Their Strict Daddies

by Shelly Douglas

  “Look at me, Christina Hope,” he said in a firm, authoritative tone, stooping to her level.

  Gradually, she rolled over again and met his eyes. In the moonlight they appeared darker than usual, but there was also a mix of excitement in them. Cocking his head to the side, the corners of his lips curved upward. “It’s all starting to make sense, now. The mysterious phone calls to the house, referring to our neighbor as creepy, and last, but certainly not least, your frightening caller at the pool.”

  “You aren’t thinking clearly, Max…”

  “What’s next, Christina? Are you going to trip off the alarm in the middle of the night, causing poor Lizzy to have a heart attack? I find it odd how quick you were to trust John Peterman.”

  “Okay, fine! Let’s do this now!” Throwing the covers off, she sat up and faced him. “When the first call came in, we were together, remember?”

  “Not the entire time,” he corrected, pointing upward. “Remember, you were standing in the corner for a few minutes when I went to the bathroom.”

  “Okay, but Becca took the second call and said it was a man.” She stared at him, cocking an eyebrow. “Have I ever sounded masculine?”

  “We both know they have apps to change voice tones, and you easily could’ve called your cell phone with a burner at the pool. After all, you were alone in the backyard for a couple of hours.”

  “Was I also standing outside Lizzy and Peter’s sliding glass door at two in the morning?” she asked sarcastically, crossing her arms.

  He angled his head in her direction. “I was fast asleep at the time. I’m not a light sleeper like you are.”

  Chrissy let out a deep sigh in exasperation. “It’s actually a compliment to me that you think I’m so clever, and I hate to burst your bubble, but…”

  Max leaned his forehead onto hers. “Speaking of buts, if you’re responsible for all the craziness around here, you won’t be sitting on your delicate behind for a very long time,” he said, his fiery eyes burning into her bright blue ones.

  At that moment, the loud, piercing shrill of their security alarm sounded, sending Chrissy flying into his arms. “Oh, my God, Max, someone just broke into the house!”

  * * *

  As the blaring siren continued to shriek its warning, Max walked out of his bedroom door to find Josh standing in the hall. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to check this out,” he said. “Where in the hell is Peter?”

  “He’s coming.” Lizzy stood in the doorway of their bedroom, glancing behind her.

  “I want all the girls in one room behind a locked door!” Max directed, pointing a finger at each frightened female face. “The security company is supposed to alert the police immediately, and I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”

  “We’ll come get you as soon as they do,” Josh promised.

  Peter followed behind, throwing on a T-shirt. “I’m right behind you guys.”

  As they approached the open front door, the sound of the alarm eerily reverberated, and the three men watched the flashing lights of the oncoming police car stop in front of the house. Two officers quickly emerged from their vehicle as Max turned off the alarm. Josh and Peter vigilantly stood together at the entrance with their arms crossed.

  “The alarm sounded and we rushed to find this door open,” Max informed one of the officers. “It was pretty obvious that whoever broke in ran quickly after hearing the noise.”

  “We’ll check around back for you. Are all the entrances to this house wired?” he asked, looking to each man for an answer.

  “Yes, but we instinctively ran to the front door first…” Max answered quickly.

  “We’ll check around back anyway.”

  As the officers walked away, Josh stepped forward and looked outside into the darkness. “There isn’t a light on next door at our new friend’s house.”

  “He’d have to be deaf to sleep through that noise,” Peter noted, standing beside him.

  As the officers came back toward the house, Max raised a brow. “I plan to tell them exactly what’s been going on here,” he said quietly to Josh and Peter. “Please come in,” he called out, inviting the officers into the house.

  “Whoever managed to get this door open was obviously scared when the alarm sounded and ran,” one of the officers commented, glancing at his partner. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to look around.”

  “Of course,” Max agreed, stepping aside. “To be safe, our wives are together in one of the bedrooms. I’ll go let them know that you’re here and it’s okay to come out.”

  * * *

  “I don’t think any of us are going to sleep tonight,” Chrissy said to the officers as they prepared to leave.

  “It doesn’t look like the lock was damaged at all, but the owner should definitely think about replacing it. My guess is that either someone forgot to secure the door, or you had an experienced burglar.” Leaning forward, he spoke directly to Max. “And since this wasn’t the first mysterious occurrence around here, please let us know if anything else strange happens.”

  “Of course, officers, we’ll do that,” Max said, offering his hand to shake theirs. “And thanks for coming so quickly.”

  “Don’t forget to put your alarm back on as soon as we leave,” the officer reminded.

  “We will—goodnight,” Josh commented, yawning.

  “I think it’s actually morning, Josh. Jesus, what time is it?” Lizzy asked, sitting on the couch. “Should we just start drinking coffee now and stay up, or try to go back to sleep?”

  “It’s four in the morning, and I’m voting for a strong cup of coffee,” Chrissy said, glancing at Max for a response.

  “Before you put on a pot, I think a public apology is in order right about now.”

  “Max, you don’t need to do this.”

  “Yes, I do, Chrissy,” he said, guiding her over to the black leather loveseat. All eyes darted back and forth between the two of them as he opened his mouth to speak. “I’ve been up most of the night, trying to figure out who would want to cause such a ruckus on our little writing retreat…”

  “And what did you come up with?” Becca asked with a tilt of her head, sitting across the room on the matching leather recliner.

  “Believe it or not, I thought it was Chrissy.”

  “Are you serious, Max? I don’t understand,” Josh interrupted.

  “Probably for the same reason Becca accused you at one of our meetings not long ago,” Lizzy said to Max with a smirk. “This would give our head writer a real mystery to insert into the story. It made perfect sense to me.” She angled her head toward Josh and shrugged.

  “Rebecca Sue Levy!” Josh scolded. “The man invites you to co-author a book and this is how you treat him? Why didn’t I hear about this before?”

  “Neither did I,” Peter chimed in with a scowl, joining Lizzy on the couch.

  “Calm down, calm down, you guys. I’m obviously in no position to throw stones, which is exactly why I’m asking for my wife’s forgiveness publicly,” Max stated, cupping her chin in his hand. “I was wrong, Chrissy. Can you forgive me?”

  She nodded, putting her arms around his neck. “Already done, Max.”

  “The thought of you actually pulling this off was impressive, but your delicate bare bottom would’ve been strapped for attempting such a stunt,” he commented with a crooked smile.

  “I can’t believe you were all suspecting each other. What about John from next door? I didn’t want to say anything in front of the police, but does anyone still think he could be responsible? I mean, there’s now going to be a formal police report filed…” Josh rubbed the dark stubble on his unshaven face.

  Looking at her husband, Becca interrupted, “Do you really think it could be him? Now that we know our neighbor a little better, what could his motive for wanting to scare us be? It just doesn’t make any sense…”

  “Is there any possibility of cutting this vacation short? I’m really not comfortable staying here
anymore. Could we finish this book from home, Max?” Lizzy asked, slinking down into Peter’s large arms.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “What could his motive for wanting to scare us be?” Giggling, Lizzy cupped a hand over her mouth. “Jesus, Becca, you were hilarious.”

  “Not as dramatic as you, kiddo,” she said with both hands holding her face. “Could we finish this book from home?” Becca mocked in a Minnie Mouse voice. “You really missed your calling as an actress. I’m calling Disney in the morning.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m definitely Martin Scorsese material,” Lizzy bragged, batting her eyelashes.

  “Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go home at this point. I mean, now that the police are involved…”

  “Oh, my God, you’re not backing out on me…”

  “Well, it was your bonehead idea to trip the security alarm. It was an extremely risky move, although I am impressed you were able to pull it off,” Becca marveled. “How did you know Peter would go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?”

  “He always does. I just got lucky that he stayed in there long enough for me to run downstairs, open the front door, and make it back to our bed.”

  “Do you have anything to eat in here? It’s after five and I’m starving,” Becca said, heading over to check Lizzy’s drawers. “You seem like the type that would hoard candy bars underneath your finest lace lingerie.” She stopped at the tall chest and pulled the top drawer open. “Oh, my God, are you crazy, storing this toy in here?”

  “You’re such a chicken shit. Peter has never looked in my panty drawer,” she responded, taking the voice-changing apparatus away from her friend. “What did you expect me to do with it? Throw it in the kitchen garbage with the lamb chop bones?”

  “I certainly didn’t expect you to hold on to the evidence. Why in the hell didn’t you just download the app on the burner phone?”

  She laughed, putting the toy back into her drawer. “Come on. We both know I’m a little challenged in the technical department. Maybe you should have taken care of that little detail, princess. And by the way, Miss Smarty Pants, nice move accusing Max,” she said facetiously. “What in the hell were you thinking?”

  “I thought it was a clever idea. Sorry, I didn’t check with you first, Lizzy, but we haven’t had much time alone.”

  “No problem. Hey, how lucky was it that our fan with the creepy eyes is living next door? I thought I was going to pee in my pants watching you shiver and shake at the restaurant when John approached us.” She paused for a moment and then continued, “But just for the record, I don’t know that involving the police was so smart. Will we get charged for them coming out to check on the call? Peter will have a fit if he finds out I’m responsible.”

  “I think tripping off the alarm will be the least of your problems. When Max finds out you masterminded this mystery, your sweet little tushy is going to be in big trouble.”

  “Knowing our head writer, I’m guessing it will be a bare tushy,” she corrected. “Still, I’m hoping not to get caught…”

  “But that would leave us with a cliffhanger. And you know the kind of reviews we’d get with that sort of ending.”

  “Come on, Rebecca Sue. Max will create a great ending, and I’m sure it will be a zinger.” Lizzy walked over to the mirror, pulling her thick, wavy hair back into a ponytail. “Remember, you’re in this too, my little friend. You’re not thinking of ratting me out, are you?” Lizzy asked, watching Becca’s nervous expression in the mirror’s reflection.

  “I’m a lot of things, but never a rat,” Becca assured her.

  “Since you are an accomplice, I’m thinking we need an agreement of silence. Pinky swear?”

  Becca smiled, locking fingers with her friend. “I can’t believe how much trouble we’ve gotten into because the guys don’t think we’re bonding with each other. They should only know we’ve been in cahoots for months.”

  “Too bad we can’t include Chrissy in on our little secret. I’ll bet she would love being on the inside!” Lizzy said, shrugging her shoulders.

  * * *

  Chrissy quietly opened the door to their bedroom and found Max sitting beside the large window, obviously mesmerized by the ocean view.

  “Daddy, can we talk?”

  “I always have time for my best girl,” he said, turning toward her. “Why the long face, kitten?”

  “Becca and Lizzy aren’t including me, again,” Chrissy whimpered.

  “Including you in what, sweetie?”

  “They were in Lizzy’s room giggling.”

  “Did you ask to join them?”

  “The door was locked, so I figured they didn’t want me.”

  “I wouldn’t give it much thought, they were probably just talking about the book. But if it will make you feel better, I’ll speak with Josh and Peter.” Reaching his arms out, Max pulled her onto his lap and hugged her tight. “Does this help?”

  “Nope.”

  “Is there something else you’re not telling me?” Max probed.

  Avoiding eye contact, Chrissy turned her head.

  “Come on now, tell me what’s really bothering you.”

  She shook her head fiercely.

  “You know I won’t force you, but you’ll feel better if you share…”

  “You’ll punish me for tattling.”

  “Maybe, but it depends…”

  Chrissy eyeballed Max defensively. “Depends on what?”

  “Well, it depends on what it is you want to tell me. If you intend to say something only with the purpose of getting someone else in trouble, then yes, there could be consequences. However, if you need to tell me something serious and troublesome, then you should always confide in me. Only you can decide which it is. Do you want a moment to think about it?”

  Chrissy eased her way off of Max’s lap and walked around the room to contemplate her next move. “Just so you know, my intention wasn’t to eavesdrop—I just wanted to play with them.”

  “Chrissy, whatever is going on obviously has you troubled. So for this one time, I’ll give you a free pass,” he said, raising his finger for emphasis. “You tell me what’s on your mind, and I promise not to be upset. Do we have a deal?”

  “You swear?”

  “Yes, I promise. Now please, let’s get off this merry-go-round,” he said, wrinkling his brow.

  Chrissy sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. “I guess when I rattled the doorknob to Lizzy’s room, they didn’t hear me. I was about to knock when I heard her say something to Becca like… nice move accusing Max. It wasn’t what she said, but the way she said it that seemed odd, so I put my ear to the door and listened.”

  Max leaned forward, his eyes focused on hers intently.

  Fumbling with her hands, she continued. “I heard Becca say to Lizzy, when Max finds out you masterminded this mystery, your sweet little tushy is going to be in big trouble.”

  “Are you certain?” Grabbing the chair arms, he pulled himself to a ramrod straight position.

  Chrissy bobbed her head up and down.

  “Go on, sweetie.”

  “They talked about how lucky it was that John is a fan, has a creepy way about him, and is living next door…”

  “I’m sure they were delighted. Is there more?”

  “Well, it was really hard to hear every word after that, but there was talk about tripping the alarm. Now they’re worried about the police getting involved.”

  “I think the police are going to be the least of their worries.” Max’s disappointment resonated in his voice.

  “After Becca said something about being in cahoots for months, I tiptoed away from the door and came straight here. I didn’t know what else to do. Did I do the right thing?”

  “Come over here and sit.” Max patted his lap.

  “Hey, you promised I wouldn’t be in trouble.”

  “You’re not in trouble, baby doll.”

  Still wary, Chrissy edged h
er way back over to Max who spread his arms out invitingly. Sitting down in his lap, she asked, “Are you alright, daddy?”

  “I will be in a minute after I think this through.”

  “Are Lizzy and Becca going to be punished?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I don’t want them to be in trouble because of me. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you.”

  “They aren’t in this mess because of you. Becca and Lizzy brought this upon themselves. There are always consequences for one’s own actions.”

  “All they wanted was to improve the book. And if you think back, it did make our vacation memorable, even though it was sometimes scary,” she defended.

  “Chrissy, loyalty is an admirable trait, and I’m glad you want to stick by your new friends, but…”

  “But, you’re going to make sure they’re disciplined anyway, aren’t you?”

  “What I’m going to do is talk with Josh and Peter tonight after you girls go to bed. Chrissy, you have to promise me that you’ll keep all of this between us. You can do that, can’t you?”

  She hesitated, scuffing her foot along the carpeting. “I guess.”

  “Are you guessing or promising?”

  “I promise, daddy.”

  * * *

  “It’s time for bed,” Josh said, taking the e-reader from Becca’s hands.

  “Can you sit with me for a while, daddy?”

  “Are you feeling okay, sweetie? You were extremely quiet at dinner, and now your face looks a little flushed.”

  She shrugged. “It’s been a long day.”

  He palmed her warm cheeks with both hands. “You know there’s a more scientific way to check your temperature.” Tapping her nose, he lifted one dark eyebrow.

  “You’re hilarious.” She rolled over onto her side, pretending to snore.

  “I wasn’t trying to be funny. If you’re sick, I need to know. If you’re just tired, that’s another story.”

  “I probably didn’t get enough sleep last night,” she mumbled along with a fake yawn.