Chapter 1

Joe

Not long now, I think to myself. I’ve been driving for a while, from my tiny, old apartment in New York to my cozy, new house in Westchester. I’ll be taking this journey quite often from now on.

It’s not that bad, at least this part of the trip. The scenery is beautiful in the sunshine, with picturesque houses, lush green lawns, and kids playing outside.

This place will be perfect for me, and for my daughter.

I check the rearview mirror and see that Marnie is still asleep in the back. I laugh to myself, she is such a sweetheart. The move has really tired her out, she’s only seven, the poor thing.

I hate to uproot her, but the city was toxic for us. I was working non-stop and never had enough time for her, so moving out here to a quiet, small town will bring us closer together. I’ve managed to set up the business so that I can work from home most days, and I know this is going to be better.

A small boy playing in his yard accidentally misses a catch and a football bounces into the street, causing me to brake suddenly. It doesn’t bother me, I expected this kind of thing, especially in such nice weather. I wave the kid on to get his ball and he waves back, thanking me. I drive on, noticing that my abrupt stop woke Marnie.

“Huh… What…?” she mumbles, wiping her eyes and brushing the adorable curly brown hair from her face.

“You were snoring again, sweetie,” I lie. She doesn’t snore, but I like to tease her.

“Did not!” she snaps, sitting up in her seat. She looks around, a little confused. The rows and rows of colorful houses must be a shock to her, as I’ve taken her out of the city only a few times. She grew up around the bright lights and high-rise buildings of New York.

“Where are we?” she asks.

“Westchester, and we’re almost at our house in New Rochelle. Isn’t that exciting?”

I’ve been trying to get her enthused about the move because I know she hasn’t been pleased about it so far.

She pouts as soon as I mention it.

“But why do we even have to move?” she asks, for what seems like the fiftieth time.

“Well, Daddy was getting a bit too swamped at work and he needs the rest and relaxation that a lovely little seaside town like this can offer. And I feel like it’ll do us some good as well. I’ve not been spending enough time with you. Out here I can work from home and spend as much time with you as we like. I can take you to the beach too if you want. Would you like that, Marnie?” I ask, unsure of how she will respond.

I’ve fallen out of touch with my daughter over the last few years and the realization suddenly dawns on me that I’ve already missed so much of her childhood. I definitely won’t be winning any awards as the world’s best father, but I’m determined to do better for her.

Marnie squishes up her face as she thinks, “But I like swimming in our pool at home. It’s warm and there aren’t any jellyfish.”

I can’t help but laugh, “There aren’t any jelly fish here either. And sweetie, that wasn’t our pool, it was the building’s pool. We just had a pass that let us use it.”

“Oh. Well, I still prefer that,” she said, as she folded her arms, determined not to budge an inch or find anything positive to say about this big change in our lives.

“Come on, darling. We’ll have a big house to ourselves with lots of rooms. We’ll be able to play hide and seek for hours! You’ll have your own room and it’s in the attic because I know you like having a nice view from your windows.”

“Really, Daddy?” she said, a reluctant smile beginning to spread across her face.

I knew that would catch her attention, and she better like it because the room in the attic is one of the biggest. She’ll be staying there till she goes off to college if this works out for us.

“Is it one of the big rooms?” she asks, with the first hint of excitement I’ve been able to coax from her.

“Of course it is!” I say, grinning back at her as I brake to take the turn onto our road. “Only the best for my little girl!”

“Thank you, Daddy!” she cries, bouncing up and down in her seat.

“Do you have your seatbelt on?” I ask, trying to put on a stern, fatherly voice. I shudder to think of all the parenting mistakes I’m probably making. I even forgot her booster seat when we left home.

I stop outside our new house, on the edge of the street just behind what I assume is a neighbor’s jeep, because the moving van is in our driveway. I switch off the engine and get out, then hurry to help Marnie.

When I open the back door she sticks her hand out to me, silently asking for help to get out.

“Milady,” I say as she takes my arm.

“Thank you, good Sir,” she says, putting on her best posh voice.

“Oh, and knowing how much you loved the pool back at the apartment, of course I made sure our new place had a huge pool in the back yard. Just for you!”

She stops faking being royalty and her eyes grow wider than dinner plates.

“Really?” she cries. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I look over to the gate leading into the back yard and wink at her. She jumps up at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and gives me a big sloppy kiss on the lips.

“YAY! Thank you Daddy! This is the best house ever!” she squeals as she runs past all the movers to get to the back yard.

“You haven’t even seen the inside yet!” I shout after her, but she’s too far gone. Even the childproof gate isn’t enough to slow her down. I smile to myself and laugh as I follow her, arriving just in time to see her leaping into the deep end, fully clothed.

“Marnie!” I cry, but of course she can’t hear me in the water.

She’s an excellent swimmer but I still make a mental note to get the security around the pool upgraded. If she can get in that easily, so could other kids, and I know I have a responsibility to keep the neighborhood safe.

I pull Marnie out of the pool, careful not to let her soak me too, and leave her to stand soaking wet by the pool. I walk into the kitchen, wondering if the movers have unpacked any towels yet. I can see that they’ve made a pretty good start on the kitchen, with all my knives, expensive oils, and enormous spice collection sitting neatly in their places. I really can’t wait to get back into cooking. I used to cook all the time for my ex-wife.

I force myself to stop thinking about her.

Not here, don’t let her ruin this place. It’s a new start and she’s not going to get her hands on this.

Taking a deep breath, I try not to think about it. Perhaps a nice walk around the area will clear my head? Plus, it’ll give the movers some time to unpack the rest of the boxes without us getting in the way.

I really can’t wait to get set up here with Marnie. I know she’s going to have some ideas about decorating. She’s such a bright spark, and being the only woman in my life, she’ll get a lot of say in the decorating decisions.

“Daddy, where are the towels!” Marnie comes running in, soaked head to toe. She stands there, looking up at me and dripping on the kitchen tile. I laugh as I look behind her. Having come through the sliding door in the living room she’s left a trail of soggy foot prints and drips all along the floor.

“I’m sure I must have packed an emergency towel in the car,” I say, fairly confident that I did no such thing, but it’s the best I can think of.

I take her hand.

“What do you say we go and lay on the grass in the sun for a moment to get dry? Then we’ll go for a little walk around and see if we can’t find somewhere nice for lunch?”

“Yeah!” she squeals, pulling me toward the car.

I notice her cheeky little face change to a devilish grin. She giggles and stops, then turning to me she gives me a big hug, soaking my clothes as well as hers.

“Oh, I’m gonna get you for that!” I shout as Marnie runs away giggling.

* * *

Marnie and I lay out on the grass as the movers continue, for what seems like forever, carrying the boxes into the house. I really don’t remember packing so much stuff.

I look over to Marnie, drying out in her rubber duck hooded towel poncho. Best thing I ever bought her. She looks so funny and cute!

Leaning over and sitting up, I poke my tiny daughter in her ticklish spot.

“I wasn’t sleeping!” she snaps, sitting up quickly and batting my hand away.

“Your clothes dry yet, duckling?” I ask.

She looks up at the orange bill of her hood and flicks it back, shaking her hair like a wet puppy. It manages to stay fluffed up and sticking out in random directions, but she pats it down and brushes it out of her eyes.

She runs over to her clothes, which we laid out on the patio furniture to catch some sun.

“Dry enough,” she cries. “I want to go see the new town!”

She runs around me excitedly, trying to pull me up.

“Alright, Marnie, we’ll leave in just a moment, are you sure those clothes are dry?”

She takes off her poncho and starts putting her wet dress back on.

“Dry! See! Let’s go!” she whines.

I go into the house and open the first box I can find that has Marnie’s name on it. I pull out a little green dress and get her to put it on.

“That better?”

She nods.

“Come on then, what do you want for lunch?” I ask her.

“I want a bagel!” she shouts excitedly.

“And what do you want on your bagel?”

She pauses for a moment and looks completely blank, making me laugh.

“I don’t know,” she says, twiddling her fingers together.

I laugh again, “Alright sweetie, let’s go get you a bagel.”

I take her hand and walk down the street. I know I saw some shops back up the way we came and I’m pretty sure we passed a cafe.

“We’ll be done by about five, Mr. Abercrombie!” one of the movers shouts as he runs over to me.

“Thanks, Phil. And please, call me Joe!” I smile and shake his hand. He smiles back at me, “I’ll get you all something later as an extra thank you for doing such great work!” I add, shouting to the whole team.

“Thanks, Joe!” they all shout back, waving to Marnie and me as we leave.

Marnie grabs my hand tightly as we walk down the street. I’ve taught her well and she always stays close to me when we go out, especially in new places.

This really is such a nice neighborhood with people smiling and waving at us when we walk by. Part of me had worried that moving to a cul-de-sac would have that ‘the houses all look the same’ vibe and that I would see the blinds in the windows across the street move or snap closed every time I glanced up, indicating nosy or unfriendly neighbors. But so far, everyone seems super friendly, and we haven’t even had a chance to get to know them yet.

After walking a few blocks, shops start to appear, family owned businesses and things like that. Marnie stares wide eyed into all the shop windows like she can’t wait to beg me to buy her something.

We walk past a flower shop and she squeals with delight at the small Venus fly traps they have on display. She loves crazy stuff like that.

She pulls me aside, accidentally causing me to trip and collide with a passer-by, sending us both crashing to the ground. I can hear Marnie gasp in shock as I fall, the passerby landing directly on my crotch.

“Gosh, I am so terribly sorry–” I begin to say, but when I look up and see the woman I’ve pulled on top of me, I can’t believe my eyes. She is breath taking. Our eyes lock and we can’t break away from the intense mutual gaze. I stutter for a moment and realize that I’m staring, and that she’s literally sitting on my hardening cock.

“Uh—here! Let me help you up,” I say as I jump up and take her hand, trying to pat down the bulge that’s forming in my slacks. She raises her hand to me and her touch feels electric. I help her to her feet and I notice that she’s blushing and trying to hide behind her hair.

“Again,” I say, “I am so sorry about that.” Realizing I’m still holding her hand, I let go quickly and try to stop my awkward laughing.

For some reason I just can’t stop touching this poor woman. First, I pull her into my lap, making her land right on my cock. Now I’m holding her hand way longer than necessary.

Luckily she seems to be as attracted to me as I am to her, and she’s failing terribly at hiding her reddening cheeks.

I pat down the front of my slacks again, feeling my own cheeks redden a little.

“That’s ok,” she says, her voice so soft and sweet. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. Thank you for helping me up.”

It’s only then that I realize she’s not alone. She’s with a friend, who’s standing next to Marnie, staring at the two of us like we’re a pair of flirting teenagers.

“Sorry!” her friend says, grabbing her arm, “We have to get moving, L!”

Shrugging, she smiles at me as if to say ‘what can you do?’ And just that fast they are gone and have quickly disappeared into a coffee shop up the street.

My God!

She was beautiful.

So sweet and innocent.

I loved the way her hair fell into her face when she was blushing, and she had the deepest, alluring eyes and rose red lips.

I imagine kissing those lips and my cock throbs again.

I’ve really got to stop this and get a grip. I’m with my daughter after all.

I think about following her into the cafe but I know I can’t.

That would be too much. I suppose I can assume that she lives around here somewhere. Maybe I’ll run into her again soon? Maybe she frequents that coffee place?

Clearly, I will be going out for a lot more coffee here in New Rochelle.