He's My Daddy Now

Chapter 6

*Jim*

I swear my heart skips a beat as she stands from the water, drops rolling down each perfect curve as the sun glistens off her from the window behind her. She’s perfection. How did I get so lucky that she would come here to me when her world was falling apart?

She takes my hand, and I lead her to the shower, eagerly pulling my clothes off so I can join her. I jump into the spray of the shower quickly so it will wash off some of the filth on me before I take her hips in my hands and pull her to me.

“You’re perfect,” I say softly in her ear. After all the times she blushed at a compliment and then what she told me while drunk, she really needs to hear it, and I’ll happily be the one to tell her time and time again until she believes it. “I mean it. You are absolute perfection.”

She opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “You gonna tell me I’m wrong? Because I’m not.”

She looks like she wants to argue, like she’ll never believe me, but she doesn’t say anything.

“I don’t know why kids were mean to you, Emmy, but you’re a grown woman now,” I say, pushing a wet strand of hair from her face. Her makeup is all gone now, leaving a beautiful, bare face before me, faint freckles spread across her cheeks. “Whatever happened then, it isn’t what’s happening now.”

She nods and wraps her arms around me, holding me tightly. It’s not s****l. She just needs to be comforted. This isn’t what I’d planned when I pulled her in here, but it’s what she needs. It’s what I want to give her.

I grab a rag and gently clean her skin. I’ll happily wash every bit of her. “Thank you,” she says, with tears in her eyes. “I don’t deserve this.”

“You deserve so much more, Darlin,” I tell her, leading her back into the spray to rinse it. I tilt her head back and get her hair wet before I lather shampoo on it. “Can you stay tonight, too?”

She nods. “I dropped out of school, remember? I don’t have anything to do now.”

“You didn’t drop out,” I say. “You just decided to do what will make you happy. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

She smiles sadly. “I doubt my dad will feel the same way.”

“He loves you,” I remind her. “Anyone can see that.”

She shakes her head. “I’m sure I’ll be homeless and carless in a few days.”

“You’ll be alright,” I try to reassure her. “Whatever happens, it’ll work out.”

There’s no chance I’m going to let her be homeless. Even if we’ve just met and it’s a terrible idea, there’s plenty of space for her here, but I keep my mouth shut, not wanting to scare her off. She knows, though. Drunk and a mess, she came here. She knew I wouldn’t turn her away.

“You’re going to be just fine,” I tell her. “Just think of how happy you’ll be doing what you love.”

She smiles up at me through wet lashes. She’s devastatingly beautiful. “Thank you. For everything.”

I help her out of the shower and wash off quickly. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I pause before walking out as I hear Emmy talking.

“It’s not what I want, Dad,” she says, pausing. “I know I’m almost done, but I don’t WANT a business degree. You’re the one who told me to take my time and find a job I love.”

I peek through the door to verify she’s not on Facetime, but I walk out into the room when I see the phone at her ear. She’s trying so hard not to cry.

“I don’t want to talk about last night,” she tells him. “I don’t care why you didn’t show. You forgot, and it doesn’t matter why.”

“Don’t call me that,” she gowls out, and tears spring to her eyes. “Only Mom did, until last week, and you’ve been doing it. Too much.”

“I don’t care if that’s my actual name,” she chokes out. “No one gets to call me that now.”

“No, I’m fine. You don’t need to come to me,” she says. “Please, don’t track my phone. I’m safe, I swear. I just need some time.”

“Dad, please,” she begs. “I’ll call you when I’m ready to talk again.”

She hangs up and switches the phone off. Honestly, it’s probably for the best. I’m sure he wouldn’t be too happy to show up here and find her with me.

I hand her a clean shirt with a sympathetic smile. “He that mad?”

She shrugs. “Forgetting mom’s birthday seems to have helped soften his anger about dropping out.”

I laugh a little. “You cut hair before?”

“Yeah,” she says with a small smile, and I can see she truly enjoys it.

“Want to give mine a trim?” I ask as her eyes sparkle. “I haven’t had time to go, and it’s hanging in my eyes.”

She nods. “I don’t have scissors.”

I go into the bathroom and pull out a shave kit that came with a pair. “Will these work?”

“They’ll do,” she says, crossing to the dresser and tossing her a pair of workout shorts. “Come on. I’ll cut it outside.”

I nod as she pulls on the shorts, and I pull on a pair of sweatpants. I lead her down the stairs to the back porch, where the sun is setting above the mountains. I turn and find her staring in the distance.

“It’s so beautiful here,” she says softly. “You just get to see this every day.”

I smile. “You only make it more beautiful,” I say, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her cheek. “I don’t know how I got so lucky to have met you, but I’m glad you’re here. It just feels right.”

She looks down, her cheeks turning pink. “I’m sorry,” she says softly.

“For coming here?” I ask. I thought we’d already cleared it up. “I’m glad you’re here, Emmy.”

She takes my arm and tugs me toward a chair at the end of the porch. “You don’t want it short, right? Just a trim?”

“Whatever you want to do, Darlin,” I tell her as she begins to snip.

She cuts away, letting the hair fall wherever, and I realize I will have to get right back in the shower. I’m almost irritated, but the feeling leaves quickly when she runs her nails along my scalp. It doesn’t take long of her rubbing my scalp and neck before I’m sure I’d do anything this woman asks of me.

“Can I ask you something?” I ask.

“Sure,” she says, moving her hands to my shoulders, and I groan.

“What’s your real name?” she immediately tenses. “I heard you talking to your Dad. I gathered that Emmy is just a nickname.”

She’s quiet for quite a while but continues to rub my shoulders and neck when I hear her quietly answer. “Amelia. My mom was the only person who called me that, though.”

“And you don’t like it because it reminds you of her?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

Her answer is so quiet, and I can tell it hurts her to talk about it. I take her hand and lead her around, pulling her onto my lap. “Tell me about her.”

She smiles sadly, tears in her eyes. “She was the best. She died of cancer when I was in middle school.”

“Tell me about HER,” I say, stressing the word. “Not about how she died. Tell me about who she was.”

She smiles brightly through teary eyes. She clearly loved her very much. She curls into my chest and tells me how she would drag her camping. She tells me stories of her rich mommy, making her learn to live off the land, just in case she needed to know. She tells me how dedicated she was to everything, especially to being her mom.

“They wanted more kids,” she tells me with a sniffle. “Mom had already been diagnosed once, though. The treatment worked that time, but they decided it would be too difficult for Dad to care for two kids if it came back and she didn’t make it. It’s exactly what happened, like she knew it would.”

“You wanted a sibling, though,” I say, realizing what she means.

She nods. “I think it was more difficult to deal with it all alone. Dad buried himself in his work and left me to the nanny. She was wonderful, but it wasn’t the same.”

I rub her back gently. I bet that was hard for her. I was an adult when each of my parents died, and it was difficult. I can’t imagine dealing with it at such a young age.

“Dad loved her,” she tells me. “I don’t want you to think badly of him. It really hurt him when she died. He didn’t know how to deal with it and with me. Then the bullying really started, and it was just so hard.”

I feel so much anger for her, but I don’t have any right to judge. “I get that,” I admit to her softly. “I made plenty of mistakes as a dad. When I left Amber, I left my daughter, Ava, too. I thought it was better for her in the long run if she wasn’t around all the fighting, but I got busy here. She didn’t want to visit, and I didn’t push it. I wish I had, though.”

She nods and stands, wiping her eyes. “Go shower,” she tells me with a sad smile. “I’ll make dinner while you do.”

“You can cook?” I ask.

She shrugs. “A little.”

I return to the kitchen, freshly washed and in new pants, to find sweet Emmy searing steaks and cooking something green.

“Do you have anything other than steak here?” she asks.

I laugh. “It’s a ranch, Darlin,” I remind her. “Got a whole lotta cows.”

She shakes her head. “Still, this can’t be healthy.”

I shrug. “Hasn’t killed me yet.”

We eat, and Emmy tells me more about her Mom, smiling as she does. There are no tears this time, and only happy stories. She may not have had her mother around long, but her mom made each and every moment count. The thing that stands out the most, though, is how her mom hung lights in the backyard because they were in the city and couldn’t see the stars.

After we eat, I grab a couple of blankets and lead her outside, pulling her to lie on one with me and covering us with the other. It’s another clear night, almost as if the universe knew she needed to see the stars.

I pull her body against me, and she snuggles in, leaning up to capture my lips in her own. Her hand runs up the muscles on my chest as she kisses me again. So timid but so sweet. I hold her tightly, eagerly returning her kisses. I wanted to bury myself inside her the second she showed up last night, but I couldn’t do that to her.

Now, though, now she’s calm. She’s not upset, and she’s not drunk. She’s here, sober and happy… with me. I hadn’t intended to f**k her out here under the stars, but now it seems like the most perfect plan. I push my shirt up over her, revealing those perfect breasts to me, taking a n****e in my mouth and gently sucking. How could anyone ever make fun of this body?

I kick my pants off and settle between her legs under the blanket, my hand between us, stretching her gently. She’s so tight. So deliciously tight. I’m about to enter her as I put my head on the ground beside her in frustration.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell her, feeling around for my pants. “I don’t have a condom out here.”

She smiles and wraps her legs around me. “It’s alright. I have an IUD.”

I nod. “You’re sure about this?”

“Yes,” she breathes, tilting herself up toward me, almost as if she’s begging for me. “I want to feel all of you.”

I nod, slowly pushing myself inside her. She’s so warm, and it’s like her body is welcoming me. I hold her close, cupping her face as I look down at those precious freckles.

“Amelia is a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”