Page 11 of Big Daddy

Matilda pulls away with a smile tugging at her lips. “He’s never spoken to her like that before,” she whispers for my ears only as the two parents get into it. “Mother?” Matilda’s eyes hold a secret.

“What?” Brenda snaps at her only child, shooting daggers her way.

“He’s forty-two.”

“Jesus Christ.” Coltrain drops his head back, looking up at the sky like he’s hoping lightning will strike him down.

I think Brenda’s jaw hits the floor.

“And I call him Big Daddy all the time because it’s his road name. Everyone calls him that.” I wrap an arm around my bratty woman as she hides in my chest while laughing because her mother looks about ready to stroke out.

“You. Called. Him. Daddy,” Brenda grunts with a stomp of her foot.

“Yes, I did.” Matilda grins, proud of shocking everyone in the room.

“I can’t be hearing this.” Coltrain meets my stare, and I recognize a kindred soul when I see one. He wants his own little girl but has likely stuffed the urge down because of the age of his daughter and this sadistic cunt of an ex. “I’m grilling and drinking,” he says, more to himself, and walks away again.

“Matilda,” Brenda barks, and years of hearing that tone have likely conditioned her, so when she snaps to attention at my side, I growl. “You will tell this…this…this beast to leave right now, or we’ll never speak again.” A smirk tilts the woman’s lips because she thinks she’s won.

“Okay,” Matilda shrugs, pulling out of my embrace to lace our fingers together and pull me along to the deck where Coltrain is chugging his third beer since making his exit.

With a look over her shoulder, she tells Brenda, “Leave now.”

The woman shrieks even more, spitting out curses and threats, but we ignore her as she throws her fit. Shutting the French doors behind us, Coltrain hands me a beer and a grape soda for Matilda. I pop the top before handing it to her. I imagine that’s something her father’s always done for her. Allowing me to do it is even more telling about my assumptions of the man.

“I’m okay with Big Daddy,” he finally says. “But please, for the sanity of my mind and health of my heart, leave the Daddy stuff at home.” Matilda giggles, but I meet his gaze and give a nod of understanding.

CHAPTER 9

Matilda

The sun has long since set after dinner, and we’re on the back patio, enjoying the fire my father made in the pit, with the sounds of classical music strumming through the speakers. I’m curled up in Big Daddy’s lap with a blanket covering my legs as they talk about things I have almost no interest in.

My father used to be a commercial fisherman, and he’s regaling his blue-collar days with Big Daddy as he talks about the last trip he made that nearly took his life. An unexpected storm hit, and the ship he was on was almost lost to the sea. Quick thinking by the captain was the only thing that kept them from all perishing. They maneuvered close enough to the docks before the ship sank after taking on too much water.

Life jackets kept them afloat until the coast guard could come to their rescue. I was only a baby at the time, so I don’t remember it, but he’s told me the story numerous times over the years. I don’t think I ever appreciated the life he loved and gave up because he wanted to watch me grow up. He didn’t want me to lose out on a father.

I’ll be forever grateful for that storm and his choices afterwards, despite him typically being so busy building his realtor reputation and gaining strides in a market that has always been a bit unstable, in my opinion.

He built an empire, and I’m proud of him. But I see something now that I hadn’t before—mainly because I was across the country. His loneliness is quite apparent now that I have Big Daddy. I can see how much he wants someone to share his wealth and life with. And I decide right here that I’m going to help him. On the sly, of course, because he’d never admit to it.

After saying our goodnights, Big Daddy helps me into his pickup truck when I say to him, “He’s lonely.”

“He is,” Daddy confirms.

“I could set him up.” I grin as he buckles me in, smacking a kiss on the tip of my nose.

He waits to answer me until he closes my door and is seated behind the wheel. “Baby girl, you have to be careful about that.”

My brows pull together. “Why?”

It’s a minute before he speaks again as we pull into traffic. “He wants his own little girl.” My lips twitch as I think about that.

“He wants to be a Daddy, too?” That shocks me so much. He’s so…vanilla.

“Yes.”

“I never would have guessed.” I’m not as grossed out as I imagine I should be. “How do you know?” This man never left my side all night; they couldn’t have spoken about it.

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