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Single Daddy’s Valentine
A Small Town Fake Fiance Romance
By: Amanda Horton
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Details can be found at the end of the story.
Chapter One
Lana
The scream was loud enough to be heard at the back of mom and dad’s small cottage on the edge of the Dawson Farm estate. I dropped the clothes I was folding into the laundry basket and ran out the back door and across the dirt track, rutted and uneven from heavy machinery chopping deep grooves into the surface.
By the time I made it to the front door of the farmhouse I recognized the screams. Mom! Picking up the pace, I ran inside and looked around desperately.
“Mom? What’s happened? Where are you?”
The screams quietened to loud, gulping sobs. They seemed to be coming from upstairs.
“Lana! It’s Charlie! Go get your father!”
I ran up the stairs. Mom had collapsed on the floor beside Charlie’s bed. Stepping closer, I could see that Charlie’s skin was grey and lifeless. His lips were blue.
I knelt down on the floor and threw my arms around mom. She sobbed against me, her whole body shaking with shock.
Thirty minutes later a doctor confirmed that Charlie had passed in his sleep. Mom was inconsolable. Dad handled the doctor while I led mom back to our house. I sat her down at the small table in the kitchen and set to work making tea.
My hands shook as I poured the piping hot water into the mugs. It was hard to believe that Charlie was gone.
Dad arrived and sat down at the table beside mom. I passed him a mug of strong tea and he nodded in appreciation. The color had drained from his face and his brows were furrowed at the realization he had lost his long-time employer and friend.
I sipped my tea and watched as dad consoled mom. He had his arm around her, rocking her gently, just like the way he had rocked me when Kyle had passed. I pushed the memories of that day out of my head. It was too painful.
“I called Matt,” dad said quietly, looking up at me.
I frowned. “How did he take it?”
Dad shrugged. “Hard to tell really.”
Matt Dawson always had been hard to figure out. Charlie Dawson’s younger son was twenty eight – the same age as me, a diehard firebrand, and prone to being ornery just for the sake of it. I hadn’t seen him for a while. I racked my memory trying to think of when I saw him last. At least a few months ago, after another huge falling out with his father.
Charlie Dawson had two sons: Matt, and Gabriel. I had to go further back in my memory to think of the last time I had seen Gabriel. He was a few years older than me which would make him thirty one by my calculations, and had left South Dakota about four years ago after his wife walked out on him and their baby.
I remembered him being so heartbroken that he had scooped up little Louie and went across to Washington DC to work and live. As far as I could see, Charlie was heartbroken that his eldest son and grandson had moved away, but I knew he understood Gabriel’s reasoning.
Charlie was good like that. In fact, he was an all-round good guy. Matt and Gabriel’s mom had died when they were young, and Charlie just got on with the business of keeping the farm afloat and bringing up his two boys as best he could. We moved into the cottage on the vast farm estate when Charlie had hired dad to be his farm manager, and mom to help with the housekeeping. He treated us more like family, and I had many happy years growing up with the boys around the farm.
It was hard to accept that he was gone.
Mom went to the bathroom to wash her face. I cleaned the cups and sat down beside dad on the couch. He put his arm round me and let out a puff of air. I knew he was barely keeping it together for mom’s sake. I patted his knee.
“It’s a funny old world, baby. Charlie looked right as rain yesterday when he was talking about moving the cows up to the back field.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“I know papa. I’m gonna miss him so much.”
The back door flew open and banged against the wall. Dad jumped to his feet and headed towards the kitchen. I followed him, wondering who would have the nerve to barge into the house without knocking.
Mom came out of the bathroom at the same time, drying her hands with an old towel. She was confronted with Matt Dawson standing in the middle of the kitchen, a thunderous look on his face. Mom moved closer to him, her arms out as though to embrace him.
“Oh Matt! It’s dreadful! I can’t believe it!”
Matt grabbed mom’s wrists and pushed her away from him.
“Get off me!”
Mom yelped in surprise, then went in to try another embrace. The look he sank her with was enough for dad to put his hand out to stop her.
“Hello son,” dad began.
“I’m not your fuckin’ son, Julio.”
Dad backed away, holding his hands out to placate the six foot hulk of anger standing in front of him. “Okay, okay. Why don’t you come in and sit down. It’s a shock, I know. For all of us.”
“How could you have let this happen?” Matt spat at mom. “You should have been at the house earlier. Maybe, if you had been doing your job properly, you would have found him before it was too late.”
Mom recoiled and burst into tears. Dad just stood and looked incredulous. I watched Matt standing there in front of my parents, looking like he was ready to kill them, and I snapped.
“Hey! That’s enough.”
Matt swiveled to look at me. His grey eyes bored into me like he wanted to pin me to the wall and squish me like a bug. I could feel the anger radiating off him. He took a few steps towards me. I held my ground.
“What the hell are you still doing here?” He demanded.
I shook my head in disbelief. “What? I live here. What has this got to do with anything?”
“Matty, please. Come in and sit down. I know you’re hurting. We’re all hurting.” Mom took another step towards him, trying to calm him down. He ignored her and continued to stare at me.
“Why are you all hurting? You’re just the hired help.”
Mom gasped and my dad lunged towards Matt, now barely able to contain his anger at the way Charlie’s son was behaving.
Matt’s neck snapped to the side as my hand connected to his cheek. His hand flew up to his face and he stumbled against the table.
“How dare you, Matthew Dawson! How dare you come into my parents’ house and treat them like this. Your father was like family to us. We’re all just as shocked and upset as you. There was nothing mom could do. In fact, the doctor said that your dad died at around one this morning. How could you possibly expect her to have done anything to save him?”
Matt turned to look at me, his face ashen, tears forming in his eyes. “You slapped me!” He said incredulously.
Dad shook his head at me, as though trying to get me to back down. I pushed my shoulders back and jutted my chin up. “You deserved it. You were being an asshole.”
Suddenly the anger dissipated, and Matt slid to the floor with a bump. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands. Mom and dad a
nd I stood staring at each other, not entirely sure what to do. Gone was the angry bull ready to smash everything, replaced with the vulnerable, overwrought Matt that I knew as a teen.
Mom wiped away her tears and began the process of putting on the kettle to make tea. Dad nodded to me and placed his hand on Matt’s back.
“Come on Matt. Let’s get you a comfortable seat.”
Matt allowed my father to help him up and guide him to the living room. He slumped down on the couch and seemed to close in on himself. We silently moved around him and set out the tea. Mom occasionally gasped in pain as she wiped away her tears.
We drank our tea and dad made suggestions to set up Matt’s room in the main farmhouse so he could get some sleep.
I stood up and smiled down to mom. “I’ll go with him, get it all set up.”
Matt stood up and walked out into the cold air. I huffed a sigh at his continued rudeness, and indicated I would go. Before I left I overheard mom telling dad that he should call Gabriel. I wondered what his reaction would be to his father passing, as I followed Matt into the crisp, January cold.
He walked several steps in front of me towards the farmhouse. He reached the front door and turned to block my way.
“It’s okay. I can sort myself out.”
“Are you sure?”
He dragged his hand through his unruly dark curls. “Yeah. I just want to be on my own.”
I smiled gently at him. “Okay Matt,” and turned to go.
He was about to go into the house when I turned back. “One thing.”
He frowned at me. “What?”
“I know you’re grieving right now, so I’ll give you a pass. But if you ever treat my parents like that again, I swear to God, Matthew Dawson, you’ll wish you’d never been born.”
His jaw went slack. I waited on his response. None came. Then he nodded and went inside the house, closing the door behind him.
Chapter Two
Gabe
The drive out from Clark County Airport felt like the longest drive ever, after the longest flight ever. I checked in the rearview mirror. Louie was looking out of the car window, mesmerized by the passing scenery.
“You okay, bud?” I turned my attention back to the road.
“Yes Daddy. Are we nearly at Gramps’ house yet?”
“Five minutes and we’ll be there.”
Louie didn’t really understand what was going on, but he was happy to be going on a trip with me. I couldn’t really expect him to get it, considering he was only five years old.
I felt dog tired. We had traveled all through the night after booking a last minute seat on the red eye from Washington DC. All I wanted to do was get to the farm and find out what was going on.
Dad was dead. It didn’t seem real. We had only been talking on the phone a couple of days ago about him coming over to DC to visit. He knew I hated coming back home, hated the memories it brought up.
But there I was, driving towards the farm I grew up on, knowing that the man who had loved me and brought me up was no longer there to greet me.
Louie yawned and stretched his arms and back. I smiled into the rearview mirror at him. “You look beat, pal. You ready for some zee-time?”
“Sure am, daddy,” he replied through an even bigger yawn.
Stifling my own yawn, I indicated to turn off the main road and turned left on to the long sliver of road that led to our farm. The trees on either side met in the middle to form a canopy, meshed together like a tunnel. I had a vague recollection of chasing my brother down the road with my water bazooka one summer. Back before he hit the terrible teens and changed overnight into a giant pain in my dad’s ass.
I passed the tiny cottage that the Torres family lived in and parked up outside the farmhouse. I sat for a moment, trying hard to collect my thoughts. I wiped the grime away from my eye and just sat there, staring out the window.
“Daddy, why are we just sitting in the car?”
Shaking my head, I tried to pull myself together, getting out of the car and opening the passenger door to help Louie out of his seat belt. He climbed out and placed his feet on the dusty track, toeing the deep groove in the muck with a curious look on his face.
“The road is all churned up from the big farm trucks. That’s why it’s not all flat like the big roads. You need to watch your feet when you’re out here so you don’t trip, okay?”
Louie took my hand and nodded, already turning the uneven surface into a balancing game.
“You finally made it!” A male voice called out.
I looked up and Julio and Marta were standing at the front door of the farmhouse. Marta smiled sadly and picked up Louie before pulling me into a hug. She buried her face in my shoulder, tears staining my grey sweater.
“Hi Marta! Hi Julio! Is Lanabear here?” Louie looked around to see if he could see his friend.
Lana appeared at the door. “Is that my Louie monster?” She took him off her mom and whipped him round in a circle before hugging him tight then placing him on the ground.
I couldn’t help but smile at Louie holding on to Lana and telling her all about his adventure on the plane. I was surprised he even remembered Lana. He only met her once when he was two, on a rare trip home to see dad. She must have left a big impression on him. Looking at her now, it wasn’t hard to see why Louie was so entranced with her. She had a warmth about her, and her wide smile was enough to light up the darkest day. I suddenly felt a little more at ease.
The Torres family ushered me inside the farmhouse and sat us down while Marta busied about putting some lunch together. Julio and Lana sat across from me.
“I don’t even know how to begin…” Julio tailed off. Lana put her hand on his knee to comfort her father. “Charlie was fine earlier in the day. In a good mood, even.”
“It must have been a terrible shock for Marta, finding him like that.”
Julio nodded.
Lana frowned in sadness. “I’m so sorry Gabriel,” she whispered softly. Her dark eyes shimmered with tears which she quickly wiped away with the sleeve of her red sweater. I found myself staring at her, halfway drowned in her eyes. Suddenly aware I was making her uncomfortable, I cleared my throat and looked away.
The Torres family arrived at our farm not long after my mom died when I was about eight. I resented the intrusion at first, with Marta busying around us all the time, and Lana poking her nose into everything I did. But the love and laughter the Torres family brought into our lives soon wormed its way into my resentful heart. Marta bribed me with cookies, and Julio enjoyed spending time with me when dad was busy or out of town.
I even got used to Lana. She was the same age as my brother, but it was always me and Lana against Matt when we played together. I remembered her mass of black curls bouncing about wildly as we would run away from Matt to hide. And the evil grin she had as she ran round and round the big oak tree, tying my brother up with a seemingly endless length of rope.
I stole another glance at her, to find the same bright almond shaped eyes, sharp with intelligence and fire, staring back at me. The fire had in her eyes had dampened a little over the years, I knew that, and the wild hair had been tamed into luscious waves. Dad had told me that she had never been the same after her fiancé Kyle died. There was always an air of sadness around her.
Again, that familiar sense of comfort washed over me at seeing her once more. I could feel my cheeks growing warmer as I realized I was being weird again.
Marta placed a plate heaped with sandwiches on the coffee table. Louie and I were both famished, so we dug in. For once I didn’t rag Louie about leaving his crusts. I figured I could let him get away with it for one day. For this day.
Damn. Dad was gone. He wasn’t going to come down the stairs and ruffle Louie’s hair. He wasn’t going to pull me into one of his legendary bear hugs.
My eyes were wet with the tears that had been building up all night. It felt like it all hit me at once. I looked up through blurred eyes and saw
Lana crouching in front of me. She had seen the dam break and moved quickly to comfort me. A small hand wound its way under my elbow and on to my forearm. I looked down at Louie’s tiny hand and damn near lost it again.
“You finally bothered to show up.” The voice boomed from the open staircase leading up to the bedrooms. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I hadn’t even thought to ask where Matt was. There he was, standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking pissed as hell. He was wearing a crumpled and faded black shirt, and his curly hair was plastered to the side of his head, as though he had just woken up.
I stood up stiffly and walked towards him, arms open for an embrace. He stood stock still, his arms folded over his chest. No brotherly love there.
“We got on the first flight we could after Julio called.” Matt pursed his lips as though conceding a small point. I sighed. I was bone tired and I didn’t want to have to deal with Matt’s usual petty behavior. “Louie, come and give uncle Matt a hug.”
Louie looked at me, his little face crumpling in a mixture of bewilderment and fear. Lana nudged him gently forward. Matt seemed to snap out of his sulk and gave Louie a half smile.
“It’s okay little man. You don’t have to hug me if you don’t want.”
Louie’s eyes opened wide and he broke into a huge smile. “Uncle Matt, we came all the way from Washington DC to see you and gramps!” He barreled towards Matt, who winced at the mention of dad, but bent down to embrace his nephew anyway.
“I missed you kiddo,” Matt said, and for a moment I believed he was being genuine.
However, when Matt looked at me again, all I got was cold disapproval and years of resentment on blast from his narrowed eyes.
Tears were threatening again, so I looked away and caught Lana’s eye. The warmth radiating from her just about undid me. She seemed to understand, and nodded her head in solidarity. It was all I could do not to run towards her and bury my head in her chest.
Single Daddy's Valentine: (A Small Town Fake Fiancee Romance) Page 1