Chapter 1
Daisy Mae Winters POV
It was a rainy day in Jacksonville Beach Florida as I worked in my photography studio waiting for my next appointment. My earlier appointment was cancelled so I figured that I would clean up my studio for my next session which would be in a hour or so.
I was in the back when I heard the bell jingle letting me know that someone had stepped into the studio. I walked out of one of my rooms and noticed a young girl in a blue raincoat. I smiled she looked like a wet kitten.
I walked towards her and smiled, "Hi, my name is Daisy Mae, and welcome to my studio. Do you have an appointment, or would you like to schedule one?"
The young girl looked at me shyly. "I'm sorry I don't have any money for a photo shoot. I stepped in here because the rain was picking up and I was getting wet while I was waiting for my fiancée."
I was about to speak when the phone rang. " Thank you for calling Daisy Mae Studios How can I help you?" I listened to the client on the other end and realized they were cancelling their appointment at 1:00 PM. I sigh as I put down the phone and walked back towards the young girl.
"Why don't you take off your raincoat, so you don't catch a cold."
The young girl started unbuttoning her raincoat and slowly took it off showing me that she was nine months pregnant and ready to deliver at any time.
I noticed that she was wearing a knee length white dress with white sandals. Her long blonde hair was done in a French braid and her makeup was natural.
"Would you like something to drink while you are waiting for your fiancée?"
She smiled timidly, "That would be lovely. Would you mind if I sat down my feet are killing me."
I shook my head and walked back towards my kitchen to get her some hot tea. "What kind of tea do you like." I yelled at her as I stepped into my small kitchen.
"Do you have green tea?" she loudly spoke.
"Yes, I do." I got some water and put it in the microwave and set the timer for two minutes. When it was done, I put a tea bag into the water and headed towards the front of the building.
As I was handing it to her the door opened and a young man walked in wearing blue slacks, a white button-down shirt and a blue tie. He must be the groom I thought and then mentally smacked my forehead.
I walked forward with my hand stretched out "Hi, I am Daisy Mae and welcome to my studio."
The young kid shook my head and looked down at his fiancée "Um, we need to get to the courthouse before it closes so we can get married."
The young girl bit her lip stood up and smiled shyly "Thank you so much for the tea." She picked up her raincoat and started buttoning it. They both walked slowly out of my studio.
Sighing, well I guess I can do more cleaning and maybe let Mable out for a walk even though it's a drizzle rain. I walked outside and locked my door to the studio and walked out back to where my small home was.
As I was opening the door my other dog Watson went out to do his business and I'm sure to roll around the wet, muddy grass in my backyard.
I closed my French doors and dragged Mable to the bathroom to wash out the dirt and grass off her fur. I picked her up putting her into the tub. When the water turned warm, I started pouring water from a pitcher on her. Picking up shampoo I gave her a good scrubbing.
As I was rinsing Mable, I heard a gunshot close to my house I ran to my backyard and saw a very tall, good-looking man looking down at Watson with a revolver in his hand.
I ran towards Watson with tears streaming down my face saying "No, No, No," I turned at looked up at the man screaming "What the fudge!"
The man stood still looking down at Watson "He was going to attack me. It was self-defense."
"Self-defense!" I screamed. "You are trespassing on private property." I stood up looking up at him; I was so mad that I wanted to punch him right in the nose. Instead, I turned on my heels to go into the house to get my cell phone. I yelled out "You take care of him while I call my vet."
