Page 1 of Big Daddy Mountain Man

CHAPTER ONE

“Thank you, Sir!” Amber Hanes said as she gleefully took hold of the check and examined the amount printed on its front.

“You know, you ought to have a bank account,” Manuel Reyes told her with a good-natured smile. “You could lose that check. And with an account the money could be directly deposited. It’s safer and quicker. Easier, too.”

Amber lowered the check and looked at her boss. He was a short, thin Hispanic man with silver hair, a close-cropped mustache, and kind, wise eyes. They were standing in his tiny office at the back of his family restaurant, with the smell of delicious dishes wafting in through the open door. The sound of plates and silverware clinking, as well as the cooks conversing in Spanish, drifted in, too.

“One day I’ll have one,” she said. She then offered an apologetic and embarrassed smile. “I had some issues a while back and banks won’t really open an account for me. But I’ll be okay. I’m getting back on my feet!”

She said that last part with her trademark optimism, causing the older man to smile and chuckle.

“I have no doubt you will do whatever you set your mind to. But are you sure I can’t talk you into staying?”

She held up the check and grinned. “No. This gives me what I need to go to Big Cedar. I’ll cash it on my way to the bus station and then I’ll have enough for my ticket!”

A ticket for the bus that left that very afternoon, she realized. She had to hurry, but there was still time to make it. She didn’t want to spend another day in Oklahoma City.

Not at the apartment she lived in.

Not with Donnielurking about. The one who made her afraid to sleep in her own apartment.

She didn’t want to think about him right now, though. She’d caught up on rent, taken care of a few things, and with that paycheck had the funds she needed to get out of town.

Life was looking up. Why dwell on the negative when there was so much positive?

Manuel sighed but smiled, too, nodding as he said, “Well, I wish you well. We’ll all miss you. And if you ever come back to Oklahoma City, just know you have a job right here waiting as long as our doors are open.”

That would be a while, Amber silently noted. The Mexican eatery was quite popular and had become a staple on the city’s southwest side. She’d wandered in six months back, looking for a job. She knew she must have been quite a sight: tattered clothes, frail and thin, looking every bit as down and out as she was. But Manuel had put her to work and everyone there had been so kind to her.

Now, though, it was time to move on.

“I’ll miss you, Mr. Reyes,” she told him, unable to stop a tear from falling down her left cheek.

He appraised her affectionately for a moment before saying, “Just promise me you will come to us if you are ever in trouble,mija.”

Amber smiled. She didn’t know much Spanish, despite working at the restaurant, but she knew enough to know that was a term of affection. It warmed her heart.

“I will Mr. Reyes. And thank you.”

He smiled wider, opened his arms, and hugged her tightly.

“I do not know what is in this Big Cedar,” he said in his thick accent. “But I hope you find exactly what you need.”

Amber was still smiling as she pulled away. What Big Cedar had was people like her: Littles.

And Bigs who loved and cared for them.

Maybe she’d find her Daddy there. It was time to set out and see if he was in those mountains of Southeastern Oklahoma, just waiting for her like she was waiting to meet him.

Maybe.

Someday.

For now, though, she just needed to get to that unique community nestled in the mountains and take the rest one step at a time.

“Thank you again. For everything,” she said.

“Thank you. You have worked hard here and will be missed.”

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