28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
MAYLEE
M aylee had called out of work for the next several days. She had so much PTO and sick days racked up that she could take it. They were also in a quieter time, so her boss was more inclined to say yes. Did they know Ezra had left?
Tears formed in her eyes at the thought of him. It was hard. She didn’t know how to function. The first days were always the worst, but this one felt like it was going to be impossible to get through.
She had texted Justin to bring her to her house, which he’d done, so she could grab the things she needed. Justin was still outside waiting for her to finish. She’d told him it wasn’t necessary and that she could drive herself back to Ezra’s house, but he wasn’t having any of it. He had also promised he would take care of her if she needed it and make sure she got to places safely. Justin was taking his job seriously.
“Are you good?” Justin asked. “Do you need anything?”
Maylee shook her head and placed her things in her car. Well, it was only her purse and a smaller bag. Justin had made sure to grab her heavier bag when he saw her carry it out of the house.
“Do you know how to cook?” he asked. “Is there anything in the fridge at Ezra’s place?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
It wasn’t one of the things she had checked before she left. She hadn’t even eaten, or well, drunk her breakfast this morning. She had been that preoccupied.
“Well, I’ll check when we get there.”
She turned to him and gave him a confused look. “I’m okay to drive by myself back to his house. You don’t have to come in and make sure everything is okay.”
“But I do. I told Ezra I was going to make sure that you were okay and that you were safe and healthy. Me checking to see if there’s any food at his house is for your health. Me driving with you back to his house is for your safety. Both non-negotiable things.”
She sighed and nodded. There was no way of getting out of this, so she would have to go along with it.
“Well, I’m ready to go back to his house.”
“Your house is locked?”
She nodded.
“Okay. I’m going to follow behind you the whole time. You be safe.”
Maylee got into her car and started it up. She waited for Justin to get into his and give her the signal before she started driving back to Daddy’s house.
If anyone asked her how the drive was to his house, she wouldn’t be able to really respond. She couldn’t remember the drive. She had driven it so much it was muscle memory, but with her mind not fully being there, it was worse.
Once she’d got out of the car, she grabbed her purse and small bag and made her way toward Daddy’s front door. She’d considered not locking his house because nobody was going to enter, but Justin might have asked if she had locked it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Justin asked.
She glanced over to see him carrying her heavier bag.
“Yeah, I am. Just tired,” she replied.
Okay, that was a lie. She wasn’t okay, but she was going to be okay. She had to be.
“Come here.” Justin opened his arms. He had placed her bag on the ground. “Come on. It’s not negotiable. You’re giving me a hug.”
She let out a sigh and slowly approached him. He was trying to be nice and help her through this, which she appreciated. But at the same time, she kind of wanted to be left alone so she could be in her funk by herself.
“Good girl,” he said as she wrapped her arms around him.
It definitely wasn’t the same as Daddy hugging her, but it was close. It wasn’t the same feeling, but she was glad to get this hug.
“Now, we’re going to go inside, and I’m going to check if there’s anything in the fridge.”
Maylee turned and headed to the front door again, unlocking it. She stepped inside and waited for Justin to come in before she closed it.
“You can just place it in the living room.”
He looks down at the bag he was holding before looking back up at her. “And have you take it up the stairs when I’m gone? Yeah, not happening. I know your rule about not walking up and down the stairs while you’re in Littlespace or when you’re carrying heavy things.”
So, Daddy had told him about her rules. Of course he had. Why wouldn’t he? She definitely wasn’t getting away with anything while Daddy was gone. Which, honestly, she hadn’t expected. She had figured her rules wouldn’t really apply while he was gone. She should have known better, though. Daddy was always making sure she was safe.
“I bet you thought you were getting away with things while he was gone, but you’re wrong. While I won’t be here every day, all day, I will check in at random times. It could be twice a day, or it could be five times a day. You won’t know. If you need anything, you let me know. I’m here to help you.”
She nodded, and a look of satisfaction crossed his face.
“I’m going to put this up in his room, and then I’ll be right back to look at the fridge. You just sit and relax.”
Maylee sat down at one of the chairs by the kitchen island and waited for Justin to finish. She wouldn’t have taken the heavy bag up the stairs like that. She would have removed everything and carried it up a little by little. But Justin wasn’t going to pay attention to her if she said that. It was better for him to put it upstairs, so he didn’t have to worry about her.
“All right, I’m back and am going to take a look at the food now,” Justin said.
She watched as he started to go through the fridge and then the pantry .
“There’s enough food for a couple of days. Do you want me to cook anything?” Justin asked.
Maylee shrugged. She was feeling lost right now. Even though she hadn’t been living with Daddy, she had gotten used to him taking care of her and deciding things. Daddy would cook and give her leftovers. He would tell her how much she should eat, well a minimum of what she should eat. Daddy wanted her to nourish her body, so he made sure she ate enough.
But having him gone was hard. There was no way to contact him to know what she should have or what the minimum was. She hadn’t realized how lost she would feel without him. She hadn’t realized how much he had been doing for her. How was she going to survive?
“Come here.” Justin opened his arms again.
Maylee got down from her seat and approached him, wrapping her arms around his body when she got close. Undoubtedly, he could tell how lost she was feeling right now. She wasn’t hiding it at all.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Justin said, gently. “You’re going to get through this. You aren’t alone, and if you need anything, you can contact me or you can contact Liv.”
She could contact both of them, but it wasn’t the same. They weren’t Daddy, and even though Justin was a Daddy, he wasn’t her Daddy. There was a big difference.
“Now, there’s stuff for lunch and dinner for a couple of days, but there’s nothing for breakfast. Do you want me to cook you some breakfast items? And if nothing sounds good that’s in the fridge, I can cook you some other things,” Justin said as he pulled away .
She shook her head. “I don’t need anything for breakfast.”
Justin gave her a disapproving look. “I know your Daddy wouldn’t let you get away with not eating anything for breakfast, and I’m not either. What are you going to eat for breakfast?”
“Two glasses of milk. Chocolate milk.”
His disapproving look didn’t waver as she said that. If anything, it got worse. “Does your Daddy know you aren’t eating anything?”
She nodded. “I get nauseous when I eat. Daddy has witnessed it multiple times, and he told me to drink two glasses of milk every morning.”
Justin nodded. “Well, if your Daddy said two glasses of milk in the morning then you drink two glasses of milk in the morning. I don’t want you puking, so I’m not going to force you to eat anything. Maybe you should drink a chocolate protein shake and a glass of milk. Give you some more protein.”
She grimaced. “Protein shakes are yucky.”
He laughed and shook his head. Daddy had tried to feed her one time and it hadn’t ended well. She’d started gagging from the taste alone. Protein shakes weren’t good.
Justin grew serious and smiled. “I want you to know that if you need anything, and I mean anything, you let me know. No matter how small it is, I want you to let me know. While your Daddy is gone, I’m going to be checking in, like I said before.”
And there went her mood. She was starting to forget that Daddy wasn’t here. Well, not to forget, but her mind wasn’t focused on him and feeling so lost. But now, now her mind was back on it, and the lost feeling was taking over.
Part of her was glad she called out of work because she knew she wouldn’t be able to pay attention to anything. But the other part of her regretted the decision because now she had all this time to feel lost. She had so much free time, she didn’t know what she was going to do or how she was going to combat the feeling.
“I know this is tough, but you’re going to get through it. I’m going to be stopping by at the end of the day each day to make sure that you’re doing okay. I do have a spare key, but I will be knocking and waiting for you to answer the door. If you don’t answer it, and you’re home, then I will use my spare key,” he said. “I’m letting you know this so that you’re not shocked or scared if I use my spare key. Understand?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“If you go anywhere, I would like for you to text me. Just in case I decide to come by, and you aren’t home, I don’t want to panic. I know the town is small, but please just do this for me. I told your Daddy I was going to keep you safe, and I intend to keep you safe while he’s gone. Which means I would like for you to follow the rules you normally have and also message me if you go anywhere.”
“And you’ll message me when you are coming here?” she asked.
He didn’t have to since he was going to be knocking on the door, but she couldn’t help but ask. What if other people came over to Daddy’s house and needed something? Was she going to answer the door?
“If you want me to, I will. Well, better yet I’ll just do it. When I’m coming over, I’ll text you just to give you a warning. I still want you to look through the peephole when I do knock on the door. That is non-negotiable, even if you do know it’s me.”
She nodded. There was no way she wasn’t going to not look through the peephole while Daddy was gone. While she did know everyone in town, Daddy wasn’t here to keep her safe. She had no clue where or how far he was. Daddy wasn’t going to be able to rescue her if she found herself in trouble.
“I’m going to text you throughout the day just checking in. I know this time can be hard, and that’s why I’m going to be doing that. Just making sure that you are perfectly fine. I would like it if you could respond in a timely manner. It doesn’t have to be right away if you’re in the middle of something, but don’t let it be four hours before you respond. Well, you wouldn’t even get four hours before I came over and checked on you.”
“I understand,” she replied. “Respond in a timely manner. I know the drill.”
It wasn’t her first rodeo. Daddy had her do this all the time. He knew her job was demanding, and she wouldn’t always be able to reply. That was when she would slip off and tell him she was busy, giving him one-word replies. He was fine with that since he knew she was working, but this was different. She was at his house, and she wasn’t doing anything.
“Have you taken time off of work or will you be going into work?” Justin asked.
“I took time off, so I’ll be here the whole time.”
“How about you sleep in while he’s gone. Catch up on some sleep?” he suggested. “Though, you will be going to bed at your bedtime. That’s one of your rules, and if I find out you didn’t, then I will give you so many lines your hand might fall off.”
She widened her eyes and quickly nodded. There was no way she was going to do all those lines, which meant she needed to make sure she went to bed at a reasonable time. Okay, at her bedtime.
“I know. I’m going to go to bed at my bedtime, don’t worry. And I may sleep in. I haven’t decided that yet. It’s not like I’m going to do anything, so I could.”
“Exactly. So, I’ll text you around ten in the morning to see if you have eaten breakfast.”
She nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Well, I’m going to leave you alone now. If you need anything, text me.”
“Okay, I will.”
Justin grabbed his keys from the table and left. Maylee stood there and looked around, not knowing what to do.