Daddy Mine

by Shanna Handel

  As he made his way to his truck, he slipped two twenties into the cup holder of her little red car, same routine as always. A flyer on the passenger seat caught his eye. “Annual Dom/sub masquerade ball.” There was a picture of a black leather clad woman on the front, her face covered in a feathery mask. Wes chuckled to himself. Maybe he would finally take Jess up on her offer. Jessica was right. Wes needed to get off the ranch once in a while. He folded the flyer and put it into his pocket.

  Wes spent the rest of the day running errands in town. He hit the local feed store and filled up the bed of his truck with food for the animals. He stopped by the bank; he filled his tank with gas. Anything to avoid the ranch and its latest female inhabitant.

  Stopping in the Burger Barn, Wes ordered an early dinner. There was no way in hell he was sitting through a meal with Carrie and Gare tonight; that would be unbearable. Several women complimented his haircut, a few batting eyes at him as they did. “Like a daddy,” rang through his head nonstop as each woman showered him with attention.

  As painful as today had been, he was grateful for the confirmation of what he was looking for in life and for Jessica’s insight into his psyche. He picked at his food as he came to the gripping realization that he would rather remain single, a lifelong bachelor, than to settle for anything less than his heart’s true desire. His limited interaction with Carrie and the talk with Jess made this crushing reality hit him like a ton of bricks. He was never going to find ‘the one,’ and he was not going to be able to settle.

  He stood, defeated, throwing his meal in the trash, flinching at the waste. He couldn’t eat, and he couldn’t avoid the ranch forever. Duty calls.

  Wes spent the rest of his evening completing chores, going to bed well after his usual time. Again, he heard Gare slipping out of his room and Carrie’s giggling. She was much louder than the night before and Wes couldn’t help but feel the giggling was payback, aimed at him. He pulled the pillow over his head, put on music and let his favorite country tunes lull him to sleep.

  After drinking coffee underneath the rising sun, Wes went to the barn, finding the doors open once more. This time his heart sang and sank. Carrie stood there, same jeans and blouse as yesterday, her long golden curls hanging in a girlish ponytail. Garrett stood beside her. He was wearing dark jeans and a tight suit jacket over a tee shirt, his dark hair artfully tousled. The clothing looked ridiculous to Wes; he preferred the sturdiness of his old Wranglers and flannel shirts. Even in the outlandish getup, the sight of the couple standing together in the morning light depressed him. They made a breathtaking pair.

  “There you are, brother. We missed you yesterday.” Garrett raised a curious eyebrow to Wes, quickly moving on when he realized Wes would not be offering an explanation. “Nice haircut. Jessica’s handiwork?” Wes detected a hint of teasing in Gare’s voice.

  “Yes, Jessica.” He avoided Carrie’s heated gaze as he ran his fingers through the stylish hack job. “Turns out you were right about one thing, finally, I did need a haircut,” Wes jibed, halfheartedly.

  “I hate it.”

  Wes looked up, in the direction of the small voice, shocked, and saw his brother’s face matched his own.

  Garrett laughed, “Karen, when did you start liking the shaggy, homeless look?” He wrapped his arm around her.

  “I liked it long. It suited him.” She spat the words out angrily. “Now he looks like he’s trying to be something he’s not.”

  “Damn. All right, Wes, grow it out. Sorry I made the recommendation.” Garrett joked, beginning to sense the tension that ran like a tight band between Carrie and Wes.

  “Quite all right, Gare. I happen to like it long as well, maybe your girl is right. I am sure Carrie has never attempted to be something she is not.”

  Garrett looked confused. “Carrie, when did you start going by Carrie?” He had apparently forgotten she had ever even introduced herself to him as such.

  Garrett looked to his girlfriend for an explanation, but Carrie looked down, blushing, avoiding his gaze.

  “It’s just what they call me at home,” she mumbled.

  “Carrie, it’s cute. I’ll call you that too, while we are here. When we get back to the city, you’d better go back to being Karen though, or they won’t take you seriously.” He kissed the top of her head.

  Wes hated the sound of Garrett calling Carrie by her family name. The sweet sound seemed wrong on his slick Wall Street tongue. Carrie looked at Wes, her eyes burning.

  “You two seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. I want you guys to spend some time together. Wes, you and Karen, I mean, Carrie,” his eyes twinkled, “get to know each other. I told her you would take her riding today.”

  “I’d love to brother, but I’ve got a full day ahead of me. Can’t you take her?”

  Carrie narrowed her eyes at Wes.

  “I got a call late last night, and they are in need of my help. A few issues with one of our bigger stockholders has come up. I need to get to a reliable internet connection.”

  Internet service was an issue, not only at the ranch but in town too. Phones worked fine, but anyone who needed to work on a computer had to go to Clinton. Garrett was going to be gone for the full day, leaving Wes as his girlfriend’s babysitter.

  “Do us a solid, Wes.” Garrett flashed his white smile, and Wes relented. He had never been able to say ‘no’ to his younger brother. He gave the nod.

  Garrett grabbed Carrie in his arms and kissed her. Wes looked away.

  “Miss you.”

  “Miss you more,” she said sappily in her Southern drawl.

  He came over to Wes. “Thanks, man, I appreciate it.” He gave Wes a slap on the shoulder. “Take good care of my girl,” he said, over his shoulder as he headed out of the barn.

  As soon as Garrett was out of site, Wes hissed, “What the hell was that?”

  Her eyes stung with tears of what looked like rage, but somehow, she managed to whisper, “That, was what you get when you walk out on a girl that told you a secret about herself.”

  “The ‘daddy’ thing?’

  “Yes, the ‘daddy thing,’ you idiot.” She stamped away to Mabel’s stall and stroked the horse's soft hair.

  Struck by guilt, shame, and the desire to spank the hell out of this infuriating girl, Wes shook his head. He had to handle this situation delicately. He knew that he was in the wrong, leaving Carrie like he had after she had said that magical word, ‘daddy.’ Wes would have hated it if Jessica had turned and fled on him when he had come clean about his true nature.

  He reached out and grabbed her arm, much more gently than the last time. Carrie refused to meet his eyes.

  “I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have left like that. I just felt guilty.”

  He could feel his words softening her. Wes knew his body was too close to her, but he couldn’t let go until he had Carrie’s forgiveness.

  After another moment of tense silence, her warm gaze finally met his. “And I shouldn’t have put you in that position, but for heaven’s sake, where do you get off threatening to spank a stranger. I can’t help what it triggered inside of me.”

  So, he had affected her as deeply as she had him. At least he could take solace in that fact. Her words made his heart beat faster, but he had to put it behind him and move on. He would take her riding and behave himself, after all, it was only one day.

  “Friends?” he asked, holding out a hand.

  She smiled an adorable grin. “Friends,” she said taking his hand.

  The electricity that surged through the handshake felt nothing like what passed between friends.

  They both startled when they heard a horn honking. Garrett was zipping down the drive in his sports car. They quickly took a step back from one another and waved back as he departed.

  He waited until the car was out of site, then caught her full attention. “Friendship truce or not, you should know, I meant what I said. If you so much as lay your rear on that horse for one second, it wi
ll be the last time you sit comfortably. Understand, little girl?” He growled the words at her.

  A shiver ran through her as she looked up at him through her thick, dark lashes. “I understand, Daddy.” She punctuated the word with a wink. A smile played at her lips. She was teasing him.

  Wes grinned. He would accept Carrie’s friendship, get to know her, and be happy for his brother. And if Carrie happened to put herself in danger, he would spank the hell out of her bottom. Nothing more, even if it killed him.

  Wes chose Chocolate Chip for Carrie to ride, not only because the horse matched her eyes, but because he was a very gentle horse. Wes had no idea what kind of rider Carrie was and didn’t want to put her in danger.

  Wes brought the horse around to the front of the building and handed Carrie the reins, then went back to the barn to get the saddle and gear for riding. Before he had time to turn around, Carrie had grabbed a handful of Chocolate’s mane, and in one fluid move, had thrown herself up on top of the barebacked horse.

  She looked down at Wes, proudly, a naughty glint in her eye. “Hiya!” she called, kicking her boots into Chocolate’s strong sides. At first, the horse was shocked, having not recently ridden, but seconds later, his memory returned. He took off, fast, towards the open pastures, Carrie leaning down by his neck, a huge grin on her face. She looked teasingly over her shoulder at Wes, and then she was gone.

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” A slow grin spread across his face. So, the little lady could raise some heck. Two could play at that game. Wes led Dipper out of his stall, he was a great Clydesdale and Wes’ favorite to ride bareback. He leaped onto the horse’s broad back and galloped after Carrie.

  Carrie was exhausted when they finally reached the creek bed. She walked plenty in the city each day but hadn’t ridden in ages. Her and Wes had spent several hours, exploring the five- hundred-acre ranch. Carrie found the history of The Lone Star Cattle Company fascinating. During the civil war, Wes great grandfather, Samuel, had somehow ended up in the small town of Poke. Despite dwindling resources, Poke had the task of supplying soldiers with horses for the Confederate forces. Samuel, a northern supporter was relieved when the brutal war was finally over.

  As the legend had it, Samuel had purchased the ranch for the price of an ivory handled buck knife, from a man that wanted nothing more than to go back East, and seemed eager to disappear. Samuel worked very stealthily every evening from dark till dawn. He had gathered a gangly crew of friends and together under cover of the night sky they supplied the ranch with horses, ‘reclaiming’ them for Texas.

  The horses, Samuel, his men and the oak saplings had all thrived their replanting, and The Lonestar Cattle Company pressed on through time. It was passed on through the generations, and now to Wes and Garrett, though Garrett had no interest in running the cattle ranch. It sounded as if Wes was trying to keep the emotion from his voice when he admitted to Carrie that he had no idea what the fate of the land and company would be if something were to happen to him.

  The tour included all of the places that held a legend, or as Wes referred to them, ‘tall’ tales. There was the abandoned well that was a hundred feet deep and had been dug by hand. The old bunkhouse still stood. It was the very place that Samuel and the other founders of The Lonestar Cattle Company spent their nights. Every year, Wes spent a full week repairing and winterizing the building.

  There were several rooms with working wood stoves in them, as well as the foreman's bedroom that had a stone fireplace. Instead of a modern kitchen, there was a cook’s room which was a large storage pantry that was attached to a lean to. Next to that was an outdoor kitchen where the cowman used to make beans in a huge cast iron pot over the fire, and bake sourdough biscuits in the stone oven. There was no electricity or running water, and though Wes had demoed the outhouse, the rest of the place was left back in time.

  Chocolate Chip, Carrie’s transportation for the tour, was a sweet and gentle horse, though a little slow for Carrie’s taste. Mabel was the one she wanted. Carrie was so distracted by the man she was riding next to though; it was probably a good thing she was riding on the slow and steady gelding.

  The creek bed was cool and dry against Carrie’s back. She lay, arms crossed beneath her head, dozing under the blue sky. White billows of clouds lazily went by overhead. She heard the horses move into the creek a bit, as they drank thirstily from the slowly moving water. A breeze blew over her rustling the grasses around her.

  Carrie peered out of one eye to watch Wes as he inspected one of Dipper’s hooves.

  Wes’ sandy curls, now much shorter, glinted in the sun. Carrie felt embarrassed now for saying she hated his hair, but it was true. The cowboy still looked as handsome as the devil himself, but there was just something so natural about that long wild hair on Wes. His muscles tightened underneath his shirt as he continued to work. He calmed the massive Clydesdale by humming a gentle melody to him as Wes extracted a small pebble. Carrie looked away. She had no idea what on earth she was doing here with this man. One thing Carrie was sure of, though, was that she felt like herself for the first time since the day she had left home for college.

  Closing both eyes, Carrie reminisced about that day. Packing up her belongings and going to New York City felt surreal then, and it still does. The first few months had been the hardest. She missed farm life terribly. The clean air, the front porch, the sweet tea, and the family gatherings.

  New York was exciting, vibrant, and busy. But the culture was so different from the slow-moving ways of the South, and Carrie was never sure how she fit in, if even at all. The first party Carrie attended outside of a barn was the one in which she had been rescued. And that rum punch, well, she had never told anyone, but that was her first taste of liquor. Thank goodness, Garrett had helped her that night. The two of them had been together ever since. Carrie was often trying to keep up with Garrett, he fit in perfectly with the social circles and city life, and she did feel love for him.

  Without hearing Wes approach, Carrie sensed his presence at her side. She remained still with her eyes closed as Wes lay beside her, leaving a respectful distance between them. The scent of hay, sunshine, and cedar made its way over to her. “Like a daddy,” danced through her thoughts.

  Knowing Wes lay beside her made Carrie feel vulnerable. Around him, she was a girl raised on a farm who had no business playing dress up in the city. Weak, like a little girl that needs a daddy to take care of her. But she had left the farm behind and was a city girl now. A big girl, all grown up with a classroom of her own. A woman, Garrett’s woman.

  Moments later she heard soft snores coming from her riding partner. Carrie turned to Wes and sat up on her elbow. The sunlight outlined the features of his rugged face; a slight golden haze sparkled on his chin. Wes was a hard-working man, running a ranch dawn till dusk, and still taking care of his mama like he did. Carrie felt an intense longing, for what she couldn’t say. Quietly scooting in towards Wes, Carrie laid her head on his shoulder. Without waking, Wes’ arm immediately wrapped tightly around her, pulling her into him. Feeling content, Carrie took a deep breath, then drifted off surrounded by the scent of cedar.

  Wes woke to a weight on his chest and a damp circle on his shirt. Coming out of his slumber and gathering his thoughts, he realized the weight was Carrie, curled up against him, and the dampness was a result of her mouth lying open in her deep slumber. He chuckled to himself.

  He stroked the golden curls that had come undone and spilled over him. Carrie stirred and made a soft mewing noise, then curled in further. Wes locked the feeling of her against him into his memory, then gently woke her.

  Carrie startled, looking surprised at where she was. Shyly wiping her mouth, her face flushed red with embarrassment. “Oh my, look what I did. I’m so sorry.”

  Wes chuckled softly. “It’s okay. We must have been beat.” He looked up at the sun as it faded into the rose-colored sky. “Carrie girl, we need to get moving.”

  Stretching and yawning, Carri
e stood up. Silently, they made their way over to the horses. The comfort they felt in one another’s presence was best left unsaid.

  Mama had dinner on the table when Wes and Carrie came in from feeding and watering the horses. Glazed ham, baked apples, corn, and biscuits with fresh butter greeted them.

  Wes locked eyes with Mama as he sat down at the head of the table. There was a look in Mama’s eyes that he couldn’t quite read and her face looked worried.

  “Garrett called while you two were out. He said that he would be working late into the night and had to get a hotel. He’s hoping to be back sometime tomorrow.”

  “Oh, I’ll give him a call after supper.” Carrie daintily took a bite of baked apples.

  “Carrie, honey, Garrett said he wouldn’t be available till late in the night and wants you to get some rest, dear.” Mama busied herself serving up food. “Ham anyone?”

  “Oh.” Carrie looked unsettled. Garrett often worked late nights, and she was used to it. It felt different when it was in his hometown though. This wasn’t Wall Street.

  Wes kept his attention on his plate, eating silently while Ma and Carrie chatted about their ranch tour. She left out the part about snuggled deep into him and them sleeping together under the setting sun of the creek bed. Carrie snuck a glance at Wes when Mama got up to refill the water pitcher in the kitchen. Wes gave her a smile and a small wink, then went back to his meal. He knew he only had a few more hours to enjoy her company before Garrett was back and the realization was setting in.

  After dinner, Ma found Wes and pulled him aside. “I’m worried about Garrett. He sounded a little funny when he called.”

  Wes looked down into his ma’s anxious face. “Funny, as in, drunk, Ma?”

  She looked away and nodded her head. “I hope he isn’t up to anything shameful. You give him a call and set him straight.” She put a hand on Wes’ shoulder. “And Wes,” Mama’s look was as sincere as the message behind her cornflower blue eyes as she said, “be careful.”