Deconstructing Luka
Part Three
By Miesque
miesque@looksmart.com

RATING: PG

SYNOPSIS: A wood splinter, a bee sting, a family reunion of sorts, and a painful revelation make for a somewhat less-than-fun trip westward for Luka and Daisy.

DISCLAIMER: The character of Luka Kovac is the sole property of NBC, Warner Bros., Amblin Entertainment and Constant C.

SONGS: "Don't Fence Me In", by Cole Porter, sung by Willie Nelson; "These Arms", by Dwight Yoakam;
"Blue Skies", by Irving Berlin, sung by Willie Nelson and Leon Russell; "A Kiss to Build A Dream On", sung by Louis Armstrong

THANKS TO: My Canadian mentor for suggestions and ideas, especially for the story below about the demise of Luka's family at Vukovar. Thanks also to Anonymous for continued encouragement and ideas. Where would I be without y'all? :)

NOTE: This series was once called a 'funfic'. Haw! 

"Take a deep breath," Luka said.

Daisy winced and closed her eyes.  

"I said, 'take a deep breath', not 'close your eyes'. Come on, pay attention."

"Get it out! It hurts!"

"It is kind of big, isn't it?" he said, having to restrain himself from laughing at her.  

"It's huge! Get it out! It really hurts!" she whined.

Luka picked up the tweezers and after counting to three, yanked the splinter out of Daisy's thumb. She squealed in pain and stared at her swollen digit.  

"God that hurts!" she shouted.

To her surprise, and satisfaction, he kissed her thumb. "There...all better."

She whined again about her thumb, and he rolled his eyes. "You have a pretty low threshold of pain," he told her, smiling slightly. "You're like the Cowardly Lion in 'The Wizard of Oz'. I'd hate to see you try to give birth."

Daisy punched him lightly in the arm. The man was fairly solid- it was like hitting a wall. Of course, so far, she hadn't seen him bare-chested yet, and that made her imagination run loose for a moment. What did he look like...were there any scars? Tatoos? And the idea of giving birth...until recently she hadn't given much thought to having babies. Being a photographer, she could make a vague mental picture of what a child they made together could look like-tall, golden, beautiful, with amazing eyes and a firm chin...

He was holding the wood splinter up with the tweezers. "Wow, that is big." He dug around in his medical kit and found some antiseptic and a Band-Aid. After applying both to her thumb, he helped her down from the Caddy's hood. She smiled up at him, hoping, and he didn't disappoint her. He leaned in slightly and kissed her. She sighed happily and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and pressing against him, longing for more. He was an expert kisser, that was for sure. He had a way of just making her melt-her knees would turn to Jello and she would forget everything and just get lost in him. But the kiss didn't last long enough-he pulled away from her slightly, then gave her a light kiss on the forehead, perhaps demonstrating that he wasn't rejecting her after all.

"Now...do you feel better?"

"Oh...yeah," Daisy whispered, eyes still closed. "Much better."

Luka nodded and pulled away from her embrace. She sighed, raising her shoulders a moment and then letting them fall. He was so frustrating. It seemed like every time she was just positive something was about to happen he would pull away. He was such a...a...man. That was it-Luka was certainly all man. He was everything one could want, wrapped up in a tall, dark, handsome, mysterious package. He possessed a dark, sarcastic sense of humor, a very definite hint of tragedy and unhappiness, and incredible, smoldering sex appeal. The man belonged in a romance novel-a very well-written romance novel, of course. Not some trashy thing you could buy at a local grocery store. This man very definitely thought about sex occasionally, but so far, Daisy had not seen any hint that Luka was interested in a one- night stand or just a casual affair.

From what she'd seen of his manner toward her and toward other people, and his way with children, she wondered if he had been the eldest of several children, or perhaps a natural pediatrician. Or maybe he had been married, and if so, did he have a child or children somewhere? But that didn't work right in Daisy's mind. If he was married, what was he doing kissing her? And if he had kids, where were they, and why didn't he ever mention them?

She was mulling these things over when he pulled her back to attention. "Daisy, what are you doing? Get in the car."

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise
I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide country that I love
Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise
I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in
oh don't fence me in.

"Quiet!" Luka snapped. "I swear, more things happen to you..."

Daisy had been stung by a bee, and Luka was waiting to see if she would swell up. He had gotten the stinger out quickly enough, but she was still whining about it. "First you turn into a human basketball in Mexico, then it's a big splinter in your thumb and now it's a bee sting on your wrist. What's next, Dais'? Are you gonna fall off a cliff? Get attacked by a wild boar?"

She was crying now, the pain was so bad.

"Are you allergic to bees?" he asked.

"No," she sobbed. "It just hurts so bad." She buried her face against his chest and bawled. He put his arms around her, stroking her hair, murmuring words of comfort, and checked his watch. There had been enough time for an allergic reaction. He decided to be a little more gentle now. He knew he'd been impatient with her lately and there was really no excuse for it.

"Come on, baby. Calm down. It'll be all right."

He sighed, blowing that errant lock of hair on his forehead. "Now...you said your sister lives in this town?"

"Yeah..." she wiped her eyes and wished she had something to blow her nose on. "I don't want her to see me like this, though."

I certainly don't like seeing her like this, he thought. I prefer it when she's smiling. But she's been awfully emotional lately. The tiniest things set her off...

"Okay, so...what's the address?"

"One-twenty-eight, Pine Street, Pecos, Texas."

He nodded and helped her back into the car. She got out a baby wipe and tried to cool down, hoping her eyes wouldn't be red and swollen from crying when she saw Leah. He got in and started the engine. "You know, you really should keep your hands in the car," he told her as he backed up.

"How was I supposed to know a bee would sting me on my wrist?!" she snapped.

"Well, considering your record so far..." he mumbled, and went looking for Pine Street. "You'd think by now you'd have learned to be more careful."

Daisy's sister's house was a typical suburban Texas ranch-style, with a wrap-around porch and big bay windows looking out toward the tree-lined street. Luka stood by the Caddy, smoking a cigarette, as she walked up the stone path to the front steps. She stopped, turned around, and looked at him a moment. He was wearing a black T-shirt with a flannel shirt over it, jeans and his black snakeskin Justin boots, which he'd bought near the Mexican border. All in all, he looked too spectacular, and Daisy wished he'd tone it down a little. She had misgivings about introducing him to Leah in the first place.

"Daisy!"

She whirled around and her sister was standing there, wide eyed and apparently delighted to see her. "My God, where did you come from...?"

Leah was immediately distracted by Luka, and she simply stopped and stared. She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "Oh, Lord, who is that?" she asked.

"That's...uh...Dr. Luka Kovac."

"A doctor?" Leah gasped. "You snagged a doctor? Great horny toads, Dais', you always were able to get the good ones...except for the ones that hit you..."

"Only Billy ever hit me," Daisy snapped. "And Joe, Simon and Ben took care of that. Luka'd probably kill him." Daisy thought about the poor jerk in Chihuahua. She wondered if he was still in the hospital.

"Well, yeah...he's a big boy, I can imagine he'd do a little damage. Billy'd be askin' for the license number of the Mack truck that ran over him." Leah stared at Daisy for a moment, and a smile spread across her attractive face. She wasn't as tall as her younger sister; she was a brunette with cornflower blue eyes and beautiful, healthy skin. But there was a pouty, supermodel look about her that Daisy had always envied. Leah always got the funny, charming guys. And that's what made Daisy nervous. Luka was...or could be...funny and charming, along with mysterious. An irresistible combination, she knew.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Daisy took a deep breath and turned around. "Luka, come on and meet my sister."

Luka pushed away from the Caddy and walked toward them, and Leah's jaw just dropped. "Good God," she whispered. "Where did you find that?"

She could only shrug. "Leah, he's not a piece of meat." That didn't change Leah's expression though. She was looking at him as if she wanted to eat him alive. And that made Daisy furious.

She noticed that very slight limp again. It only showed up when he was tired. Was he tired? She had stressed him out lately, with all her accidents and incidents and demands. It was a strange kind of limp; one foot dragged ever so slightly behind. That confident swagger wasn't diminished by it, and one had to really watch for it, but it was more in evidence now. His stride, tired or not, was always a little uneven. It only added to the appeal and the mystery. Was it a war injury?

"Dr. Luka Kovac, this is my sister, Leah. Leah, this is...Luka."

"Hello," Luka smiled and nodded, and Leah looked like she might swoon.

"Hi...uh...Luka. That's an unusual name."

"Yeah. It could have been worse, though."

"Oh, really?" Leah smiled.

"It could have been Bozo or Beppo..or Janko."

"Bozo?"

"Yeah." He turned on the full wattage of his smile for her, and Daisy glared at him.

Leah swallowed hard and nodded. "You have an accent...where are you from?"

"I have an accent? Really?" He gave her a sly look of mock surprise and grinned again, but Daisy was pleased to see a bit of irritation in his eyes. "I think you're the one with the accent. But I'm from Croatia."

"Really? I hear it's a beautiful country...despite all the stuff that's happened there in the recent past..."

Luka said nothing in response to that, except for a rather vague smile.

Leah grinned back, and Daisy wanted to claw her sister's face for flirting with her...her what? Her man? Was Luka her man? Would he ever be her man? Or would he go back to Chicago and forget about her? That thought darkened her mood, and she was determined to break this little thing up.

"Listen, why don't we go inside, Leah? It's awfully hot out here."

"Okay...I have some iced tea ready and some lemonade...Luka, which do you like?"

"I'll have some of that lemonade, thank you." Luka hung back and watched the two sisters go inside, and for a moment he allowed for the marvellous idea of sisters to cross his mind. He ran a hand through his hair and cleared his head of such an unseemly thought and followed them in.

These arms that hang here by my side
These arms that ache to open wide
Useless arms with nothing left to do
Since these arms stopped holding you

These arms are worthless now to me
They let you go so how good could they be?
Just foolish arms
For which I have no need
A pair of arms that grew weak and set love free

Reaching out to embrace
A vacant memory
Finding just the empty space
Around what's left of me

Two arms that failed completely
Arms both scarred so deeply
Keep paying love's costs
With each tragic sway

Trying meekly to assist
My struggle with the truth
Unable to resist
What tears still make us view

Two arms that failed completely
Arms both scarred so deeply
Keep paying love's costs
With each tragic sway

These arms that hang here by my side
These arms that ache to open wide
Useless arms with nothing left to do
Since these arms stopped holding you
Since these arms stopped holding you

Supper was beef steak, okra, baked potatoes and corn on the cob, with the radio playing Dwight and the back French doors open, letting in the cool evening breeze. Luka had never eaten okra before and at first he was suspicious of it, but at Daisy's urging he finally tasted one. "Hey, this is pretty good," he said with surprise. "Almost as addictive as sopaepillas." That got a light giggle from Daisy and a raised eyebrow from Leah, who was left out of their inside joke.

"It's the pod of the gods," Leah interjected, grinning. She was watching her sister's reactions to Luka very carefully, and was delighting in baiting Daisy. She flirted shamelessly with Luka, asking him about his impressions of Texas and Mexico, what kinds of food he liked, his tastes in art, music and movies. Daisy could only scowl as her sister sabotaged the conversation over the meal. She found herself tongue-tied and uncomfortable with the entire situation. But at least she found out a few more things about him: he wasn't into art very much, hated ballet, could tolerate opera for about three minutes, and liked Barenaked Ladies, David Bowie, George Thoroughgood, Robert Palmer, and Queen, and preferred Beethoven and Vivaldi over Mozart. His favorite movie was "The French Connection". His favorite books? 'The Gulag Archipelago' and 'The Idiot'.

Luka noticed Daisy's silence during dessert and wondered what was going on. He had a brother; he knew plenty about sibling rivalry-how many times had he and Gregor tried to kill each other as children?

Still, it was interesting to look at them and note the differences between them. Daisy, he easily concluded, was the prettier one. He had never really been partial to blondes, but her hair was a dark, rich gold (maybe from exposure to so much sunlight). Her skin was smooth and silky...which made him think again of the soft skin on her neck, the scent of her perfume, and her firm breasts. There was an apple-cheeked, wholesome sweetness about Daisy, along with sexy, experienced sophistication, that made her intriguing and...well, he couldn't come up with the word for a moment. Tantalizing? She certainly was that.

He rarely allowed himself to think about sex. Since his wife's death, Luka Kovac had kept his distance from women. Not that he wasn't ever interested, but something was always holding him back. In the past, women had come toward him, sometimes actually saying straight away that they wanted him, and he had backed away, refusing. That had been why he moved around so much-it seemed like every time he thought he could settle for a while, a new woman would come along. She would befriend him at first, then she would start asking him questions, and then she'd make her move. Luka was still uncomfortable with female aggression. He really couldn't understand what the big deal was. Whenever he looked in the mirror, all he saw was a fairly ordinary-looking guy. Nothing special. So it always amazed and appalled him to see women go to pieces whenever he looked at them.

If Luka had even been capable of egotism, he could have used his looks to his advantage. But he had always been somewhat shy and withdrawn; he couldn't help it. Besides, his view of women was old-fashioned and galant. Before, the only woman who had ever been able to get through to him emotionally had been his wife. Marina had captured his heart and he'd been a happy prisoner of her love for seven years. But she was gone, and now, here was Daisy-full of life and energy, and very interested in affection. She was getting through to him, too, and that was hard for him to deal with.

Sloshing wine in his glass, staring into the red depths, thinking about the past, Luka didn't hear Leah's question.

"So, Dr. Kovac, have you ever been married?"

He looked up, startled, and she asked the question again. He struggled for a moment to answer her. He took another sip of the wine-noting that it wasn't as good as the wines he had known in Croatia-and answered carefully. "Yes. But my wife died nine years ago."

"Oh...I'm so sorry."

Daisy was staring at him, and she murmured. "I'm sorry, too..."

He looked at her briefly, giving her an unhappy smile. Leah noticed this and tried again. "Did you have any children?"

"Yes." Luka nodded. "They died, too."

Leah gasped, and stared, wide-eyed, at him, then laughed. "You're kidding!"

He looked at her sharply, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Daisy had seen that dangerous look before, and she folded her napkin carefully before placing it beside her plate. "Really smooth, Leah."

Leah realized her faux pas and looked simply horrified. "Oh...my God. I...I didn't mean...to say that. It's just...they were... killed?"

"Yes." Luka nodded. ""Yes... We were at Vukovar." He paused to see if either of the two women has any idea what he's referring to. Daisy's eyes widened, but Leah didn't appear to recognize the name. "The town was under siege for three months. A shell hit our apartment building while I was at the market buying cheese and bread...." He saw the horrified expressions on their faces, especially Daisy's, but forced himself to continue. "I ran back... My wife was badly injured, but Jasna and Marko... miraculously they only had a few cuts and bruises... It took forever for help to arrive, but we were able to get them to the hospital... my wife was in critical condition... I explained to the children, tried to prepare them for the worst in case it happened... They were shelling the hospital, I was working round the clock, tending to the wounded, then they occupied the hospital, and Marina... Jasna and Marko... were taken away... I begged them to take me instead... but they said they needed me to tend to their wounded... they were killed a short time later... it took me months to find the place where they buried them..." His voice was quiet, subdued.

Daisy's heart ached for him-he looked like he was in a trance; perhaps this was the first time he had ever really told the story to anyone. His poor babies...she couldn't think of anything to say to him. What could she say that would of any comfort?

Luka poured himself another glass of red wine, his hands shaking slightly. Daisy was trembling by now, wondering what might happen next.

"You...you...should feel lucky...to be alive," Leah whispered. Another stupid, uncaring thing to say, in Daisy's opinion. But she knew her sister was in shock. Babbling, basically. Luka didn't appear to agree with Leah. He stared across the table at Leah, eyes glittering slightly with anger. Daisy saw that his hands were really shaking now. "Oh, yeah. It is good to be alive. In fact, all things considered, I'm pretty damned lucky. But luck is a relative thing, isn't it?" He raised his glass in a curt toast, drank down the contents, turned, nodded politely to Daisy, and excused himself from the table.

Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but bluebirds all day long.

Never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly.

Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
(Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see.)

Never saw the sun shinin' so bright
Never saw things goin' so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days, all of them gone
Nothin' but blue skies from now on
Nothin' but blue skies from now on.

Daisy couldn't bring herself to approach Luka after supper. He disappeared for a while, but he came back later that night, barely saying anything to her or Leah. In fact, his only words were directed at Daisy. He wished her a good night, told her to thank Leah for the fine meal, and said nothing more. His olive complexion had turned very pale, and he looked very, very tired. He crashed on the couch sometime after midnight, watching television for a while before dozing off. For a few minutes, Daisy stood by the couch, watching him sleep (it was a kind of ritual for her by now) before slipping silently away. Seeing that, of course, caused Leah to raise her eyebrow. When everything was silent in the house and they were sure he was asleep, the two sisters sat and discussed the situation in Leah's bedroom, where her radio was playing softly. Daisy wondered briefly about the familiar song-would things ever really get better for Luka, or would that pain just eat him up in the end?

"So...you two haven't...?"

"No, Leah, we haven't." Daisy blushed slightly, remembering how he had held her a few days ago, as if he really wanted to make love to her. She had a feeling he probably would have, if she hadn't said his name. He had stopped cold when she had spoken out loud, and the expression on his face was etched on her mind. It confused her a great deal-she couldn't figure out what she had done wrong. It dawned on her then that maybe his wife had said his name in much the same way; maybe it was a painful flashback for him. That made Daisy's heart ache even more.

"Why not?"

Daisy rolled her eyes and glared at her sister for a moment. "Surely you can tell why, Leah, after what happened at supper. That's a damaged man sleepin' on your couch. I've seen his nightmares, I've seen how he reacts to people...he nearly killed a guy in Mexico for tryin' to rape me, Leah. He's not mean or dangerous by any means, but he's not a guy you want to piss off."

Leah sighed. "Yeah, but surely you could..."

"What? Spike his drink? I've given it some thought, sometimes, but now that I know...it would be disgusting of me to just take advantage of him like that."

"I'm just saying that maybe you could help him heal."

Daisy sighed and looked at a photograph of their parents for a moment. "You know, we have been so lucky, Leah. Joe, Simon, Ben, and you and me...we had everything handed to us on a silver platter. No troubles, no pain, no real difficulties. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of life Luka's had. What kind of pain he had to go through just to survive. Just knowing him has made me appreciate what I have. I swear I'll never take a day of life for granted again. Never."

Leah stared at the floor a moment, not sure what to think about her sister's words. Daisy had always been kind of serious and introspective. There hadn't been much of the 'dumb blonde' in Marguerite Eleanor Childers. Leah, in fact, had always quietly envied her sister. Daisy had earned all the high marks in school, was head cheerleader, was prom queen...Daisy had it all. Not that Leah hadn't been able to attract her fair share of men, but tonight Daisy had brought a beautiful, magnificent animal around to the dinner table and it was just like always. Of course, none of the men Daisy had dated before were quite like Luka. In fact, they all looked callow boys compared to that man, and one in particular had done some damage to her. But Daisy was ten times as protective and territorial about Luka.

"I hope you aren't taking him for granted. You said he has to go back to Chicago in the not-too-distant future. He seems like a keeper, to me. What are you gonna do when it comes time to part? Just walk away?"

"I don't know. We're going to head north, to God knows where...I think we'll avoid El Paso...and then I'm gonna go back home somehow." She paused and admitted, at last, how she really felt. "When he walks away, I guess I'll just crawl off somewhere and die of a broken heart." Not for the first time did tears well up in Daisy's eyes at the thought. She wasn't sure how she'd handle saying good-bye to Luka. No one had bothered to warn her about him-Alicia had simply said "Watch out-he's gorgeous."

Leah smiled softly. "So you really have fallen for him, haven't you?"

"I'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb as a post not to fall for him, Leah. I've never met anyone like him before. But I don't think he feels the same. I can't read him. I can't even begin to understand everything about him. But one thing I do know-he's a very sweet, gentle guy...but he has a wall around him that I haven't figured out how to get past. At least, now I know why the wall is there. At least now I can kind of understand what it is...but I can't deny it, Leah. I care a lot about him...hell, I may even be in love with him. I don't know. I know I'm in lust with him...that's for sure...Ever since Chihuahua. But if I let myself love him, and he doesn't love me back...I'll just die. I know I'll die."

Give me a kiss to build a dream on
and my imagination will thrive upon that kiss.
Sweet-heart, I ask no more than this,
a kiss to build a dream on.

Give me a kiss before you leave me
and my imagination will feed my hungry heart.
Leave me one thing before we part,
a kiss to build a dream on

When I'm alone with my fancies, I'll be with you.
Weaving romances, making believe they're true.
Give me your lips for just a moment
and my imagination will make that moment live.
Give me what you alone can give,
a kiss to build a dream on.

Luka was trying to read an article in the newspaper about the Dalai Lama, but it failed to hold his interest for long. Daisy was taking a long time in the store, and he was bored. And that song certainly wasn't making things easier for him. Every time he kissed Daisy, it was another dream for him. He couldn't deny that. And his imagination was taking him away sometimes. So much so that there were times he almost wrecked the damned Caddy. Looking at the article again, he shook his head. Amazing, how Buddhism had caught on in Hollywood. He concluded that the only reason the mystical religion of the Dalmatian mountains hadn't caught on in La-La Land was because there was no such thing as Tantric Catholicism. Tantric methods or not, Luka had appreciated and admired Marina for her values and it had made their relationship stronger in the end. Maybe too strong. Nine years now, and he was still bound to her; he still felt slightly guilty about feeling attracted to another woman.

It was true-love is stronger than death. But he knew it was irrational of him to deny himself any other chance at love, after all this time. Marina would have wanted him to be happy again-one thing she had never been was selfish. That, of course, made him think about Daisy-lately, nearly anything made him think about Daisy. He felt comfortable around her, and he enjoyed her company. Plus, he hadn't felt this attracted to a woman in a long, long time. Some of it was physical...okay, a lot of it was physical, but he felt connected to Daisy on an emotional level. They certainly weren't twin souls, but she had gotten through to him. He couldn't deny that any more. He was becoming as addicted to her as he was to those sopaepillas and nicotine. He didn't even want to think about going back to Chicago without her. He wasn't sure his heart could take that.

He was thinking about this, running it all back and forth in his mind, when Daisy finally emerged from the 7-11. She handed Luka a Dr. Pepper and a bag of salted peanuts. She took her seat beside him and he watched, appalled, as she poured her bag of peanuts into her Coca-Cola.

"What in the name of God are you doing?" he asked.

"Puttin' peanuts in my Coke," she answered simply.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

He shook his head and tried again. "Doesn't it ruin the taste?"

"No. It improves it somewhat, actually. Try it."

He shook his head, but she was holding the Coke-peanuts floating in the soda-out to him. Finally, he took the bottle and took a quick swig. It did taste different. Not better, not worse. Just different. He shrugged.

"Don't you have something that you like to combine? Some weird thing?"

"Well, there's nothing better than M&Ms and movie popcorn. Eat a handful of popcorn-well salted and buttered, of course-then eat a few M&Ms. Tastes great."

Daisy made a face, and he gave her a cold glare. "So putting peanuts in your Coke is somehow normal but you think chocolate and popcorn is the weirdest thing you can possibly do?"

"Well, there is chocolate popcorn." She glanced at him a moment, thinking about the combination of Luka and chocolate, but put that thought aside to the best of her ability. But she did make a mental note to contemplate it a little more tonight, at bedtime.

"Yuck," he said, starting the Caddy.

"Well, I don't get that. How can it be any different?"

He backed out of the parking space and turned around, heading north toward Lubbock-a pretty long haul from Pecos. Looking at the map, and a description of the city, Luka had called it 'The Home of Buddy Holly, prairie dog towns and heat stroke'. "I don't know. It doesn't taste the same, that's all."

"What about chocolate covered raisins?"

"Oh, for God's sake. Might as well be eating chocolate-covered roaches," Luka growled.

"And why anybody'd get perfectly good chocolate and pour it over a rotten grape is beyond me."

That made Daisy burst into laughter. They argued happily all the way to Lubbock, tooling up highway 385 from Odessa, where they stopped at a Stuckey's and bought road games and pecan pralines. She beat him three times at 'Twenty Questions', but he beat her numerous times at 'American History Trivia Quiz', which amazed her. He even knew the day the Alamo fell to the Mexicans (March 6, 1836). In Andrews, they ate catfish and hush puppies, drank cervezas, and Luka won a game of pool against a very large man named Quinn who actually seemed slightly afraid of the Croatian doctor. Daisy figured Quinn had a little good sense. They still had a long way to go, and she was glad for any kind of delay. Even sitting in a smoky pool room. At this point, anything was better than heading home.

To be continued....