Chapter 12
twelve
DAISY
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I groan and sling an arm over my face. “Len, baby. I love you, but shut up.”
There’s silence from her, yet the thumping continues.
“I swear to god,” I mutter. “If you are doing some electrical bullshit right now, I’m getting the divorce papers drawn up already.”
Silence.
Cracking an eyelid open, I turn my head, only to find Lenny fast asleep and drooling on her pillow.
Confused, I grab my phone from the nightstand.
My vision is hazy and dry, my mouth equally so, and I want nothing more than a Gatorade and Tylenol, but my eyes fly wide open at the time and texts awaiting me.
12:22 P.M. currently.
6:03 A.M.
2 Calls from “Father Bird”
1 Text from “Father Bird”
“Fuck!” I groan, opening the text.
Father Bird
Hey Kiddo. On the way back now. Hope you and Lenny didn’t burn the house down.
Turning my head back to Lenny, I bite my lip as my eyes roam her curvy, naked form.
Muttering to myself, I say, “Nope, but you might want to.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Slinging the comforter off me, I nearly run to my walk-in closet and throw on the first bra and dress I see.
I’m way, way late on barn tasks this morning, and if the thumping sound is coming from outside, then I probably have a talking-to incoming.
Grabbing a worn-out pair of work boots, I walk back into my room, stopping short when I see Lenny standing there, naked, sex and bed head galore.
Now my mouth is dry for an entirely different reason.
She blinks slowly as she looks at me. “Why are you dressed already? What time is it?”
I merely stare at her tits and ass like a dumbstruck fool.
Fuck me. I’m no better than a man.
Lenny laughs. “My eyes are up here, Birdie girl. What’s wrong?”
Breaking out of my haze, I rush to her and press a kiss to her lips before running out of the bedroom. “Dad’s here!”
I don’t even need to be in the room to know she has a horrified expression on her face, based on the “Fuck!” that comes out of her mouth.
Peaking my head into the barn, I wince when I see my dad doing the exact barn tasks I’m supposed to do when he’s gone…
with Perry sitting right beside him, licking his paws.
The morning checklist has always been the same.
Do a head count on the horses, make sure they have the appropriate amount of food and water, muck the stalls, and do a quick check on the stall itself.
And from the looks of my dad hammering a nail into a stall door, I am fucked.
“I’m so sorry!” I blurt, immediately apologizing. “We were out late and I didn’t set an alarm and the sun didn’t even wake me up like it normally does an—”
Dad jumps at the sound of my voice, dropping the hammer and turning to me. “Woah, woah, woah. Calm down, kid. Take a breath.”
I only stare at him, nervous.
He points at me, and it’s the most dad expression I’ve seen on him in years. “Take. A. Breath.”
Pouting, I close my eyes and do what he says. Just like he taught me all those years ago when I started having my anxiety attacks.
1… 2… 3… 4, in.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7, hold.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8, out.
“Again,” he tells me.
1… 2… 3… 4, in.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7, hold.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8, out.
Feeling my shoulders relax, I open my eyes and look at him, sniveling as Perry rubs up against my legs. “I’m sorry.”
He walks toward me like I’m one of his wounded horses during peak season, only to wrap me up in his arms when he’s close enough.
“What kind of dad do you take me for? Good lord. I know you two were out late. I saw it on the surveillance cameras. Why do you think I came home so early? I got the notification and figured I’d come back to help out a little bit earlier than expected. ”
I pull back from him. “The what?!”
His expression turns sheepish. “…Yeah, probably should have told you about that. Just a precaution since we’ve been doing really well. Insurance liability and all that woo-woo shit.”
My mind races, trying to think about anything he could have seen.
He raises an eyebrow. “Do we need to breathe again?”
My chest feels tight as I ask, “Where are the cameras?”
“At the entrance to the ranch…”
All the air rushes out of my lungs as relief fills me. “Oh thank god.”
Dad squints. “Uh…?”
The sound of Lenny’s voice has me jumping and turning around in a wide circle. She stands behind us, smirking. “I don’t think you’d approve of me for much longer, Mr. Thompson.”
I scold her. “Lenny!”
Dad barks out a laugh. “I believe it. If the articles of clothing I picked up from the living room and hallway were anything to go off of, anyway.” I turn back toward him now, horrified.
And the man fucking giggles when he pats my head.
“Once again, you really do forget I’m twenty-three years older than you some days, don’t you? It’s all good.”
I blink. “Be so for real right now.”
“What? It’s literally the reason why I left.” He scoffs, leaning down to pick up the hammer he dropped. “C’mon, Platypus! And you, Birdie. I need to talk to you about something. Well, you too, Len. I feel like it involves you just as much now.”
And I stare at my still giggling father in even more confusion than before, with Perry trailing after him.
I mimic my words from earlier as I stare down at the packet in front of me. “Be so for real right now.”
He sighs as he sits down in front of Lenny and me, turning to her. “Is this another slang I need to keep up with? I’m old, damn it.”
Lenny stares at the paperwork in front of me, mirroring my shock, but responds anyway. “We really need to get you on TikTok, Mr. T.”
He shakes his head. “Who has time for that shit?”
My words sound numb as I open the folder. “No one. Just another addiction.”
Dad’s words come out droll. “Oh, yay. I’ll get right on that then.”
I ignore him now as my eyes scan the paperwork in front of me.
All of the property information to the ranch lays before me, including its worth, the water and well permits, all of our horses’ information, and contracts we have with suppliers, and more.
But as I flip through it, I stop short at the packet pinned toward the back of the folder.
Last Will and Testament of Emma Thompson.
My voice shakes slightly as I stare down at it, and Lenny holds my leg in a reassuring hold. For a second, I feel like it might actually be my anchor. “What is going on?”
Dad smiles gently. “The ranch was never mine, kiddo. It was your mom’s.”
My eyes snap up to meet his, and the tears brimming his blue eyes mirror mine. “What?”
“It was hers. I wanted her to have the world. I’ve always taken care of it, sure, but if anything were to happen to me, she would be okay. My girls have always been my priority. But... life decided that wasn’t the way it would go. So, now we’re here. You should read it.”
I do as he says, scanning the words. A lot of it is legalities that make my eyes swim, but my chest constricts when I see the words that I know my dad was waiting for me to see.
Whiskey Creek Ranch
I give all the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate to my daughter, Daisy Thompson, upon her 25th birthday.
All of the air I hold rushes out of me. My voice is nearly hollow as I whisper, “My birthday is next month.”
Perry jumps on the counter then, and dad goes to pet him. His voice is husky with emotion as he responds. “It is. I was gonna wait. But I think you need to know now. Weigh your options.”
I move my eyes to Lenny, who’s staring at the paperwork with equal shock, before turning back to him. “Options?”
He nods. “Yeah. If you want to quit your job and move back to the country or not. Or, if you don’t, then that’s okay too. It’s still yours. If you want to sell it, I can get in contact with the proprietors I just bought from and we can go fr—”
“No!” I all but shout. “Are you kidding? This… this is home. We’re not selling anything.”
The smile that fills Dad’s face is gigantic. “I hoped you’d say that.”
Len cuts in. “You’ll have to quit your job in the city...”
Dad snorts. “Thank fuck.” We both look at him, shocked. He smirks. “What? Who actually likes being in HR? C’mon now.”
I turn toward her. “What… what about you?”
Lenny’s face pinches in confusion. “What about me?”
“Your job. I mean, you don’t have to move in, obviously. But that would put us at long-ish distance. I don’t know how you’re feeling about any of this.”
Lenny looks at me like I’ve grown three heads. “Didn’t you tell Maeve last night that we were U-Hauling? Own up, woman.”
Dad’s eyes go back and forth between us. “Why… why rent a U-Haul? Just use the truck. You know we have multiple cause of the hay transports, right?”
Lenny bursts out laughing and rests her head in her hands. “Oh, Mr. T…”
I turn back to the start of the will and trace my mom’s name. The tears I’ve been holding back spill down my cheeks, and a chuckle leaves me when Perry swats at the wet table like it just offended him. “She left me this?”
Dad winks. “Yeah. We thought our Birdie needed a place to fly to when life turned hard. Time to come home.”
Curious about Miles and his employees…? Want to see the single cowboy find his own way back to the sun? Well, good news! He has his own story coming.
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Continue on to read the Epilogue of Birdie <3