Page 1 of Their Forever Daddy

Chapter 1

Jesse

* * *

The day Jesse Walker left Lost River was written down in her personal history as both the best day and the worst day of her life. She hadn’t been the least bit sad to leave behind her apathetic parents and their stifling expectations that she would settle down with a nice boy and pop out a couple kids just like every other woman in her family. That wasn’t her destiny.

Hollywood. Hollywood had been her destiny, and even at the tender age of nineteen, she’d known she was going to be a star. She’d clung to that knowledge as she’d busted her ass learning the craft, running from one audition to the next, all while working three minimum wage jobs just to keep a roof over her head. A small, cramped roof she’d shared with two other aspiring actresses, but a roof all the same.

These days, her roof was significantly larger. Most would say too large, but she’d fallen in love with the old Spanish-style mansion overlooking the often violent waves of the Pacific within five minutes of stepping inside. It became her sanctuary, the one place in the world she could be herself away from the cameras and prying eyes of her adoring fans. Because as much as she loved her fans, there were just some things she couldn’t share with the world.

Like how much she loved crying for Daddy while someone spanked her like the naughty Little girl she was. Granted, it wasn’t exactly like she completely hid her Little side from the world. But luckily for her, most people seemed to shrug off her clothing choices and behaviors as Hollywood eccentricities. Which was perfectly fine by her, as it allowed her to indulge her Little side without actually explaining her Little side.

People, she’d learned long ago, could be judgmental assholes about things they didn’t understand.

Which brought her full circle back to Lost River. And the one thing she had been devastated to leave behind. Namely, the woman glaring daggers at her from across the cozy little kitchen.

“Nice to see you, too, Edie.” Doing her best to pretend her stomach wasn’t dancing with nerves, Jesse sipped her too-strong coffee and silently wished she’d taken the time to hunt down a Starbucks on her way here. What she wouldn’t give for a mocha with too many shots of espresso and a mountain of whipped cream. Especially since there was nobody around to spank her for going overboard.

Sigh. Missed opportunities.

But not one she regretted nearly as much as what she’d done to Edie McDowell, formerly Edie Williams, who was still frozen in place two steps inside her kitchen, her eyes narrowed and a muscle in her jaw twitching with barely constrained fury. She still looked exactly as Jesse remembered her, just… harder somehow. As though time and grief had whittled away all the softness she’d once held, and Jesse couldn’t help but grieve for the loss of it.

Even her eyes, those dark pools of brown that had once looked at Jesse with such love and tenderness, were hard as onyx now.

“I repeat,” Edie ground out through clenched teeth, her fingers curling into fists and then deliberately uncurling again at her sides. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Decided it was time to come home for a visit.” With a shrug that was far more nonchalant than she actually felt, Jesse took another sip of her coffee. “Is that a problem?”

“It is when you’re sitting in my kitchen, drinking my coffee. What do you want?”

Just like the rest of her, Edie’s voice no longer held any softness, or at least not for Jesse. And while she’d prepared herself for a less-than-warm welcome, it still stung. “To see you.”

For a long moment, Edie simply stared at her, that muscle in her jaw still jumping, and Jesse braced for the worst. But then Edie simply turned on her heel and stomped toward the front door without another word. A moment later, it opened then slammed shut again, rattling the old house, and Jesse sighed.

Welcome home, Jesse Walker.

Edie

* * *

The fucking nerve. The fucking audacity to just show up out of the blue after nearly a decade of silence and act like nothing had changed. It was rude. It was inconsiderate.

It was so fucking Jesse.

Edie forced her steps to slow as she entered the barn. No matter how out of control she was feeling inside, she couldn’t let on to her animals. It wasn’t fair to upset them just because her entire world had been flipped upside down in a matter of seconds.

Feeding her small zoo, which currently consisted of one sweet cow, two goats, three rude ass hogs, and a smattering of chickens and barn cats soothed her. There was comfort in the routine, and the snuggles she got from various animals—not the pigs, as they mostly just tolerated her presence because she gave them food—unfurled most of the knots in her stomach by the time she made it to Luna’s stall.

“Hey there, pretty girl,” Edie said, her heart swelling as she opened the gate to step inside the cramped space.

Luna’s gaze locked on her, her big brown eyes watching as Edie grabbed the brush hanging in her stall and slid her hand into the leather strap, the wood resting against her palm. Another of those routines that soothed her soul, even as troubled as it was by the reappearance of Jesse Walker in her life.

Or did she prefer to go by Carly these days? Carly Simmons was her stage name, so Edie had to assume all her Hollywood friends called her Carly.

Not that it mattered. Jesse or Carly, she wouldn’t be around long enough for it to be a concern.

“Can you believe she just showed up like that?” Shaking her head, Edie ran the rough bristles of the brush down Luna’s coat. “Not a peep from that girl for ten years and she thinks she can just make herself at home in my kitchen now? What the fuck was she thinking?”

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