Daddy Lessons

by Victoria Chancellor

  He wished Shawna were alive to ask. He wished he’d thought of her after driving away from his mother’s apartment nearly nine years ago. He was sorry Shawna was dead, but the truth was, she hadn’t meant much to him. He felt especially bad about that now, considering she’d had a child. Maybe his child, he thought, shaking his head.

  He knew nothing about children, except that they were frequently loud and often unruly. Just look at Eddie Wooten, who kept disobeying his mother and coming across the fence. Luke had no idea how to stop that child from indulging his fascination with the ponies and zebras. How in the world could he relate to an eight-year-old girl?

  Plus, this ranch was barely livable, except for the animals. Their barn was repaired, their fences secure. They had plenty of food and fresh water. But a human, a little girl? He didn’t know how to feed a child, much less bathe and dress one for school.

  He may be a father, but he was nowhere near being a dad.

  Luke pushed away his panic and continued reading. “You’ll need to get all this approved by a judge. I’ve already contacted the court here in Florida, since my parents are both dead and I don’t have any other relatives. I guess you’ll also want to meet Brittany. I’m hoping you can come to Florida right away.” Shawna’s brother, Andy Jacobs, gave his home and cell phone numbers and asked Luke to call him as soon as he got the letter. He closed by asking Luke not to waste time; the long-haul trucking job he’d taken started in a month and Brittany had nowhere else to go.

  If Luke didn’t claim his daughter, she’d become a ward of the state. A foster child. Unwanted. Deserted by the only two people who had cared for her.

  He wouldn’t let that happen. Not if she were really his child.

  Clutching the letter, Luke sat down on a desk chair that creaked in protest. Of all the things that could have happened to him, of all the twists and turns of his life, this was the most incredible.

  He’d never thought about having children. And if he ever did decide to, he certainly would have expected them far, far into the future. Not this month, on a ranch that was barely functional. Not a girl, for pity’s sake, and one already eight years old.

  He didn’t know what to do. Except that he would go to Florida to see her, and if she was indeed his daughter, he would claim her as his own.

  Paul, Shelby and Marlena burst through the door, laughing and chatting, bringing Luke back to the present. He placed the letter, printed side down, on the desk.

  “Say, we’re getting hungry. Is there a place to go out around here? Beer’s on me,” Paul said.

  “Shultze’s Roadhouse is on the state highway, just a couple of miles from here,” Luke replied, still seated. He glanced again at Brittany’s photo, leaning against the lamp. She resembled him, he realized. That’s why she’d seemed so familiar. She had his coloring and his eyes. Her mouth and wavy hair were Shawna’s.

  “Hey, who’s that?” Shelby asked.

  “She’s…that’s Brittany.”

  “Cute kid. A relative?”

  Luke looked up at his friends. They were completely out of place here in Ranger Springs, just as he was completely out of place as a father. But still, that’s what he was—most probably—and he’d darn well better get used to it.

  “She’s my daughter,” he said simply.

  “Oh. Oh, wow.” Marlena appeared almost as stunned as he felt. “I didn’t know you had a kid.”

  “A daughter. She’s eight.” He picked up the photo and stared at Brittany’s image again, a slow smile forming. “I didn’t know either, until today.” He got up from the chair and turned to Paul. “You guys go on without me. I have to get my ranch ready for a little girl.”

  “You sure?” Paul asked. “We could have a good time.”

  “I’m sure. It’s been good seeing you again, but things have changed.” He looked down at Brittany’s photo again, thinking about his ranch, his responsibilities, and his vow to live a quiet, low-key life. “Everything has changed.”

  AS SHE STOOD on her small balcony watching the sun set over the trees between her brother’s property and Luke Simon’s ranch, Kate mentally kicked herself for her earlier behavior. She’d come across as an incompetent mother for not keeping Eddie at home, not to mention a klutz as she stumbled out of the tree line and into Luke’s little party. They might even think she was a snoop, since she had been listening and watching a private rendezvous. To top it off, she’d offended the grasping Baywatch-like blonde who had almost gotten her hands on Eddie. Kate couldn’t believe that when she’d faced Luke Simon up close, her brain had just stopped working, unable to communicate anything intelligent to her mouth. How she had to have seemed to him and his visitors!

  Okay, so Luke Simon’s friends’ opinions of her shouldn’t matter all that much. But she really didn’t want to offend him, especially because Eddie consistently violated the neighborly boundaries. Having a child continually ignore his warnings, plus having that child’s mother invade his privacy, wasn’t any way to welcome a newcomer to town.

  Not that she should be a one-woman welcoming committee. She certainly wasn’t on par with the other women in his life. The blonde and the redhead were stunning. They might not be natural beauties, but they were gorgeous nonetheless. He probably knew plenty of Hollywood actors and actresses, and they were far removed from regular people in a small town—except her sister-in-law, Jodie, of course, who was both famous and beautiful.

  But Kate knew she was an ordinary-looking divorced mother, one who was barely coping on her own. The last thing—the very last thing—she should do was dwell on her unwilling fascination with their bad-boy neighbor.

  Okay, maybe now he appeared more like a cowboy than a biker, but he projected a devil-may-care persona that was completely foreign to her. She’d never known anyone like Luke Simon. She’d never dated anyone remotely as daring and attractive as him. She’d always gone for proper and dependable—and look how well that had turned out!—so why did she think of him so often?

  Probably because she was at the point in her life where she’d been forced to change. If Ed hadn’t misused his clients’ money and had an affair, she would have continued with the marriage, at least for Eddie’s sake. Her marriage to Ed hadn’t been even close to exciting in the last few years, but she’d grown accustomed to the blandness and the comfort. Now she was suddenly single and broke, over thirty and starting a new life, and why wouldn’t she be attracted to Luke Simon? He was, like a movie star or fictional character, compelling from afar. She had no intention of getting any closer than the boundary of his fence.

  With a sigh, Kate pushed away from the railing at the top of the stairs. The sun was setting, the day almost over, and she had to talk to Eddie about his behavior. She had to make him understand that fences were important barriers—for children and their mothers!

  AFTER PAUL, SHELBY and Marlena left the ranch for Shultze’s Roadhouse and to hopefully find a place to stay for the night, Luke got on the phone to check for flights into the Orlando area. Brittany lived in a small town nearby the theme-oriented center of Florida. He wondered if she liked Mickey and the gang, or if she cared more for the new characters he saw on television. Or if she liked video games or stuffed animals more, if she went to movies or would rather play outside.

  Maybe there were things kids did that he couldn’t even imagine. He knew nothing of those new MP3 players, for example, and could barely operate a computer. There wasn’t much of a need for high-tech skills in animal training and stunt work. He happily left that stuff to the business types who invested in horses or breeding stock and the movie special-effects folks.

  He picked up the phone and dialed his friend Hank, whose land adjoined Travis Whitaker’s to the west. Luke breathed a sigh of relief when Hank answered after the second ring.

  “Hank, it’s Luke.”

  “What’s up? You getting your zoo all settled in?”

  “Yeah, the animals are doing great. Something else has come up, though, and I need your h
elp.”

  “Sure, buddy. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m going to need some repairs and changes made to the house over here, and I’m going to need them fast. I don’t have any idea who to call.”

  “What’s the rush?”

  Luke ran a hand around his aching neck. The tension was getting to him. “I just got some news that changed my plans.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Apparently I have an eight-year-old daughter.”

  “Wow. How did that happen?”

  Luke chuckled. “The usual way. One man, one woman, faulty birth control.” He’d believed Shawna was on the pill when he’d revealed he had no protection. Now he wasn’t sure what to think.

  “Yeah, but why didn’t you know until now?”

  “Shawna was a friend of my mother. She assumed my last name was the same as my mother’s—Moretti—and telling her any different would have required an explanation of the worthless piece of—well, just say the man my mother thought she was madly in love with. So I kept quiet and figured I never would see or hear from Shawna again. And I didn’t.” Luke sighed. “I got a letter from her brother today, then I talked to him on the phone. Shawna died in a car accident recently and he’s been taking care of her daughter. Er, my daughter. He’s going to start a new job and can’t look after her any longer.”

  “Wow, that’s some story. You must have been shocked.”

  “Believe me, I was. I haven’t thought about Shawna, to tell you the truth. We only spent about a week together right after my mother died. She helped me sort through my mother’s things and we got close. Her brother said she tried to contact me, which I believe. Shawna was a nice woman.” He felt bad that she’d died, especially never getting to tell him the news that she’d gotten pregnant.

  “So, are you sure the girl is yours?”

  “Pretty sure. She looks a lot like me.”

  “Still, it might be a good idea to get some tests done.”

  “I will, once I go to Florida. I’ll check with her family doctor. I’m sure we can get it done there.”

  “Okay. Good thinking.” Luke heard Hank sigh. “So now you’re going to raise your daughter, if she’s really yours?”

  “Yes, I am.” Every time Luke looked at the photo, he became more convinced that Brittany was his child. “That’s why I need the house fixed up. I’ve repaired the barn and fences, but not the main house. It’s in pretty sad shape.”

  “Yeah, it is, which is why you got it cheap.”

  “Right. Personally, I’ve stayed in worse places, and at least the plumbing and electrical work, but I have to get it up to ‘little girl’ standards since I’ll have to be approved by the court to get custody of Brittany. And everything has to be done in a month.”

  “I see what you mean. Well, I can recommend Nate Branson, Jimmy Mack’s brother. He just moved back to town due to all the construction in the area. Gina Mae Summers, the Realtor, told me he does good work.”

  “I’m having trouble keeping up with all these folks. Jimmy Mack is…?”

  “Jimmy Mack Branson. The hardware store owner. We met him when you bought the supplies for the tack room.”

  “Oh, right.” Hank had taken him around the town and introduced him to a dozen people, but the ones he remembered most clearly were Kate Wooten and her son, hovered over by her brother Travis Whitaker. “Should I call Jimmy Mack to get in touch with his brother?”

  “Why don’t you call Gina? Her office number is listed, and you won’t be bothering her if you call late either, because she’s single.”

  “Single? Are you matchmaking? Because I’ve got to tell you, the last thing on my mind right now is women.” Well, any woman except Kate, who kept creeping into his thoughts despite her obvious caution—maybe even dislike—of him and his friends. “I’m not about to mess up my relationship with my daughter by dating any woman.”

  “Okay, I’m just trying to help.”

  “I’m going to book a flight to Florida so I can meet Brittany and get those tests done. Can I get you to check my place? I hired Carlos to help out, but some of the animals need medicine daily.”

  “Sure, leave me a list and I’ll take care of things.”

  “Thanks, Hank. It’s good to have a friend here.”

  “You’d have lots of friends if you’d let the folks around here get to know you.”

  If he was open and honest, people would soon realize his father was a multimillionaire who’d died and left most of his money to his legitimate family, but quite a healthy bequest to his bastard son, whom he’d never acknowledged in life. And once that fact was public, the persistent biographer, who was doing a tell-all book about Ronald Lucas Simon, would be in Ranger Springs faster than Luke could say “hell, no.”

  No, the best thing was to keep to himself. “Yeah, well, if they’re ‘friendly’ like my neighbor Travis Whitaker, I wouldn’t depend on them to ‘help’ me out at all.”

  “Travis just got the wrong idea about you when you first got into town,” Hank said.

  “Why? I’m not after his property or his wife.”

  “No, but she and his sister expressed some…curiosity when you pulled up to the café on your Harley.”

  “Oh, that.” He’d enjoyed the road trip from California to Texas, taking his time to see the deserts and small towns along the way, thinking about how his life was about to change. Little did he know that he’d be getting more than a variety of aging animals and 640 acres of land. “I still don’t understand what I’ve done to make him testy.”

  “He’s just protective. His sister Kate went through a messy divorce, and she’s having a hard time making ends meet, from what I’ve heard.”

  “You’re kidding! She looks like she’s always had money, always will.”

  “Travis and Kate’s mother was an actress and their father was wealthy—oil money out in West Texas. They didn’t do without much as kids, except maybe some stability at home, if you know what I mean.”

  Luke thought back to how he and his mother had struggled to pay the bills each month. They didn’t have much, but he knew he could always depend on her, so in a way, he’d had stability. What he didn’t have was a father—not that he’d really needed one. His mother, however, had loved Ronald Lucas Simon even though the SOB had never paid a dime of child support or expressed any interest in his illegitimate son. At least, not until recently. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

  “Well, I’ll let you go and make those phone calls. Give me a buzz when you’ve made your plans.”

  Luke ended the call and sat back in his desk chair. So, Kate wasn’t currently wealthy and her divorce had been messy. And she was curious about him. At least, according to Hank. Kate sure didn’t show it. Every time he’d seen her, she’d seemed perturbed by him, as if she’d like to turn up her nose and stalk away, but her manners were good to make such a scene.

  Big deal. Luke didn’t need friendly neighbors, and he certainly didn’t want to get tied up with a woman right now. Soon he’d have his daughter. They’d be just fine together, just as he and his mother had been just fine.

  But first, he needed to do two things: get in touch with Brittany’s uncle about the travel plans and make arrangements to fix up this house. He didn’t want to give the authorities any reason to keep him from being a father, especially when he wasn’t sure what court approval would involve.

  He’d never abandon his child as Ronald Simon had deserted him.

  With new resolve, he dialed Andy Jacobs in Florida, half hoping that Brittany would answer the phone so he could hear her voice for the first time, half dreading talking to her when he didn’t know what to say.

  The phone was answered on the third ring and Luke sighed in relief. “Hello, Mr. Jacobs. This is Luke Simon.” He took another deep breath. “I’m coming to Florida to see Brittany.”

  Chapter Three

  Kate had a substitute teaching assignment at the Ranger Springs Elementary School two days later. She was glad for the experience
and the money substituting provided, but the assignments threw her off balance because they usually called her around six o’clock in the morning. She always had to make sure her schedule coincided with Eddie’s, just in case she was teaching at the middle school or high school.

  Today, her feet hurt from chasing twenty second-graders around the classroom and playground and all she wanted to do was soak in the big bathtub for about an hour. Instead, she knew she’d have her hands full with Eddie because his class had taken a field trip to Cheryl Jacks’s petting zoo. He’d chatted nonstop since they’d gotten in the car to drive home. He loved animals so much. He wanted a dog, a cat, a hamster…or a zebra.

  “Bring your lunch bag and come on inside,” she told him as she parked the car.

  “I want to go outside to play.”

  “I know, and you can, but let me get settled in first. Since I taught today, I need to change clothes. And I bet you’d like some string cheese and apple slices.”

  “Ooookay,” he replied, reluctant resignation temporarily replacing his childish excitement. He dragged his already scuffed sneakers across the carpet as Kate headed for the kitchen.

  She fixed his snack and he asked if he could eat it outside, because maybe Aunt Jodie would bring baby Marsha out. Kate agreed, thankful for a little time to herself to freshen up. Still, she watched him to make sure he headed for their deck, not Luke Simon’s property.

  She prayed the talk she’d had with Eddie after his last transgression had finally sunk in. Besides the danger involved in running off, she’d been acutely embarrassed when she’d popped out of the trees and surprised Luke and his guests. She didn’t want to be in that situation again.

  In her bathroom, she stripped off her school-teacher clothes and threw them into the hamper. She had a smear of tempura paint on her denim skirt and a spot of ketchup on her flower-embroidered pull-over. Hopefully, both stains would come out in the wash, but at the moment, she couldn’t work up much energy for prespotting.