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Chapter One
Cash
“You’relate,Cash!”Myobnoxious best friend, Reid Dalton who also is my business partner, so kindly pointed out with a smirk.
“Yeah, no shit!” I snapped back as I flipped the smug bastard off.
“Daddy, that’s a bad word! You has to give me a dollar!” Of course this would be the day that my precocious four, almost five year old, decides to call me out on my swearing.
“Yeah, pumpkin. You’re right. Can I give you an ‘I owe you?’ Daddy doesn’t have any cash on him right now and you don’t have any pockets.” I tease as I pull one lopsided curly pig tail. I’m so screwed when it comes to hair. I miss the days when I could brush it and her perfect curls were good to go. Now I spend half an hour on YouTube trying to figure out the difference between a French braid and a Dutch braid like I have any hope of accomplishing either hair style. My lopsided pigtails are about as good as it gets at this point.
There aren’t many times when I begrudge doing this parenting gig on my own, but when it comes to hair and clothes, I am so out of my element. And wouldn’t you know, my tough as nails tom-boy who loves playing in the dirt, very rarely has shoes on, and always has something on her face or shirt demands the most complicated hairstyles known to man.
Penelope, Penny as we love to call her, was the result of a smoking hot one night stand. I definitely wanted kids, but never thought that having one would come about this way. Even though her mother and I used protection, it apparently failed. Penny’s mother is a free spirit who caught my eye at the local bar one night as she was passing through town. We instantly hit it off and lost our clothes even faster. Our night ended the next morning with a goodbye kiss and a promise for her to call or text if she was ever passing through again.
Never would I have thought that I would get a text a few months later letting me know that my hot as hell one night stand resulted in a surprise pregnancy. Thankfully, Ashley felt that I deserved to know about the baby and help make a decision on what course of action we would take. When Ashley admitted that she was in no way ready to be a mom, I surprised even myself when I told her that I wanted the baby, and she could walk away with no strings attached.
Ashley ended up moving in for the rest of her pregnancy since she didn’t have a home in the normal sense of the word. All of my friends and family were secretly hoping that we would fall in love and raise our beautiful baby girl together. Unfortunately for them, we both knew pretty early on that Ashley was not ready or willing to step into that rule and we were both okay with that.
Thankfully her pregnancy was relatively easy, and our roommate situation actually resulted in us building a kick ass friendship. We talk once a month, and she makes a point to zoom with Penny. Their relationship is more like the cool aunt and awesome niece, but that’s what works for all of us. When she can, Ashley swings by for a visit and regals us with her most recent adventure. Penny knows that Ashley is her mom, but that she’s out doing her own thing and Daddy’s here to hold down the fort.
On this particular day, holding down the fort was definitely giving me a run for my money. At times like this, having a partner to lean on is appealing, but then I realize I love having Penny to myself and don’t want to risk her getting attached to someone if they’re going to end up leaving. Keeping Penny healthy and happy is always my number one goal. Getting serious with someone just isn’t in the cards for me, and I’m completely fine with that.
Since it is summer break, Penny’s preschool is closed, and I have had to make other arrangements for childcare. The sweet neighbor girl who just turned 16 and wanted to save money for a car has been watching her, but she is gone at basketball camp for the next week.
I know I should have a contingency plan for situations like this, but apparently asking my mom at the last minute if she can watch my pumpkin isn’t a full proof, “yes.” She and some of her girlfriends have had a spa trip planned for months that I definitely should’ve remembered since it’s all she has been talking about, or so she reminded me when I called her in a panic this morning because I completely forgot about the neighbor girls’ basketball camp.
I thought about asking my sister since she’s also a great back up, but she’s slammed with running her kids all over to the million different programs they have scheduled this summer. Last time I had Calli watch my little pumpkin, she about drove my sister nuts with how bored she was being stuck in the car half the day and then acting like a kid let loose in a candy store with unlimited funds once she finally got outside to play.
Did I mention that Penny is a bit of a handful? She is definitely channeling her mother’s free spirit most days. She is always on the move whether she’s having a dance party instead of eating breakfast, or climbing the bookshelf to try and get the markers I tried hiding from her. Yeah, that one took about ten years off my life.
So, is a construction site the best place for my little hellion? Probably not, but we were already behind schedule due to a week of storms, and we really couldn’t afford to be a man down, especially when you are part owner in the company. I came prepared with a bag full of toys, Penny’s favorite snacks, tablet, and as many markers as we could find to fill yet another notebook with her creations. Hopefully if I can set her up at the kitchen table which is out of the way while I get the back splash finished and the counters in, that should be enough to distract her and keep her busy while Reid and I, along with our crew, try to win some time back on this project.
“Alright Pumpkin. You have snacks, toys, a tablet, and all the markers and paper that you could possibly need for a few hours. Can you please, please be a good girl and stay at this table while I go over there and start working on the backsplash?’’
“What’s a blacksplash?”
Chuckling, I looked into those big blue eyes as I corrected my ever-curious daughter. “Not blacksplash, but backsplash. It’s pretty tiles that daddy is going to stick to the wall above the counter tops to add a‘splash’of color.”
Wrinkling her nose she huffed. “Okay, whatever you say, Daddy. And I promises I will stay here and be good. But what do I do if I has to go to the potty?”
“You just let me, or Uncle Reid know, and we will take you. Although we are almost done in the kitchen, the rest of the house is still not safe for you to go wandering around, you hear me?” I try to impress upon her as I give her my most sterndad look.
Those big blue eyes widen as she gives me a slight nod letting me know she understands that I mean business.
Thankfully, after getting Penny all set up and some more teasing from Reid, I’m making some serious progress in the kitchen and think I’ll actually be able to get this done today. But as soon as that thought crosses my mind, I glance over and realize Penny is no longer at the table. Walking around the island to see if she decided to sprawl out and color on the floor, one of her favorite ways to draw, I discover she’s not under the table either.
“Penny, where are you?”
“What’s going on?” Reid asked with his eyebrows pinched as he makes his way into the kitchen.
“Shit, she isn’t with you? Where could she have gone? PENNY!?!”
“Calm down. I’m sure she just got bored and went to explore. All the guys know she’s here and they won’t let her get hurt. You check this floor, and I will head upstairs to see if I can find her.”
“Thanks, man. You really are the best Uncle she could ask for.” But just as the words leave my mouth, my heart drops from the sound of Penny’s scream and then her immediate sobs.
“PENNY! WHERE ARE YOU PUMPKIN? Where the hell is she? Where did that sound like it came from?” I frantically yell at Reid as I race out of the kitchen and head toward the stairs with him hot on my heels.
