She unbuckled Lily, leaving everything else, including her purse, the new coat and second-hand shoes in a bag on the front seat. She was so rattled by then, she almost slipped on the front porch, where the rapidly cooling weather seemed to have turned the wetness from earlier into a thin sheen of ice.
“Careful,” Brock called, hurrying from the car to offer his steady arm for her to hold onto as she climbed the remaining two steps to where the porch was more covered. She only had to take a single big step to cross over the ice onto firm, dry floorboards. “You go inside, and I’ll bring the rest in.”
Her instant response, “I can do it,” froze on her lips without being uttered. He was looking at her as if he expected her to contradict him, and the firm line that his mouth had become, coupled with thelookin his brown eyes said clearly he was all done making threats.
Her bottom tingled, her heart stumbling in her suddenly too-tight chest.
“Okay,” was all she said and in she rushed, closing the door behind her to keep out the cold. She put Lily down to crawl around the living room, exploring boxes and playing with what toys had been too bulky to pack. Stace manned the door, watching through the side window until Brock came up the front steps, ready to open it for him.
If he hadn’t already threatened to spank her—twice! Seriously, who did that?—she’d have thought him a perfect gentleman. He stopped without crossing her threshold, handing her the first of two armloads of grocery bags before returning to the car for the rest. Last of all, he brought her car seat and stroller and handed them through the door too.
He looked up at the unlit living room light and the steam on her breath when she thanked him, and said, “When are they coming to turn on the power?”
“Tonight,” she assured him.
“Gas and water too?”
She nodded, knowing she wouldn’t have everything up and running until Monday, but that was close enough. So long as she had power, she could wait.
“I’ll be back over in a couple of hours to help you cut wood,” he promised before heading for home. She closed the door as soon as she saw him get into his car, but already the thought of him coming back was enough to make her heart pound and her tummy twist. How in the hell had he known? Nobody but Jimhad ever sort of/kind of known. Even so, he hadn’t ever spanked her, or threatened to spank her.
What he had done was buy her coloring books for when she got anxious. He’d bought her stuffed toys too, because she liked their softness. He’d held her hand whenever they went into stores, because she often forgot what they’d come shopping for and would instead wander in search of glitter and holiday decorations, especially when blinking lights were involved. She’d never once called Jim “Daddy.” She’d only ever called him Jim. He used to be her rock when she’d had a rough day, always quick with a hug or a kiss; and sometimes when he wasn’t happy with her, he would make her sit in a certain chair and think about whatever it was that she had done to make him frown instead of smile.
Still, she hadn’t called him Daddy. She hadn’t realized she wanted to. Not until the word had come out of the mouth of her brand-new sexy as hell, ginormous lumberjack of a neighbor.
She watched him drive next door, then ducked out of the window so he wouldn’t see her as he climbed his own porch and finally went inside.
She shivered in the coldness of her house and told herself it was silly for a grown woman to want to call anyone other than her father, “Daddy.”
Just... just absolutely silly. Instead of standing here, dwelling on the silliness of it all, she needed to start unpacking and settling in. As soon as the power was up and running, they’d have all the warmth they needed. But until then, she needed to take care of her and Lily’s needs before “Daddy” Brock came marching back over to take care of them for her.
***
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Brock asked his father, looking over the page of notes Pops had made during each of his interviews. “What are you doing?”
“I’m checking to make sure they were a good fit for me and this job,” Pops said stubbornly. Spreading his napkin out on his lap, he picked up the cheese sandwich he’d made for himself and took a bite. “See? There are a few things I can still do on my own. And finding out that none of the ladies you’re trying to hire are qualified—”
“They’re plenty qualified, dad,” Brock said, frowning. “Miss Brown—”
“Doesn’t like pie,” Pops told him. “Can you imagine? I love pie. Anyone you hire has to make a mean apple pie if she’s going to stay employed here.”
“Pops, dammit.” Brock caught himself. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he flipped the page. “Okay, so what about Miss Willis? She’s doesn’t have formal training as a care-provider, but she took care of both her father and her husband before he passed.”
“You realize she is vegan, right?”
“What does that—”
“How,” Pops said sarcastically, “am I supposed to ask a vegan to make me a hamburger? Cause I can promise you right now, I am not eating tofu, regardless of how close to real meat it looks. Or tastes. Yeah, I had that conversation with her too. She says it’s delicious.Tofuis delicious. You’re seriously going to leave me in the so-called ‘capable’ hands of someone crazy enough to think tofu is edible?”
“Pops.” Stifling a groan, Brock sat down next to him and slapped the notepad on the table between them. “You said you were in agreement.”
“I am!” the old man hoarsely insisted.
“You said you weren’t going to fight me on this.”
“I’m not,” he insisted again. “I’m making sure you’re not the only one who gets what he wants out of this situation, that’s all.”
“We’re not hiring a maid or a housekeeper.”
