Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Jasper
I was in a Texas fairy tale.
After Daddy washed all the nooks and crannies, he sudsed up my hair and rinsed that too.
I wanted him to stop and explore a few places, but he got me clean like he was on a mission.
A mission that felt important. He made me feel important, and it was overwhelming.
I wanted to hide from it and then run toward it, but I wasn’t sure which to do first.
Instead, I let him dry me off and dress me.
He was so gentle I almost wanted to cry, but I wasn’t sure he’d understand I was still happy.
Like a superhero, I swallowed every tear until they were gone ’cause he prolly wouldn’t believe in happy tears.
Daddy put me in my super cute cow-print training pants and a summer romper with snaps, and I felt like the cutest little in town.
But maybe I was the only little in town?
Daddy moved around my kitchen like he’d been there a hundred times, pulling out eggs, milk, cinnamon, and bread like it was no trouble at all. My heart felt huge just watching him.
“Will you sit at the counter and keep me company while I’m fixing it?” he asked.
“Yep! I can help, Daddy.”
“Can you lay out the bread on the pan for me? I need to let it get a little dry before I put it on the griddle.”
“Okey-dokey.” I hopped off my stool and carefully lined up the slices on the sheet pan, nice and neat, while he whisked things together. When we both finished our jobs, Daddy pulled it all together like magic. The French toast came out perfect on the very first try ’cause he was a good cooker.
“Jasper, do you have any applesauce and powdered sugar?” he asked.
“I do, Daddy, I do!” I jumped down again and ran around the counter, digging through my cupboard until I found them. I held them up triumphantly. “What do you need them for?”
“Because I don’t like maple syrup, but I still like it a little sweet.”
“Can I try it?” Syrup was fine, but applesauce was one of my favorites. Why didn’t I ever think to put it on French toast?
“Of course you can, sugar. But I was wondering if there was something I could try with you.”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t know what it is.”
“Answer’s still yes.” I shrugged, then added, “Wanna give you Daddy Day too.” Oh. My. Good. Goats. Daddy blushed. A real, live red blush, and I gave it to him. That made me smile so big.
“Could I feed you breakfast?”
“Yep! Yep!” I agreed instantly. Daddy ushered me to the table with our fancy French toast and a couple of forks.
He made a second trip for his cup of coffee and my coffee, which he poured into a sippy cup.
I thought it was super-duper sweet that he got my sippy without even asking if I wanted it ’cause he already knew.
Daddy might not have been a Daddy before, but he sure knew what to do.
“All right, sugar, let’s get some food in you.” With a loaded fork, Daddy fed me my whole breakfast. It was the sweetest thing. A couple of times, he forgot to hide his smiles and gave me really big ones. The happy in my tummy got bigger and bigger.
I made my Daddy smile, and he hardly ever did that. I felt like the bestest boy.
“After breakfast, you wanna play with me?”
“Sure, what do you want to play?”
It was my turn to blush. “Play zoo ’cause the barn doors moo. It’s funny.”
“Where can I get a barn door that moos? That would be pretty cool.”
“I dunno, but maybe you just gotta get a cow?”
We cleared our plates and put them in the sink for later.
I scrounged my toys out of the closet so we could play outside before it got too hot and muggy.
Daddy carried them and waited for me to set up all my fences and animals.
My zoo had animals you could pet, so I figured it was okay if they had a barn for all the animals to live in.
We settled on the wooden plank steps. I started setting everything up while Daddy sat next to me, watching as I arranged the animals. A few times, he said maybe I shouldn’t put animals next to each other, but I told him my tigers liked the cows. They were friends, and they’d never eat a friend.
Daddy looked like he was trying not to laugh. I narrowed my eyes and gave him my meanest mean-mugging face. “You laughin’ at me, Daddy?”
“I would never…promise.” Except, when he said it, he looked like he was trying to control shaking shoulders. I was gonna be nice and pretend I didn’t see him making fun of me.
“Daddy, what animal you wanna be?”
“Can I be the giraffe?”
“Oh cool. This is George.” Oh, wait, maybe Daddy wanted to name him something different. “But he doesn’t have to be.”
“George is good. Giraffes are the coolest… I wish I had the setup to house them.”
“What they gotta have?”
“They need really tall fences. I’d have to do too much on mine, and I likely wouldn’t have one very often, but maybe I’ll just come visit you when I need a giraffe fix.”
Daddy gave me another smile, and I got all gooey. He had a pretty smile ’cause he didn’t do it all the time, and that made ’em special.
We played zoo until the sun became too bright, and we had to retreat inside for air conditioning.
I watched cartoons and colored at the coffee table while Daddy worked on something clacky at his computer.
That kept us busy for the rest of the afternoon.
By the time we cleaned up, did afternoon feeds, and wrangled goats, the potluck party was already waiting for us.
In the late afternoon, I eased out of my little space—a quick catnap helped—and made the tarts I was bringing. Daddy tasted a few and declared them delicious, though I suspected he was just trying to smooth over my nerves.
“So, since Dolly went on a field trip and ruined my first outfit, what do you think of this one?” I held up a pair of boring black slacks and an equally staid white button-down. “Does this say I’m a responsible, wannabe inn owner?”
“It screams accountant who cooks books,” Daddy said with a grimace. “Hell, wear your cutoffs. You’d look like you.” Clearly, this man had lost his damn mind.
“There is no way I’m wearing cutoffs to meet everyone. They’d never take me seriously, let alone recommend me to anyone,” I said, my voice climbing higher with each word.
“Selena? Earl? They don’t give a shit what you wear,” Daddy said matter-of-factly. He was wrong, but he sounded so sure of himself.
“Ugh, you’re very unhelpful.” I turned my back to him, hunting for something less stiffly professional and more of a toned-down version of me.
I studied the closet like a new wardrobe might magically appear when Daddy’s heavy hands settled on my shoulders.
His fingers dug into the tight muscles, working the knots loose.
My little time earlier had eased some of my anxiety about tonight, but it hadn’t taken it all away.
“Sugar, you’re fucking gorgeous, and there’s nothing wrong with how you dress.
I know you don’t believe me right now, but no one’s judging what you wear.
All you need to do is be yourself, and they’ll think you’re as awesome as I do.
And if they don’t? Fuck ’em.” I turned around to make sure I’d heard him correctly, but he looked at me with that same calm, stoic expression
I melted. Right there in front of my open closet, my anxiety vanished because I felt his words to my bones.
Why in this moment? No idea, but I felt it all the same.
When I leaned back just a smidge, he supported my weight, and suddenly, it felt bigger than just standing in front of an open closet.
The heat from him spread through me. I closed my eyes, reached out, and grabbed a shirt from the closet.
Nice. The universe chose a yellow shirt with a cartoon diplodocus carrying a Pride flag in its mouth. Perfect.
I’d look like me, and Daddy was fine with it.
Fairy tale.
“Daddy,” I hissed through clenched teeth, “they’re staring.”
When we pulled into the driveway of a small ranch house on the edge of town, I’d steeled myself for a few curious looks. What I hadn’t been prepared for was full-on gawking. I felt like an animal in the zoo. Hopefully, this wasn’t how my goat-a-roonies felt when I stood at their fence and stared.
I tried to pull my hand free, but Daddy’s grip tightened like a vise with no escape.
“Let ’em stare.” He half-pulled, half-dragged me toward the group gathered in the kitchen.
He’d been right about the dress code, mostly jeans and casual wear, but a few people leaned toward business casual.
Food was piled high on the table, and nobody was sitting.
They stood in clumps with paper plates and napkins.
If I’d worn the stiff outfit I’d been debating earlier, I would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb.
Instead, in my cutoffs and flip-flops, I landed somewhere below that.
Hangnail, maybe? Whatever it was, the dozen—or like ten—sets of eyes on me didn’t help.
“Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Jasper Greer.”
Daddy’s words dropped like a bomb. The staring intensified—and I joined right in, jaw dropped. What was he thinking? Clearly, he wasn’t.
“What? Is there something else I’m supposed to call you?” Hank said like it was no big deal. Spoiler alert—it was a big deal.
Unfortunately, no sinkhole opened to swallow me through the kitchen linoleum. Those were loaded words. I’d barely been here a few weeks, and he was already claiming me? Bad plan, Daddy. Very bad plan. His neighbors would think he’d lost his damn mind.
Finally, Selena broke away from the crowd and beamed at me.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you could make it, Jasper. We were just talking about how nice it’ll be to have more options here in town for a bed and breakfast.”
As she spoke, she reeled in a barrel-chested man with a beer in his hand and an amused smile on his face.
“Jasper, this is my husband, Sammy. And, Sammy, I take full credit for their relationship,” she added with a wicked grin.