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Daisy watched Red O’Brian stride out of her office and sighed deeply.
It wasn’t like her to get flustered, but the entire encounter had unsettled her. As she returned to her desk her mind wandered to the man who had just left her office. He was about her age, she guessed. He had beautiful blue eyes, thick red hair and a neatly trimmed beard that didn’t quite cover the smattering of freckles on his fair face.
Red was a couple of inches taller than her, about six feet she guessed, with wide shoulders, a trim waist, and deliciously muscled arms. He had been dressed casually in jeans and plaid shirt, practically the Oregon male uniform, and beneath the rolled-up shirt sleeves she had seen what looked like full sleeves of tattoos on both of those beefy arms.
It’s too bad he was exactly the kind of guy she would never date because he was the first guy who she had been attracted to in a long time. Despite their unpleasant interaction she had been very aware of him the entire time he had been in her office. When he shook her hand she felt a flash of heat that had taken her aback. He had an earthy scent that lingered after he left.
She stifled another sigh as she opened her email. The town council would approve his appeal, she was sure of it. The truth was she didn’t really have a good case for denying his permit. She was letting her personal feelings interfere with her job and she knew it. Yet she hadn’t been able to force herself to do anything different.
Daisy had grown up upstairs from a tattoo shop and she knew more than most how dangerous they could be. Her father had been the leader of the infamous Seattle Devils motorcycle club when she was a kid, and probably still was. The tattoo shop he owned with his “old lady”, also known as Daisy’s mom, was a front for all manner of crime: drugs, prostitution, extortion, theft. Dear old dad’s tattoo shop only catered to other MC members and the criminal element they ran around with. Everyone else in the neighborhood had the good sense to stay away.
To put it lightly, Daisy’s childhood had not been an easy one. She had learned at a young age that she had to take care of herself. Her parents and their MC friends weren’t worried about things like making sure Daisy got a good meal or went to school. She had practically raised herself, and looking back, she wasn’t sure how she even knew how. The only examples she had seen of “normal life” were on TV.
No one in the club paid Daisy too much attention until she became a teenager. Once her curves had come in she started catching the attention of some of the other members, who thought nothing of flirting with a young teen despite the fact that they were all so much older than she was. At first she had been flattered by the attention, pathetically grateful for any perceived kindness after a lifetime of neglect. She spent more time around the shop, allowing them to practice tattoos on her, dressing in revealing clothing like the other women who hung around the club.
The attention soon turned aggressively sexual by the time she was fourteen. Women in the club were often shared between members and despite her young age the members had no compunction about using her body for their own gratification. Her father sometimes offered her up as a reward for MC members who pleased him. Her mother took her to the doctor to get her on birth control pills but was otherwise completely unconcerned about what was happening. It was the way of life in the club.
Her life had changed shortly after Daisy turned 16. A collaboration of local and federal law enforcement officers raided the club one rainy winter night. With the help of the intel of a MC member who was actually an undercover DEA officer, the cops took the whole club down. Her parents were charged with everything from drug sales to racketeering to trafficking minors, and she was whisked away to foster care.
Daisy knew her own statements to law enforcement had been used as evidence, although they had blessedly refrained from calling her to testify in court. Fortunately, the District Attorney’s office had sufficient evidence without putting her through any more trauma.
The cop who had been undercover in the MC made sure that she was placed with foster parents who could actually help her. Her foster father Samuel Johnston was a cop who worked in the sex crimes unit and her foster mother Suzanne was an advocate at the local women’s crisis line. Sam and Suzanne had a unique understanding of what Daisy had been through. They took her in and helped her heal. To this day Daisy considered them her family.
With their love and lots of therapy Daisy came to understand that she was a victim of neglect and sexual abuse. Looking back now, she knew that even though she had grown up fast, she had been much too young to consent or understand what was happening to her when she was a teen. She had always understood that saying ‘no’ would not be tolerated in the club.
Daisy thrived with her foster parents. She learned about nutrition and manners and living in mainstream world where people made their beds and paid their bills and didn’t get into fistfights over dinner. She figured out how to dress in a way that didn’t solicit attention, and to hide the various tattoos she had been given while living with the club.
She got caught up in school and went to college on a full scholarship. She studied government and public administration, which was about as far from her old life as she could get. She graduated college with honors, her foster parents sitting proudly in the audience.
After college Daisy stayed in Seattle and worked at city and county offices in various capacities for about 15 years before the job in Diamond Bay caught her attention.
She was recovering from a violent attack by a MC member who had just been paroled and wanted to share her “family’s” displeasure that she had cooperated with authorities after the raid. The attack had been unexpected, and rocked Daisy’s sense of stability in Seattle. The idea of making a new start in a small town near the ocean had seemed like the right thing to do.
That was three years ago and in that time she had grown to love Diamond Bay. The small town was friendly, but not overly engaged in each other’s business like some places. Everyone was welcomed here, with no question and she had developed a small circle of good friends here. Diamond Bay was eclectic yet cohesive.
Although tourism was the primary industry in town, they weren’t quite as overwhelmed with tourists like some of the other towns along the coast were. There were lots of activities town but if you got bored Portland was only an hour or so away.
Daisy really loved Diamond Bay. She would hate to see Red and his tattoo shop change her lovely little town. Logically she knew that not every tattoo shop was a hotbed of criminal activity, but she couldn’t take a chance on being wrong.
Red’s appeal letter came the next day. It was well written, promising significant benefit to the community, and disputing any relationship between tattoo shops and an increase in crime. Daisy just couldn’t bring herself to approve it. It was probably inevitable that the shop would open, but she clung to the hope that Red would get discouraged and open his shop in some other town.
A few days later Daisy was in the weekly department head meeting. The mayor convened the directors of the town’s bureaus – Town Services, Sheriff’s Department, Fire & Rescue and Parks & Rec – every Friday to check in on town business.
As usual, Daisy was the first person to arrive. Her foster mother had drilled it into her that if you weren’t ten minutes early you were late, so she made it a point to be a little bit early for anything she did.
The rest of the team trickled in, examining the paper agendas the mayor passed around the table. Try as they might, they couldn’t convince the mayor to go paperless.
Mitch Erickson, the town sheriff, cleared his throat. “Before we get started, I would like to make a personal announcement if that’s OK Madame Mayor.”
Seeing the mayor’s nod of assent, he continued. “I’d like to share that I asked Penny to marry me and she accepted,” he announced proudly. “The wedding is next month, just a casual event, but I would like you all to come. You should be seeing your invitations any day now.”
The table erupted with congratulations. Daisy was happy for Mitch. He seemed like a great guy, and she had worked with his fiancée Penny last fall when she had been hired to overhaul the town’s website. Penny was awesome – strong, funny, and super smart – and she and Daisy had socialized a couple of times with other women in the town. Daisy was glad that Penny and Mitch had worked through their challenges to find a happily ever after.
The mayor moved them to the agenda. “First up, planning for the monthly town council meeting.” The mayor passed out another sheet of paper with the proposed town council agenda. Daisy shook her head, they really needed to convince the mayor to send things electronically. They killed a lot of trees in these meetings.
“One of the items on the new business agenda concerns you Daisy so we will need you to be available to testify at the meeting,” the mayor reported. “Mr. John O’Brian is appealing your decision to deny his business license.”
Mitch’s head swung her direction. “You denied Red’s license?” he asked in surprise. “Why?”
Daisy stiffened. “I’m concerned about the criminal element that accompanies these types of businesses,” she said evenly, striving to keep any defensiveness out of her voice.
“Criminal element?” Mitch laughed. “Red was in the military police with me. We’ve been good friends for years. He won’t attract criminals. If anything, he’ll make the downtown area safer by keeping an eye out for criminal activity.”
“No offense Mitch, but I can’t make decisions based on who is personal friends with you,” she replied, her tone turning icy.
Mitch’s eyebrows raised at her tone even as she reminded herself that her decision was made based on her own personal biases. He was right to question her, and she would have done the same thing in his place.
“The town council is just going to overrule you Daisy,” he said. “I’ve seen his business plan as well as the work he did at the shop in Portland. It’s all solid. I wouldn’t support it if I had any doubts about it.”
She sniffed. “Well, then the Council can overrule it and take the responsibility when we’re overrun by motorcycle gangs and thieves.”
Daisy could feel him studying her, no doubt surprised by her strong reaction. She ignored him but felt a flush run across her cheeks.
“Well, it’s in the council’s hands now,” the mayor said placatingly. “On to the next item.”