Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
“ H ow much longer until they get here, Daddy?” Suzi asked without looking up. She was hard at work with her cookie cutters, making dinosaur sugar cookies. It was one of the things she and her friends were going to do at the sleepover she was having that night.
She didn’t know what magic it was to hold your tongue in just the right place as she worked. She only knew it worked. Well, most of the time. All her friends were coming, and they were going to have a great time. It was going to be so much fun. Everyone was bringing their favorite thing to do. She had dinosaur, volcano, and asteroid cookies for everyone to decorate as her special activity. Morgan was bringing temporary hair stuff, and Winnie was bringing friendship bracelets to make. She wasn’t sure what everyone else was bringing, but it was going to be great.
The best part, other than being with all her friends, was Daddy had said no early bedtime, so they could stay up as late as they wanted and eat lots and lots of candy and junk food. They hadn’t told the Daddies, but everyone was bringing a flashlight. After bedtime, they were going to tell ghost stories.
The past week had been the best of her whole life. When Deke took all her electronics, she’d thought she was going to either go crazy with worry or be bored out of her mind. And to be honest, the first day or two were hard. But after two spankings and more timeouts than she could count, she figured out he was serious, and there was nothing she could do about it.
She quit worrying about it and started looking around for fun things to do. She and Kiki found the big box of toys Deke had stashed in the woodshed. There were so many choices. The toybox was filled with everything imaginable.
She and Kiki had colored first. Most people probably didn’t think coloring was hard, but she did. What if she chose the wrong color? Or colored outside of the lines? She liked using the coloring app on her phone because she couldn’t make a mistake. It took her all afternoon to color her first picture.
But Deke saw her struggling, so he sat down with her and colored a picture, too. She tried not to be rude, but she couldn’t help but notice he didn’t care if the colors matched. And when he colored outside of the lines, he laughed. Laughed!
He was so proud of it when he finished. He showed it to her and told her it was a present for her. She got him to tape it to her bathroom mirror so she could see it every morning, and it made her heart happy. She decided if she loved his picture simply because it was from him, that she wasn’t going to worry about clashing colors or coloring outside the lines either.
Now, coloring was her favorite thing to do. Deke used magnets to stick every one of them on the refrigerator. It had now morphed into a Little homage to Crayola, one coloring page at a time.
Next, she tackled Legos and went through the same thing, only faster. He didn’t think his feet would survive, but by the end of the week, she stayed in her Little headspace almost all the time. And the more she did, the easier it was to reach.
Glancing around the kitchen, she tried to figure out if she had missed anything. She hadn’t the last ten times she’d checked, but you couldn’t be too careful.
“How much longer now, Daddy?” she asked when Deke joined her.
“About five minutes less than when you asked me the last time,” he answered. “I have something I want you to do.”
This was her favorite thing of all. She loved being Daddy’s Little helper. “What is it, Daddy? What do you want me to do?”
He pulled out a notebook. Thankfully not the one she had to write lines in. She’d thought cornertime was the worst punishment ever, but only until she had to write lines. It was boring writing the same sentence over and over again. And it made her hand hurt because Daddy added twenty-five sentences every time she broke the same rule in a day.
“Should I start on my thank you cards for all the Musketiaras who came to my party?”
“No, Rosebud. That can wait.” He sat at the table and pulled her onto his lap. “Remember when you told me one of the things you did for fun as a child was tell yourself stories you made up?”
She nodded, unsure of where he was going with this.
“Well, I thought it might be fun to tell yourself a story now and write it down. I’d love to read it when you’re done.”
“What should I write about?”
“What kind of stories did you tell yourself back then?”
“I had a few different sets of characters. One was about some ladybugs who were best friends and went on adventures.”
“That sounds great. I’d love to read a story like that. I’ll bet your friends would like to read it, too.”
“That’s silly, Daddy. Nobody would want to read a story I wrote.”
Deke’s brows shot up and his eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t be talking down about yourself, would you? I don’t mind you starting the party with a red hot bottom if you don’t.”
“No, Daddy,” she rushed to do damage control. “That’s okay. I can write a story everyone will want to read.”
“That’s what I thought,” he said with a nod. “I’ll be by the sink putting the snacks together if you need me.”
Whew! That was a close one. She opened her notebook and started at the blank page, trying to recall one of the stories she’d enjoyed. The perfect one came to mind and Suzi began to write.
“It’s time to put your writing away, little one. Everyone will be here in a few minutes,” Deke said.
One glance at the clock proved him right. Two hours had vanished, and she had been so absorbed in her story she hadn’t even realized.
She’d been looking forward to this party for days, but now that it was here, she worried.
“What’s wrong, Rosebud? I thought you’d be glad your friends are coming for a sleepover.”
“I am, Daddy. But they’ve never really met my Little. What if they don’t like her?”
Deke’s eyes softened as he pulled her close for a hug. “Rosebud, they are going to love your Little because they love you.”
The tightness in her chest eased. He was right. These girls had been her friends forever. They were going to be excited for her.
“Being early is the new on time,” Gabi called from the doorway. “I’m here to party! I didn’t have a craft or anything, so I created the playlist to end all playlists. Of course, I’m always up for offering my free expert legal advice.”
“At least then it will be worth what you pay for it,” Deke mumbled soft enough only Suzi could hear. Before she could react, he picked up Gabi’s backpack. “I’ll just take this upstairs for you.”
“Thank you,” Gabi said. Suzi couldn’t tell from her tone of voice if she’d heard Deke’s earlier words or not.
Gabi gave him a Cheshire grin and rocked back and forth on her heels until Deke disappeared upstairs. At that point, she lunged for Suzi and dragged her out onto the upper back deck. “I have the Taylor twins on standby. Which, by the way, was not easy since it’s Friday, but they owe me for the legal advice I gave them about their weekly Friday night beer bashes.”
Suzi could only stare at her friend. “What?—”
“The only problem is they don’t want to mess with Deke, so we have to walk to the highway. But they’ll be waiting there to pick us up. Let’s go.”
“Gabi, you don’t?—”
“Oh no!” Gabi grabbed Suzi’s cheeks and stared into her eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for signs of Stickhim Syndrome. Deke has you brainwashed.”
Suzi groaned. She loved her friend, but her Daddy was right. Gabi could be a bit of a nut. “First, it’s Stockholm Syndrome, and I was not kidnapped. And second, for the love of all the tea in China. I am not brainwashed. This was a plan Sabre Security put together to keep me safe.”
Gabi stepped back. Narrowing her eyes, she said, “Okay, spill,” she demanded.
Suzi stared at her best friend without the slightest idea what else to say. “Spill what?”
“Spill all the details on what’s been going on. You’ve been MIA, sister. You aren’t answering your phone. No one knows what’s going on. Has Deke been isolating you against your will? You know, the first sign of a serial killer is they isolate you from your friends and family. To we need to stage a rescue.”
“What? No!” What in the world? “There were some people trying to bother me, so Deke brought me to his cabin to keep me safe. I have my phone. I just haven’t been using it very much. We decided this would be a good time to unplug and try to get comfortable in my Little Space.”
Gabi was the only person on the planet, other than Deke, who knew Suzi hadn’t been able to reach her Little.
Gabi froze. “He helped you find your Little?”
Suzi nibbled her bottom lip. Then, giving a tentative smile, she nodded. “Yeah, he did.”
Gabi threw her arms around Suzi and swung her back and forth. “I knew he was right for you. I just knew it. I’m so happy for you!” Stepping back, she asked, “So, is Deke finally your Daddy?”
Suzi couldn’t hold back her smile. “Yeah, he is.”
Gabi threw herself back in Suzi’s arms and jumped up and down, forcing Suzi to do the same. “Oh, I guess I need to text the Taylor twins and tell them they can get back to their beer bash,” she said, pulling out her phone.
“Where is everyone?” Georgia called from inside the cabin.
Georgia’s arrival gave Suzi a good reason to cut the conversation short.
“Come on, Gabi, you can send your text from inside,” Suzi said. “We have a party to enjoy!”
Best night of her life.
Suzi and all the Musketiaras sat around the fire, listening to Gabi’s playlist and talking about any and everything.
“I’m telling you, we should do it,” Georgia said. “If we all ask to go, then they’ll have to let us.”
“Um, I’m pretty sure none of the Daddies are going to let us experience zero gravity by being on a plane in a nosedive,” Tazzy said.
“Yeah, my Daddy nixed the bungee jumping,” Winnie said. “No way would he let me do anything like that.”
“Me neither,” agreed Breezy.
“I don’t know. It might be fun,” Morgan said.
“How much would something like that even cost?” Rory asked something Suzi had wanted to know.
Georgia shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she admitted.
Tazzy grinned. “A lot of lattes, that’s for sure.”
Everyone laughed.
“Girls,” Deke called from the upper deck. “It’s time to come in and get ready for bed.”
Suzi wasn’t sure who could sleep. Ghost stories by the firepit may not have been the best idea. Who knew that sweet, quiet Tazzy could tell such gruesome tales? She wasn’t going to be able to sleep a wink.
“Can we have five more minutes,” she called up to her Daddy.
“That’s what you asked me five minutes ago,” Deke said. “I want to see everyone moving inside now. If you do, you might find a surprise midnight snack.”
“What kind of snack?” she asked.
“The kind that tastes better than a midnight spanking feels,” he told her. “On your feet, in the house, right now, or I’ll be on the phone to all your Daddies.”
Various whines of “Uncle Deke!” filled the night air.
“March your butts up here. My dialing finger is getting itchy.”
As they packed up, Morgan piped up. “I’m really glad you got to do this, Suzi. I haven’t seen you this relaxed and happy in a long time.”
“Maybe ever,” Rory added.
Tazzy folded her blanket and grinned. “I’m just glad you and Deke got things settled between you. I didn’t think you were ever going to forgive him.”
“I was ready to rent you two a room at The Getaway Motel,” Winnie joked.
“Uh, negative five-star rating on that place,” Breezy said. “I highly do not recommend.”
“I’ll bet,” Suzi said. “If anyone would know, you would since you lived there for a whole month.”
“Gross,” Morgan chipped back in. “I don’t know how you stood that. That place is disgusting. But then, I don’t know how Suzi can be as relaxed and happy as she is out here. I’d be a nervous wreck worrying about the paper. But you’ve been able to put it completely out of your mind.”
“Morgan, don’t say things like that,” Georgia said. “You’re going to make her nervous. I’m sure everything at The Daily Nugget is fine. Suzi, don’t you listen to her.”
“Oh, I won’t. I’m sure it’s all good. Carly would have called Deke if there was a problem,” Suzi said.
But would she? Suzi remembered what it felt like to be interning in college. That time when you knew everything that everyone could do a better way than what they were doing.
But Carly wouldn’t do anything crazy. Like, with no one there to stop her, she wouldn’t go against what Suzi had said about publishing the article about Alex Boucher and all his dirty connections.
Even though Carly had brought it up several times since Suzi had made the decision to wait, Carly wouldn’t just take matters into her own hands while she had the chance.
Suzi nibbled her bottom lip. But what about the unlikely chance Carly would do something like that? Breezy would be devastated. Not to mention, Deke would be furious.
Why hadn’t she listened to him about writing that exposé article? It was right there in her Dropbox, waiting to be published when the time was right. She should have deleted it, instead of leaving it like a tempting treasure for Carly to find and use.
She needed to make sure Carly knew under no circumstances was she to print it without Suzi’s express permission. But how was she supposed to let her assistant know?
She had no phone, no computer, no nothing. Well, she did, only they were tucked away in Deke’s office inside a drawer on his desk.
“Suzi, are you coming?” Gabi’s questions broke into Suzi’s thoughts.
“Um, yeah,” Suzi said, snatching up her blanket and running up the stairs.
She had no appetite for French toast skewers. Not anymore. Her tummy hurt in a way it hadn’t in a week. She had to make sure Carly left that article alone.
“I don’t want to hear any commotion coming from this room,” Deke said from Suzi’s bedroom doorway. “I already let you girls talk me into staying up way past your bedtime. It’s lights out and straight to sleep. If I have to come back in here, you’re all going to be in big trouble.”
“You won’t, Daddy,” Suzi assured him. “This time, we’ll go to sleep.” Unlike the last three times he’d come back to quiet them down. But seriously, could you have a sleepover without a pillow fight, a burping contest, and a game of truth or dare?
Granted, they may have taken that last one a bit too far. Georgia had chosen to take a dare. Gabi dared her to use the gutter downspout to climb up on the roof and shout, “I’m the queen of the world,” three times. That had resulted in a phone call to Hutch, Georgia’s Daddy, and a much more subdued Georgia.
Now, all the Musketiaras were exhausted. Sleep should come easily and quickly. At least, that was the plan. Then Suzi could sneak down to Deke’s office and leave a message for Carly on the paper’s voicemail.
Just as she’d hoped, it didn’t take long for everyone to fall asleep. Easing out of her bed, she tiptoed across the room and out into the hall. Her heart beat so loud she was surprised it didn’t wake everyone up.
They must have worn Deke out because he’d already gone to bed, too, for which she would be eternally grateful. The last thing she needed was to have to explain to an angry Daddy what she was doing out of bed at this time of night. He probably wouldn’t like her answer.
When she made it to Deke’s office, she slipped inside. It didn’t take long to leave a message telling Carly not to publish the article unless approved by Suzi.
Whew! This sneaking around after everyone was asleep was a piece of cake. Maybe she could support herself as a spy if she ever gave up the ace reporter gig.
She’d just twisted the doorknob to sneak back into her room when a deep, gravelly voice said, “What are you doing up, Rosebud? And why were you downstairs?”
She yelped, luckily not too loud, and spun around to see a very suspicious, very sleepy Daddy standing behind her. Sheesh! How did someone so huge move so quietly? She hadn’t even known he was there.
“Daddy!” she whispered. “You scared me!”
“I’m going to do more than that if you don’t have a good reason for being out of bed.”
“I do,” she said, brain frantically trying to make that a true statement she could actually tell him. “What if I needed to go potty?”
“Then you shouldn’t have been on the stairs.”
Uh oh. Now he was looking angry.
Time for a convenient truth. She threw herself into his arms and clung to him. “I can’t sleep in there with so many people. I wanted to be with you, and I thought you were downstairs.”
He still didn’t look convinced. Man! Fibbing was way harder than ace reporting.
It didn’t help she hated to lie, especially to her Daddy. But she also hated disappointing him, and if he knew she had used her phone, he’d been disappointed in her. He might even have an itchy spanking hand.
“So, why were you going back into your room instead of coming to me?”
Yeah, why was she going to her room? “On the way back up the stairs, I started feeling guilty about bothering you, so I decided to just go back to bed.”
She did feel guilty about bothering him, so it wasn’t a total lie. The fact t any of it was a lie at all made her tummy hurt.
His eyes warmed as the suspicion faded. “You should never worry about bothering me, Rosebud. It will never happen. Come lie down with Daddy and try to get some sleep. I happen to know quite a few Littles who get up at the crack of dawn.”
Deke put her in his bed and tucked her in tight. As always, she felt safe and cocooned in love. She turned her face toward his in order to say goodnight, but before she could utter a word, he lowered his lips to hers.
A spark of heat flared when he nipped at her lip, taking her mouth when her lips parted. She closed her eyes and focused on remembering to breathe. He took her chin in his fingers, tipping her head farther back and angling to gain deep access.
He was a great kisser.
Finally, he pulled away. Staring down at her with those incredible eyes, he said, “Good night, Rosebud. I’m glad you had a good day.”
Deke tucked her closer to him and drifted to sleep.
Two hours later, Suzi and the growing knot of guilt in her stomach did the same.