Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Livvy
I’d been running my fingertips over downy yellow feathers when a shadow on the ground in front of me became larger and then stopped. I looked up and smiled as I had the last two times someone new had stopped by to greet me. They’d both been older women who remembered me as Olivia’s granddaughter.
I had to squint slightly as I was looking directly into the sun but that didn’t keep me from seeing the fact this woman was not much older than me.
She was also drop-dead gorgeous. Long blonde hair draped over her shoulders and framed a face that was absolutely flawless.
She wore a blue dress with a white belt cinched around her waist and white high-heeled sandals that had my toes curling inside the disposable slippers the nurse at the hospital had given me after I’d realized I had no clue where my flip-flops had wound up.
While my overalls were bloodied and soiled, there was not a single wrinkle in the drape of her skirt.
When she extended her hand, her perfectly manicured nails matched the glossy red polish on her toenails.
I couldn’t imagine shaking her hand with mine.
I hadn’t washed my hands since the ice-cream parlor, not to mention trying to wipe my backside free of the melted remains of my prize.
Add to that the fact I’d spent the last quarter of an hour petting chickens and letting them peck seeds from my hand and I just gave her a wry smile and showed her my palm.
Her smile slipped just a bit but then returned as she dropped her hand.
“I just came over to say how sorry we are to hear about your little accident, Olivia. Oh, where on earth are my manners? I’m Susanne St. Helen.
I’ve heard Lincoln tell many a story about you and I must say it’s an absolute pleasure to meet the town’s prodigal daughter. ”
“Why?” had been the first thought to pop into my head, followed by what sort of stories was Lincoln sharing so freely, but thankfully, I managed not to ask.
Instead, I decided to use my “little accident” as an excuse not to offer some mumbled greeting.
Instead, I gently shifted the chick off the tablet on my lap and flipped to a new sheet.
“It’s just Livvy,” I wrote and then turned to pad so she could see it.
“Ah, Livvy, now I know why Linc used to say you were just the sweetest little thing. It’s so cute that you still like to use your childhood nickname.
I won’t keep you as I know Linc is anxious to get back to the ranch, especially after that storm yesterday.
I just wanted to stop by to let you know the town has already set up the schedule to share the burden until you’re back on your feet.
You don’t have to worry about a thing… oh, hello, Linc.
I was just introducing myself to Olivia. ”
I looked up to see Lincoln had joined us. The smile that had been on his face the majority of the day was gone. Instead, his jaw was clenched as he addressed Susanne to tell her he needed to get me home so I could rest.
Rest? I’d just had a nice nap and had been looking forward to spending more time catching up with Lincoln.
“Now, don’t you fret about that, sugar. Everyone has already heeded the call for help.
I’ve already assured her that there won’t be a need for her to do a thing until she heals.
Why, I told her she’s in for a treat tonight as you always rave about Mama’s chicken and dumplings.
In fact, people are practically falling over each other signing up to bring meals out to her grandmother’s place. ”
I was attempting to do a bit of deciphering myself.
I had already begun to understand this woman meant something to Lincoln but there was no questioning the tension I could practically feel rolling over Lincoln.
Eyes that had been lit with laughter had darkened to a darker blue that reminded me of the storm clouds that had swirled in the sky the day before.
Though he made no overt move and appeared relaxed, I could sense his muscles tensing as if in preparation to jump in front of me when she bent lower, but when her voice dropped to ask, “I mean, that is where you’re staying, right, Oliv…
I mean Livvy?” I could see the muscles of his jaw clench.
I was at a loss as to how to answer when Lincoln spoke.
“It’s a nice surprise to find you suddenly filled with a sense of community spirit, Susanne, but unless you want all those casseroles going to waste, I suggest you get on the phone and work out scheduling a time for their arrival.”
When Lincoln gave the briefest glance to me before pinning Susanne with a look that would have had me whipping my hands behind me to protect my butt, I held my breath when he added, “At River Waters as Livvy will be our guest for the foreseeable future.”
I knew it was rude of me to want to pump my fist into the air, especially when Susanne gasped, “Well, I-I don’t know what to say,” but when Lincoln coolly returned, “I highly doubt that,” I honestly didn’t care.
“Is everything in the truck?” I asked.
“Everything but you.”
That was exactly the answer I wanted and didn’t even worry about my huge smile reawakening the pain in my jaw.
I gave each of the baby chicks a soft pat goodbye and accepted the pad of paper and the pencils from Linc before lifting my arms as he bent to pick me up.
If I’d felt like a princess the first time he’d carried me, I now felt like a queen as he left Susanne standing where she was and carried me through the store.
That was until he’d settled me onto the truck seat.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t stop to think perhaps you’d rather be in your own house instead of staying with us.”
Us?
How stupid could I be? Our reunion hadn’t been some quirk of fate.
The Universe hadn’t used a frightened deer crossing the road as a rather skewed way to get us together.
It had been nothing more than a fluke. Lincoln had not asked for this, and I had no right to stick my nose into his business.
Lincoln, being raised the way he’d been, had simply been too kind to tell me that he was involved.
I felt like a total fool for having thought otherwise. The man had had girls falling all over him in grade school for heaven’s sake. Actually, the only thing that would surprise me was if he and Susanne didn’t already have a half dozen little cowboys and girls running around their…
“Hey—”
“I’m sorry! I just thought—”
“Pixie—”
“Never mind, it’s not important what I—”
“Livvy—”
“I’ll apologize to your wife—”
“Olivia!”
His tone snapped my eyes open and I stared up at him.
“Do I have your attention now?”
I bobbed my head and he reached around to cup the nape of my neck with his palm.
“That’s three,” he said but I honestly couldn’t find the energy to care.
“Sorry, Lincoln, I’m listening.”
“Then listen to this.”
Instead of speaking, he looked up to the ceiling of the truck, and I realized he was rolling his eyes not once but around and around like they were steel balls in some pinball machine. I couldn’t help but giggle which had him dropping his gaze to mine again.
“That is how crazy it is for you to even begin to think you owe anyone an apology. Understood?”
“No, not really.”
“Then let me make it clearer. I am not now nor have I ever been married. I am not involved with Susanne St. Helen, and I’m the luckiest man on the planet that the fates brought you back to me. As for ‘us,’ I meant Luther and me. Does that help?”
I really wanted to say yes, but how could I when what I thought, what I hoped he was saying was too good and far too much to wish for? Instead, I said, “Does that mean there won’t be chicken and dumplings for supper?”
Lincoln’s eyes widened and then he burst out laughing and I was soon giggling along with him.
“God, I’ve missed you, pixie,” he finally managed to say as he bent toward me and dropped a kiss on my forehead. “But don’t even think for a moment that I’ve messed up the count, little girl.”
Little girl.
Yep, I’d caught that as well. Not the words as they were common enough, but the absolute authority of the tone in which he’d said them had every cell in my body sitting up and taking notice.
“Hey, you rolled your eyes at least three times!”
“True enough, but fortunately for me and unfortunately for you, your butt will only ever be the one paying the price.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Because there is a paddle with your name on it, not mine. Which means, any consequences earned, little girl, are reserved for you. Clear?”
“Crystal, Sir,” I said while my tummy flipped and my girlie bits did their own fluttering as I watched him straighten and then him step back, close my door, and walk around the hood of the truck.
I’d imagined seeing him again at least a million times as I’d spent every summer far away from the Cascades.
I’d pictured his face as I turned pages of the books I read on my Kindle and heard his voice in my mind when I lost myself in a make-believe world, but not a single one of those fantasies had felt like this.
Once he’d slid behind the wheel and fastened his seat belt, he said. “Once upon a time, there was a woman named Susanne—”
“Ummm…”
He glanced over at me. “Do you wanna tell this story?”
I shook my head. “I just want you to know that you don’t have to tell this story either.”
He smiled. “And that is the very reason why I need to.”
I could see the sincerity in his eyes and nodded.
So he told me how he’d been looking for years for the missing part of his heart.
How he’d known from an early age he was a Dominant, but once he’d gone to college, he’d learned of what other roles the dynamic offered.
How the moment he’d witnessed the connection between Daddy Doms and their Littles, he’d felt something click into place.
How for the first time in his life, he’d had to face the fact that his twin had something he’d yet to find.
“I watched Luther with Kate and it reminded me of the depth of love and caring Dad has for Mom. I’ve known others who have found fulfillment and happiness in other relationship dynamics, in other roles, but I knew with every cell in my body, that I wouldn’t find either until I found the right woman.
One who could love me as a man and not just accept, but truly thrive with my need to be her Daddy.
For a while, I thought I might have found her in Susanne, but it only took a very short time to know she was playing at the role.
I had no doubt that she believed she was in love with me, but I also had no doubt that she didn’t have a Little bone in her body.
She tried to convince me she could change or that I could be happy with only part of my dream. I never meant to hurt her…”
When he didn’t continue, I softy said, “But you’ve never been a man who does anything halfway.”
“Or accepts only part of what I truly believed I’d find if I was simply patient.”
My heart thudded against my ribs as he smiled at me. “Then what you do is turn the pages and began a fresh chapter.”
His lip began to curl.
“A chapter that begins with once upon a time there was a Little pixie—”
“Named Livvy!” I practically shouted and then slapped my hand over my face, which, of course, had me yelping as I’d inadvertently pressed against the bandage on my chin.
Lincoln’s hand covered mine to lower it gently back to my lap even as he bent closer. “Don’t hurt my Little girl,” he said and then had me melting into a puddle when he kissed me.