Daddy’s Wild Girl (Montana Daddies #16)

Chapter 39

39

“ A re you ready to go, baby?” Corbin walked into the living room.

“I really don’t think this is necessary,” she said. “My hand is fine.”

He shot her a look.

Uh-oh. She was becoming very acquainted with that look. It meant that Corbin was in charge and she had to do as she was told.

She’d been at the Ranch for three days now. The first day, he’d helped her settle in, showed her around, and introduced her to some people. So many that she’d actually lost track. She’d especially loved visiting the horses. She hadn’t been horse riding for a while and she missed it.

The second day, she’d gone to work with him. Which was kind of boring. There wasn’t much for her to do and she’d rather stay here in the cabin. She was confident she could find some projects, though she’d also need to find some tools.

Unfortunately, Corbin wouldn’t hear of leaving her alone at home.

But today, she really didn’t want to leave the cabin because she had an appointment with the doctor here. So far, everyone she’d met had been really nice and welcoming, which was a huge relief.

However, she’d some heard rumors about Doc . . .

“You’re getting your hand checked by Doc, and Archer said he has a free spot if you want to talk to him. You don’t have to, we can arrange for you to video call your old therapist or someone new if he won’t do video calls. But I would really like you to talk to someone.”

“If I agree to talk to someone, can I skip seeing Doc?”

“Nope.”

Right. So he wouldn’t push her to talk to someone . . . but he was going to force her to get her hand checked.

“It’s really unnecessary.”

“It’s very necessary. Come on. Doc won’t bite.”

“That’s not what I heard,” she muttered as she headed toward the door.

“Whoa, stop. What did you hear?”

She turned to him, biting her lip. “Just that he’s a bit grouchy and blunt.”

“Yeah, he is. But he’s also a really good doctor and I know he’ll take excellent care of you. I just want to make sure you’re all right.”

Well, hell.

Talk about bringing out the big guns.

Her shoulders slumped. “Fine.”

“Thank you.” He walked over and kissed her lightly.

She turned back to the door and opened it.

“Stop.”

Sheesh, what now?

“What are you forgetting?” he asked.

Umm. Bebe glanced down at herself. She had shoes on. Clothes. Yep. She looked around, she hadn’t left much mess. Oh, shoot, her blanket and phone were on the sofa. She grabbed her phone and folded the blanket.

“There!”

“Good, but what else?”

She was confused.

He opened the coat closet and drew out her jacket, scarf, hat, and gloves. “You need these.”

“It’s not that cold!” she protested. He’d made her dress in all this stuff yesterday, too.

She’d practically overheated.

“I don’t want you getting cold,” he replied, fussing over her.

And she had to admit. She liked it.

Then he took her hand and they headed out, walking toward a cute cabin that was larger than Corbin’s.

Before they could reach the front porch, the door opened and a short, very pregnant, blonde woman rushed out.

“Hide me! Quick!”

Bebe gaped at her in amazement as she raced around them and hid behind Corbin’s back.

“Uh, Caley?” Corbin asked.

“He’s gone crazy! Hide me.”

What the hell was going on? Did this woman need help? Who had gone crazy? Had they hurt her?

“Don’t worry, we’ll look after you,” she told her.

“Doc?” Corbin asked dryly.

She glanced up to find him grinning. Why did he find this amusing? Obviously, Doc had done something to her.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

She turned and saw a tall, handsome man with chestnut-colored hair walking up to them.

“Caley?”

Caley turned and threw herself at him. “Archer! He’s gone insane.”

Oh, this was Archer. So Caley was with both Archer and Doc. Which kind of blew her mind.

How the heck did she deal with two men?

Archer sighed just as a wild-looking man stepped out onto the front porch.

“Caley! Come here, you’re in big trouble!” The blond-haired man had a fierce scowl as he glared at all of them. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve brought Bebe to get her hand checked, remember?” Corbin said calmly as Bebe pressed against him, feeling intimidated.

Doc grunted. “Sure. After I check Caley.”

“I don’t need checked,” Caley called out. “I feel fine.”

“You’ve got a fever.”

“No, I don’t! And you are not going to stick anything up my butt!”

“Oh, yes, I am. It’s the only way to get an accurate reading!”

What. The. Hell?

“It’s all right,” Corbin soothed, obviously sensing her worry. He put his arm around her. “This is pretty much a daily occurrence around here since Caley got pregnant. Luckily, she’s about to pop any day now.”

“It is not!” Caley protested. Bebe glanced over to find the pretty woman frowning at Corbin. “And I don’t get things stuck up my butt daily.”

“Welll,” Archer drawled.

“Archer Miller! You shush!” Caley blushed prettily as she slapped Archer’s chest.

The psychiatrist just grinned.

“Archer, bring Caley inside. I need to check her over.” Doc turned his glare on them. “You two can come. After you put hand sanitizer on. Wait! Caley, did you touch them already?”

Caley huffed out a sigh as she stomped toward Doc. “No, I didn’t touch them, you nutty, overprotective lout!”

Doc scowled down at her, and Bebe resisted the urge to grab her and run. Probably not a good idea for a pregnant woman.

“I’m your nutty, overprotective lout, though.”

Caley sighed. “You are.”

“Just trying to protect you, baby doll.”

“I know.”

Reaching down, he lifted her into his arms and the look of love on his face made Bebe’s heart melt.

Okay, so maybe he had a softer side. Then he scowled over at them.

“Well? Sanitize, then get inside. Stop wasting time. I’ve got other things to do.”

And then again, maybe he didn’t.

She startled as the door to the small waiting area opened and Doc walked in. He stared down at her for a moment. “You look guilty. Done something wrong?”

“Uh, no. I don’t think so. At least not recently. Maybe in the past. Why?”

Corbin lightly squeezed her neck with his hand as Doc’s lips twitched. Was he about to smile?

“Come on. Come inside.”

Corbin had to pull her up out of the chair and prod her forward. “It will be fine.”

“Course it will,” Doc boomed as they entered his exam room. It was fairly simple, with a desk, chairs, and an examination table. Along with a filing cabinet and some storage cupboards.

It looked like every other doctor’s office.

Well, except for the mural on the ceiling. It was an image of bumblebees flying between flowers with butterflies on them. And there was a castle with a blonde-haired princess petting a unicorn.

She gasped as she stared up at it.

“Got it painted by a girl that’s just moved into Wishingbone,” Doc said. “She’s a shy thing. Doesn’t know many people. But she’s a big fan of Caley’s and met her at a book signing at the library. Next thing I know, she’s here, painting this on my ceiling.” He shook his head as though put out.

She recalled Corbin telling her that Caley was an author. She was going to have to read her books. Although she wasn’t much of a reader, she didn’t like to stay still for too long.

“I like it.”

“Course you do, all the Littles do.”

Corbin sighed. “Doc has little tact or filter.”

“What? What did I say?” he asked as he pulled out some gloves. “Now, we doing a full exam? She looks a bit pale to me.”

“What? No, I don’t!”

“She isn’t comfortable letting out her Little, Doc,” Corbin warned. “But, yeah, I think an examination is a good idea. She hasn’t been sleeping well.”

“Ahh, shy.” Doc nodded. “I get it. I’ll be gentle. And if you need something to help with sleep, I can give you something. Although, also, warm milk or chamomile tea can help. So can a good bedtime routine.”

Could he be gentle? She somehow had her doubts. However, to her surprise, he was. And he didn’t even suggest trying to stick something up her butt.

Thank God.

Because that was a definite no.

However, when he suggested taking some blood . . . that’s when things went too far. She moved so fast that she even shocked herself.

One moment, she was sitting up on the exam table and the next, she was in Corbin’s arms. She’d climbed up him and was hanging onto him like a baby monkey clinging to her mama.

“So, someone doesn’t like having their blood taken,” Doc said gruffly.

“Who would like that?” she asked incredulously.

Corbin patted her back. “Nobody likes it, but it’s one of those things that needs to be done.”

“Nuh-uh.”

Oops. Her Little was slipping through. And she didn’t even really care.

“Bebe, you need to get a blood test. Doc is worried about how pale you are. He wants to check your vitamin levels, among other things. So be good and sit on the bed so he can do that.”

He tried to set her down.

But if he thought being all reasonable was going to get her to sit and have her blood taken . . . well, he better think again.

“No.”

“Bebe,” he said sternly.

“No. I won’t do it.”

Yes, she knew she was acting looney.

Or, rather, like a Little girl who didn’t want the nasty needle to prick her.

But that didn’t mean she could stop.

“Well, that’s too bad since now you won’t get the good girl gift,” Doc said.

Wait. What?

No one had said anything about a good girl gift.

“What gift?” she asked suspiciously.

“It’s a grab bag.”

She turned to look as Doc held out a box of gifts. They were all individually wrapped and she instantly wanted one. But when she reached out to take one, Doc drew the box away.

“Nope. Not until you’ve let me take some blood.”

Her lip dropped into a pout. “But I want one.”

“Then you know what you need to do,” Corbin told her in a low voice.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

“This from the girl that likes to jump out of planes and do crazy skateboarding stunts?” he asked.

“Yes, but none of those things have needles. Needles are scary.”

And she really wished she had Nutters. Or her pacifier.

Okay. There was something about this place that was bringing out her Little.

Or perhaps it’s Corbin. Maybe the longer you’re with him, the more you trust him, and the more you want to show him all sides of yourself.

Yeah.

There was that too.

“You can sit on Corbin’s lap and you don’t have to look at the needle. Then you can pick a present. What kind of things do you like on your Band-Aids?” Doc asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, I have bumblebees for Caley and bears for Ellie. Oh, and mermaids for Charlie.”

“Squirrels,” she whispered. “I like squirrels.”

“Hmm, I don’t have any squirrel ones at the moment, but I’ll order some in. What do you think you’d like for today? I have rabbits for Abby. What about a cute rabbit?”

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll try.”

“That’s my brave girl,” Corbin told her as he sat with her on his lap. He held her face against his chest. “I’m so proud of you. This won’t take long.”

She let out a small squeak as Doc held her arm and put something cool on the inside of her elbow.

She waited for the pain. She hated having blood taken.

“There, all done. Corbin, hold this here while I get her Band-Aid.”

Wait. What?

“All done?” She turned her head to look down at her arm. “But I didn’t feel it!”

Doc winked at her. “That’s because I’m magical.”

Wow.

He just might be.

“There. You have a bunny Band-Aid and you get to choose a gift.”

For some reason, she went all shy as Doc held out the box of gifts, burying her head in Corbin’s neck.

He ran his hand up and down her back soothingly. “It’s all right, darling girl. You can choose something. You earned it.”

“You sure did. Do you want me to take a look at your hand while you choose?” Doc asked her.

She nodded as she searched through the box while Doc checked her right hand. Finally, she chose something, wincing as he moved her hand around.

“Hurts, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Does the pain get worse after you use this hand a lot?”

She nodded.

“And do you know what caused it?” he asked.

Bebe glanced up at Corbin, unable to tell Doc about him .

“Her ex was an asshole who made her write long essays as punishment, even when her hand was spasming or burning with pain.”

Doc stiffened. “Motherfucking asshole.” He stood abruptly, making her squeak.

Then he froze, staring down at her. “Sorry, Bebe. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’m not mad at you.”

She nodded, surprised at his soft tone.

Doc glared at Corbin. “You’ll take care of the bastard?”

“Oh yeah. I will.”

“Good. Right. I think you have tendonitis in that hand. From overuse. However, I’d like to take an x-ray to be sure. I’d also like to send you for an MRI in Wishingbone. I’ll get an appointment set up.”

“What do you do for tendonitis?” Corbin asked.

“Painkillers when it’s flaring up. We can try a steroid shot to get rid of the pain.”

Oh. She didn’t like the idea of that at all.

“Physical therapy. I can give you some exercises to try and strengthen the muscle. As well as some heat-based treatments. But when you’re doing something that makes it hurt, you need to stop. Rest it and ice it. If it’s swelling, it can be wrapped. However, you don’t want it to get too stiff, either. So don’t rest or wrap for too long. Because it’s been left for a while, we really need to try and quickly get on top of it, okay? The girl that did this mural, she has a brother who is a physical therapist. We’ll set up an appointment with him as well.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Corbin said.

Doc grunted. “Thank me by making that bastard’s life as miserable as possible.”

“Oh, I will.”

“Wait. What?” she asked Corbin. “You don’t even know who it was.”

He just gave her a determined stare.

Shoot.

Bebe wasn’t sure how she felt about this. On the one hand, she guessed the asshole deserved to pay for what he did . . . but she didn’t want Corbin to do anything he might get in trouble for.

So she didn’t think she wanted to tell him who it was.

Not until she’d thought about it more, anyway.

Half an hour later, she walked back toward Corbin’s cabin with a small, fluffy deer in her hand.

Not a real one, of course.

It had been her good girl present. Which she’d earned after being so brave.

After Doc had finished with her, she’d spoken to Archer briefly. She’d been nervous when she’d told him she didn’t feel comfortable talking to a different therapist, but he’d been really kind.

So, she was going to contact her old therapist’s office today to see about doing some sessions via video call.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Corbin asked as they reached the cabin.

“No, I guess not. I’m sorry for acting so silly over the needle.”

He tilted her head back. “You could never be silly. I think you are adorable and you never have to be ashamed about your Little popping out.”

“Even in front of others?”

“Nobody will bat an eyelid, I promise.”

“It really is a special place.” Somewhere she could see herself settling long term.

God, she hoped this all worked out.

Because it was going to break her heart if it didn’t.