste anymore time, I pull away and head into the hospital.  As soon as we get inside, I see everyone huddled together in the small waiting room.  All of my family is here. Hell, the entire club is here.  I rush straight to Grams, ignoring my mother.  “What happened?”
    Grams grabs my hand and leads me to one of the vacant chairs. Preach silently follows us, never moving more than a