But it wasn’t just her hands I wanted to feel.
Years ago, before I left for the Marines, we’d come close to hooking up. She’d still been a virgin back then and had offered me a chance to deflower her. We’d come close to fucking one warm, May evening. So very close. And I’d always regretted it when I was turned on, like I was now, but when I was clear-headed, I knew stopping it had been the right thing to do.
I could only imagine her tight pussy clenching around my thick member, hearing her soft moans as she came around me. I wanted her to ride me, to bounce up and down on my cock until she screamed in pleasure, her petite body bucking wildly as I thrust upward into her, going as deep as humanly possible.
Closing my eyes, I stroked my cock with a deep-seated need for release.
The muscles in my thighs clenched as my balls tightened against my body. I imagined Piper crying out, “Come inside me” as I shot rope after rope of cum all over my belly.
A few moments later, I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. I already felt better - like I wouldn’t explode the next time Piper pulled me into a hug.
With a clearer mind, I could get on with the rest of my day, which probably meant going back to the daycare. At least I wouldn’t be going in with an erection.
Ooo000ooo
I waited a few hours before heading back to the daycare. I did some work for Leah, then went around to some of the properties I managed to check on them. Recently, with the help of Leah’s journalist friend, Elle, we’d discovered that many of our properties had a valuable mineral in the soil - lithium - which was often used for batteries. At the end of the day, we were millionaires - though neither of us wanted to sell our properties to the developers who wanted to tear up the land to get rich, so we were literally just sitting on millions and millions of dollars. We loved our small town and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.
The increased property value did allow us to take out some financing, which in turn helped us fix up the hotel as well as some of the properties. Some of them had remained empty for so long, but with the renovations, the houses could be used for vacation rentals, bringing in a nice, steady stream of income. Leah and I were comfortable, thanks to this, and neither one of us had to work if we didn’t want to - but that’s not who we were.
After finishing in one of the vacation rentals, getting it ready for the next family, I checked the weather. We were expecting a brutal snowstorm later in the week, the first one of the season, which was why my properties were easy to rent. People came out here to ski, and there’d finally be snow on the grounds to make it possible.
In Liberty, we were used to harsh winters and massive amounts of snow, so it didn’t worry me too much. We were always prepared for it, and this winter was no different.
Truthfully, I was waiting until the end of the day to head back to Little Cubs, hoping the kids would have gone home. Caleb, especially. I was torn about him. He was a sweet little guy, and I couldn’t turn him down when he wanted to help the other day. But seeing him almost always caused more memories for me, memories that led to more vivid nightmares. And God knows, I didn’t need that.
It wasn’t his fault, though, so I didn’t want to be rude to the little guy. But I also didn’t want the reminders of my past.
After six p.m., I drove into the daycare parking lot, and as expected, a lot of the kids had been picked up. Except one. Caleb was sitting at a table drawing with Piper when I walked inside. He jumped up from his chair and ran over to me, and I noticed he was hobbling a bit. He was a little unsteady on his feet, even for a toddler.
“Yay! You back!” he called out to me, with his hands in the air. My chest tightened and I froze. Piper offered a friendly smile but wouldn’t look me in the eyes. “Hey, what are you still doing here?” I asked, aiming my question at Piper.
“Andy sometimes leaves him with me,” she said. She frowned, and I could tell there was more going on than she was letting on.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, but this time— Oh, never mind.”
Caleb grabbed my leg, trying to pull me over to the table. “I show you something.” I followed Caleb over to the table and watched as the little boy pointed at the drawing. To me, it looked like scribbles. “It’s you and me,” he said proudly.
“Oh, yeah, I totally see it.”
Piper laughed, but there was still worry etched across her face.
“Here, you draw,” Caleb said, pushing a piece of paper and the box of crayons my way.
I didn’t feel like drawing, but it wasn’t so much as a request as it was a demand. I sat down on the floor, too tall for the little table.
“So what’s going on with Andy?” I asked as Caleb literally forced a red crayon into my hand.
“Draw,” he said again.
I doodled to appease him but kept my eye on Piper. She sighed again, leaning away from the table with her hands behind her on the floor.
“He usually calls or texts, something, if he’s going to be gone for a few days, but I’ve gotten nothing. His voicemail box is full, and my texts aren’t even being read.”
“He’s got that big case, you know. Against the Russos. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s just caught up with work.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, biting her lip. “It’s just— well, I don’t have clean clothes or anything for Caleb. I stopped by on my way here this morning, but there was no sign of him. I don’t have a key, so I couldn’t get inside.”
I wanted to tell her that her cousin was a dick, but his son was sitting right there. Not exactly the best language for a child, especially when talking about his father. Piper was staring at Caleb, and I could tell she was trying to speak carefully in front of him as well. She was more worried than she was letting on.
“Maybe you should give Teddy a call and he could look into it.”
“Maybe,” she said softly, still looking at Caleb. “I just don’t want social services to get involved, you know? Especially if he’s just working or on another one of his fishing trips.”
“You’re not drawing,” Caleb scolded me.
I looked down and realized I’d dropped the crayon during my conversation with Piper. I picked it back up and doodled some more. This brought a smile to Piper’s face.
“You’re so good with him,” she murmured. “And considering the other kids pick on him, and his own dad is hardly around, it means a lot.”
“Why do the kids pick on him? He seems like a pretty outgoing kid.”
Her smile faltered a bit, and she parsed her words carefully in front of Caleb. “You’ve probably noticed he has some problem walking. I’m trying to get Andy to take him to see a specialist. I even found a good one. He can’t really run around or play any games that require balance or movement without falling behind the others. They get annoyed that we play games he can play, ones that require sitting down, for instance.”
Caleb continued scribbling on his paper, but he understood parts of the conversation. At least the part about him not being like the other kids. He probably felt it pretty deeply too.
“We’ll get him in to see that specialist,” I said without even thinking about it.
“We?” Piper cocked an eyebrow.
I shrugged. “You know what I mean.”
I didn’t even know what I meant by that. Was I saying I’d personally help get him into the doctor? I knew what it was like to struggle with mobility, even though I had no problems now. No one even knew I had a fake leg, but it hadn’t always been easy. I didn’t want Caleb to have to deal with that, especially at his age - and especially if this were a problem we could fix. But I also knew there wasn’t much I could do since I wasn’t his parent.
Caleb yawned, and Piper looked at the clock. “I think we’re going to head home. I doubt Andy will be coming by anytime soon.”
I nodded. “I just came over to install the handrails. I’ll lock up when I’m done.”
“Sounds good,” Piper said, standing up and ga
thering Caleb’s things.
“Can you come with us?” he asked.
“Sorry, buddy, I can’t,” I said. “I have work to do here.”
“See you tomorrow?”
I wasn’t sure if it was a question or just a new phrase he’d picked up. I chuckled and said, “Sure, little man. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
My heart was still tight in my chest, and it felt like I couldn’t breathe sometimes when I was around him, but I didn’t want him to suffer because of it. He had no real father figure, the kids picked on him. I wasn’t about to shut the little man out just because it was hard for me to look at him.
The two of them left, and I thought I’d be relieved - but I found the silence in the daycare deafening. I reminded myself that being alone was for the best and got to work.
Chapter 4
Piper
I pulled up to Andy’s house, decided to check there once more before going home. But as I feared, there was no sign of him. His truck wasn’t parked out front, no lights on inside, and the mail was still piling up in the mailbox.
I sighed.
“Can we go inside,” Caleb said. “Please?”
“I’m sorry, Caleb. We don’t have a key to get in.”
“Where’s Daddy?”
I wish I knew. I didn’t want to scare Caleb, so I kept my voice chipper and upbeat. “He’s just working, sweetheart.”
“With that mean man?”
My hackles were raised. I flipped around in my seat to look at Caleb. “What mean man, Caleb?” He was too little to go into specifics, so I wasn’t sure what I expected with my question.
“The man who yells a lot.”
“What did he yell, Caleb?”
Caleb seemed to think for a second but then shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Was this man angry at your daddy for something?”
“I don’t know,” he said again. “But he yelled at Daddy a lot.”
It could be nothing. It was probably nothing. Andy was a lawyer, he often made people mad. But he also had a case against the Russo’s, and since they’d come to Liberty, they’d been bad news. They tried to intimidate people into selling their property, which was worth millions, apparently. And when that hadn’t worked, they went as far as arson. Only one of the brothers was found guilty of that, however. The other - Lars Russo - insisted his brother had acted alone but no one actually bought that. They just couldn’t prove otherwise. And since Andy had a civil case against them, seeking damages to several properties around town, it seemed convenient that he might disappear.
I told myself to calm down, that I was getting ahead of myself. I’d read way too many mystery novels. Andy was prone to running off for days at a time. Sure, he’d usually call first, but anything was possible with him.
Something didn’t sit right with me still. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I pulled out of the driveway, wanting to get as far as I could from there as I could, just in case. I drove home and fed Caleb and put him to bed in Tabby’s room again.
I didn’t fall asleep on the couch, however. I decided it was high time to get the police involved. Too many things didn’t line up, and it made me nervous.
I called Teddy, the local sheriff, and he answered on the first ring.
“Hey, Teddy, this is Piper. I’m not really sure this means anything, but I haven’t heard from or seen my cousin Andy since he dropped his son off with me two days ago.”
“He’s not working or on another fishing trip?”
“Maybe, but his voicemail box is full and he’s not even reading my texts.”
“He might have turned off the read receipts,” he suggested.
“I don’t think so,” I said with a little chuckle. “He told me he likes people to know he read their messages, even if he doesn’t answer.”
“Huh.” The sound was filled with meaning. Teddy wasn’t crazy about Andy either.
Plus—” I thought about what Caleb had told me. It might be nothing more than an angry client, but just in case, I decided to alert Teddy. “Plus, Caleb told me there was a man yelling at his dad the other day. I just have a bad feeling about all this.”
“I’ll file a report and start asking around.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing, but I’d appreciate it, Teddy. He usually at least calls me when he’s going to go MIA. I’m getting a little worried, and I can’t get into his house to get clothes for Caleb or anything.”
“You know this means I’ll have to alert social services, right?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I know.” I felt like someone was ripping my heart out. “I just want to do what’s best for Caleb. I wouldn’t have called if I wasn’t worried something might have happened. Just please let them know that he has family he can stay with. I don’t want him going into the system. There’s no need for it.”
“I understand. I’ll see what I can do,” Teddy said.
When I hung up the phone, I stared at it for a long time as if willing it to ring. I prayed this was all a misunderstanding, that Andy was just being a selfish prick. Caleb had already lost his mother, not that he remembered her. The idea of him being an orphan broke my heart. Andy might be a jerk, but he was still family - and he had a son that loved him.
I knew that if Teddy put in a call to Social Services, there was a chance I might lose Caleb. As the only family he had locally, outside of Tabby, I would try to get guardianship over him, but I wasn’t sure if I’d get it.
I sat there for a long time and nothing. I checked my texts to Andy again, hoping they’d show up as read, but no such luck.
Andy, you bastard, where are you?
Ooo0000ooo
I was up and starting my day when my phone rang. It was sitting by my purse, near the door, ready for me to grab on my way out. I’d just given Caleb some breakfast and had to run over to grab it before it went to voicemail. I hoped it was Andy. I didn’t even look at the number before answering, nearly out of breath.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Davis?” An unfamiliar voice was on the other end of the line. It was a woman, and I had a good idea what this was about.
“Yes, I’m Piper Davis. You’re calling about Caleb, I presume?”
“Ah, yes, you are correct. I’m Ashley Sutter with Child Protective Services. We got a report from your local sheriff that Andrew Davis, Caleb’s father, hasn’t picked his son up in a couple of days from daycare?”
“Well, yes, but I’m not just a daycare provider, I’m also Andy’s cousin, and I’ve watched Caleb for extended periods of time before.”
“I understand,” Ms. Sutter said. “We still need to check on Caleb and make sure he’s in a safe environment. I’m sure you understand.”
I understood it all too well. Ashley’s voice sounded friendly enough, but it didn’t erase my experiences with CPS in the past. After my mom died and my dad was left in a wheelchair, they’d come to check on us too. They put Tabby and me in a foster home for a couple of days, which was easily one of the worst experiences of my entire life. I wanted to make sure the same didn’t happen to Caleb.
Ashley went over the procedure and said they’d want to meet with Caleb and me to talk about the situation and to determine the best placement for Caleb. They’d also want to look at my home to make sure I was properly set up to take him in, if I decided to keep him.
“Of course, I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I just want Caleb to stay with family, if at all possible.”
“Do you have any other family?”
“No,” I answered. “I mean, not locally. None that we’re close to. We have some distant relatives, an aunt and some cousins that live in Las Vegas, but I haven’t heard from them in years, and I’m not even sure they know Caleb exists.”
“Very well. We’ll be by later today.”
I set up a time to meet with them, told them to come by the daycare since I’d be working. They would then come by the house later that evening. They were working fast, giving me little time to prep
are. I knew I wanted Caleb to stay with me, but beyond that, I wasn’t sure what it would mean for any of us.
I looked over at the little boy chowing down on his cereal. He was oblivious to everything going on. His father would often be gone for days at a time, so this wasn’t that weird to him. He had no idea that if things didn’t go well, he could be ripped from the only family he knew. His entire world could be tossed upside down in a matter of hours if I screwed this up.
Chapter 5
Grant
I had no intention of going to the daycare when I woke up that morning. Leah needed some things done at the hotel, so I figured I’d spend my day there. It would keep me busy, and as far as I knew, there was nothing more for me to do at Piper’s place. However, my plans changed when I pulled into the driveway shared by both.
I saw an unfamiliar car pull up and park, and a woman I didn’t recognize got out dressed in a skirt suit. She didn’t have any kids with her, and her outfit as well as her demeanor made her seem official. Curiosity got the best of me. I was worried something might have happened; maybe some random inspection or a complaint from a parent.
I followed the official-looking woman into the daycare, grabbing the door and holding it for her. She offered me a tired smile.
“Thank you,” she said, stepping inside.
I nodded and followed behind her.
Piper greeted the woman at the door, her gaze flicking to me briefly. There was something in her look, an unease that didn’t sit well with me. She smiled politely at me, but her focus was on the woman, not surprisingly.
“You must be Ms. Sutter,” Piper said, reaching her hand out. “I’m Piper Davis, and Caleb is right over here.”
I didn’t want to eavesdrop, especially since it had to deal with a family matter apparently - not a business one - and walked past them, heading toward the back exit that led into the hotel.
Junior For The Mountain Man Page 3