Page 21 of Guiding Little Gabi

“I’m going to hang out with my friends in the big hot tub this afternoon. We’re going to have so much fun!”

Her Daddy wasn’t as excited. Instead, he frowned. “Are these the same girls you got in so much trouble with just the day before yesterday?”

Her smile disappeared. He had to go and mention that, didn’t he?

Not that he had to say anything for her to remember. The delicious ache in her bottom and the butterflies fluttering in her tummy reminded her every time she moved.

“Yes, Daddy. But we won’t get into any trouble today. We’re going to stay right in the hot tub.”

“I’m not sure having all you girls together unsupervised is a good idea. Maybe I’ll go along with you and sit in a lounge by the pool in case you need anything.”

Gabi was torn. She’d love to have her Daddy there. After all, he might change his mind and not want to be her Daddy anymore once they left the Ranch.

But all her friends’ Daddies worked on the Ranch, so they wouldn’t be there. She didn’t want to be the only one with a chaperone. That would be embarrassing. Besides, she wasn’t sure if the bath bombs were a secret or not. She for sure didn’t want to get everyone in trouble again by having a Daddy there.

“We’ll be good, Daddy. I promise. What kind of trouble could we get into in the hot tub? I’ll bet there will be people everywhere.”

His eyes narrowed. That was a bad sign. She schooled her face into as sad an expression as she could. “If you really don’t want me to play with my new friends, I don’t have to. I wouldn’t want you to feel left out, Daddy. We can just sit in the room and talk about the weather or something. I hear it’s going to be a real scorcher today.”

Wow. Her Daddy’s “you’re not fooling anyone face” was way better than her sad face or the rolling of Beetlebrenda’s eyes, Gabi could swear she could see.

“Don’t lay it on too thick, teacup. I get it. You want Little girl time. There is a Middle Play 101 class for Daddies I thought looked interesting this afternoon.”

“That’s fantastic. I mean, I bet you’d enjoy that, Daddy. I wouldn’t want to pull you away from something you were looking forward to just to sit by a boring old swimming pool. I’m thoughtful like that.”

“You might want to think about how easily I can flip you over my knee since you’re already on my lap.”

Hmm. “Good point.”

“Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll walk you to the big hot tub. Once everyone is there, I’ll go to my class, then come back for you. My class will be about an hour. Surely even you and your new friends can’t get into trouble in an hour.”

Cue the puppy dog eyes. “We wouldn’t get in trouble even if we had a million hours, Daddy. Trust me.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I do trust you, teacup. And this will be the perfect time for you to apologize and tell everyone you aren’t a lawyer.”

Her chest tightened. She’d promised to tell everyone she wasn’t a lawyer, but that didn’t mean she was looking forwardto it. What if they didn’t want to be her friend anymore? If she wasn’t someone important who could help them, why would they?

“I will, Daddy,” she promised. She’d just wait until they were ready to get out of the hot tub.

Several hours later, gift bags and tissue paper covered the bed, the table, and the counter in the kitchenette. Markers, glue, glitter, and stickers were scattered across every flat surface as well. She and her Daddy had worked all morning to prepare everything for her friends.

Sadie, Hayleigh, Wren, and Pippi needed to know how much she appreciated their invitation to join them in the hot tub. So, while everyone had been busy Freezing out the Fourth, Gabi had visited the gift shop. It had taken a long time to find exactly what she wanted, but she’d finally found it. Hopefully, no one else wanted patriotic bath bombs in the near future, because she’d bought every last bath bomb in the shop—at least all the ones that were red, white, or blue.

When she poured all thirty-five bath bombs out on the bed, Raleigh’s jaw dropped. “Why in the world do you need so many, teacup?”

“It’s important, Daddy,” she’d assured him. “I want them to know how much I appreciate them including me.”

And you want them to like you.

“And you do that with these balls?”

“I do it by showing them they matter enough to me that I want to do something special for them.”

That way, maybe I’ll be important to them, too. This time she didn’t even need Beetlebrenda to tell her that wasn’t any way to feel. She could see it written all over her Daddy’s face.

Frowning, he shook his head. She hadn’t fooled him at all. “You don’t need to give them gifts for them to like you, baby. Just like you don’t have to tell them you’re a lawyer. You’rea wonderful person. You care about people. You treat them like they’re important, no matter who they are. People like you because of who you are on the inside. I care about you for your heart, your kindness, your fearlessness, and so many more things. People love you because you love them.”

His words filled a part of her heart she hadn’t known was empty. Leaving the bath bombs rolling on the bed, she lunged for him. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck, but he hadn’t let her wear her high-heeled furry house slippers. Settling for hugging him around the waist, she said, “I love that you think that way.”

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