Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
“Because this is the first time I’ll be using it. I’ve saved it for years just waiting to find the only one it could belong to forever.” As my nose scrunched in confusion, Lincoln turned the paddle over to expose the other side and my breath caught in my throat and my heart skipped a beat. Written in script across the beautiful grain of the wood were the words, Daddy’s Naughty Little Girl. “Who are you, Liv?”
“I am Lincoln’s.”
“And I?”
“You are mine.”
No further words were needed and when he held out his free hand, I took it and let him guide me across his lap, Kate grinned from where she was doing the same on the opposite couch and I saw a very similar paddle in Luther’s hand and smiled. And I don’t think either of us were surprised when our Daddies’ hands lifted at the same time nor that those paddles landed at the exact same moment.
And in case you’re wondering, my Daddy was pretty darn proud of the job he did and I’d have to say, he managed to match that color perfectly.
Later that night at the Barn Dance
Funny how the same word could have one feel two completely different things. I’d missed last month’s dance because of an injured ankle. The supportive wrapping as well as the crutches made my condition visible to anyone who saw me.
Tonight however, my condition was invisible yet I bore it like a badge of honor. The physical signs were still there but unseen but for those people who had become my family.
Both had made me throb but in such different ways.
And though I’d been blessed to have Lincoln care for me while my ankle throbbed, it had been painful.
But as the banjos and guitars and fiddles played, and boots stomped, and cowboys twirled their cowgirls, all I felt was the delicious throbbing bliss of knowing that the man leading me was my very own Daddy. With each duck and twirl, every stomp and weave, the denim of my skirt swished across my thighs and the ass that he’d made sure would remain pink all night long.
When the Cotton-Eyed-Joe dance ended with a shouted chorus of, “Bull-shit,” Lincoln picked me up and twirled me in a final circle before sitting me back on my feet. “Havin fun, pixie?”
“So much! I could do this every night!”
He chuckled. “I believe you could, but your poor Daddy needs a breather and a drink. Want your regular C4?”
I loved the fact he already knew what my regular was. “Yes, please,” I said as he led me back to the table and the group of haybales the four of us had claimed on arrival. Kate and Luther were still out on the floor as a waltz began to play. I smiled and looked around the huge space. I saw several faces I remembered from my childhood and new ones I’d met when those casseroles kept coming. Tumbling Falls was so very different than any city I’d ever lived in. I smiled with the thought that the true difference wasn’t the place, it was the people. Everyone surrounding me was just as concerned with their neighbor’s health and happiness as their own.
“It won’t last, you know. It never does.”
It took me a moment to realize that voice hadn’t belonged to Miss Smarty-Pants inside my head, This one came from someone standing beside me.
I looked up and saw Susanne St. Helen. I also saw she wasn’t even looking at me. Her gaze was directed across the room to where the refreshments had been set up and I knew who it was Susanne was searching for.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” I said softly. “It’s not a very happy way to go through life.”
She dropped her gaze to me and any softness she’d displayed that day at the Feed ‘N Seed was gone. Her blue eyes were hard, her lips thinned into a mere slash. “You’d do better to spend your time feeling sorry for yourself when you discover the truth,” she said in a tone dripping with venom.
What she didn’t know was that venom no longer frightened me. I’d dealt with vipers and come out stronger for the battle. The moment I’d found those papers, I’d found a well of strength that ran deep inside me. A well filled from the very beginning of my life with the unconditional love of my namesake that had just been waiting to be tapped. I’d discovered it would never go dry as it was refilled every day with the love of the man I’d known for as long as I could remember and had only needed to find again. I rose to my feet to face Susanne head on.
“I already know the only truth that matters. And despite what you may think, I truly wish you the best. I hope that one day you’ll be ready to move on and find the one man who makes you feel that you are the other half of his soul. One who protects you—”