DADDY IS COMING HOME
Chapter one
I didn’t think that it could happen to me. It was useless to deny what had happened two months ago. Steven was a mistake that haunted me in the cold light of reality. Waking up after the deed and finding him gone took me by surprise. Sleeping with him after having had one too many wasn’t my finest moment.
“Samantha, I’m sorry that I had to be the one to tell you. I really did think you already knew. You told me about the brief time you had together. You made it sound like you left a lasting impression on him. It’s a little surprising to hear that he hasn’t been in touch all this time.” I was having coffee with Gillian. She was Steven’s sister and my best friend.
She was my confidant and someone I trusted with all of my secrets. My parents and my older brother had no idea the cross I was bearing. I didn’t indicate anything at Sunday dinners. I wanted to, but the words wouldn’t come like they were stuck in my throat.
The smell of caffeine was overpowering. I took a few sips of the strong concoction and quickly became more alert. There was a dollop of whipped cream and cinnamon on the top. I wasn’t concerned about my weight. I knew how to modify my diet to include those guilty pleasures.
“I thought that he was going to be away for a couple of years. I’m not ready to see him again. I know it’s selfish, but I thought I had time to prepare myself.” My flaming red hair gave me the ginger reputation of having a flaring temper.
It took a lot to get underneath my skin, but these days my emotions were playing havoc with me. I could go off at the slightest provocation. I was doing my best to curb my temper, but it wasn’t easy with everybody getting on my last nerve.
“He has requested you personally to oversee his rehabilitation.” I was a rehab specialist with countless victories underneath my belt.
“Your brother has some nerve asking me for a favor. I can’t turn him down during his hour of need. The injury that sidelined him is serious. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. He might never have full feeling of his right hand ever again. I have been known to work miracles. My technique is a little unorthodox, but the results speak for themselves.” She had supplied me with his file.
I had seen doctors stupefied by my tenacity and willingness to go the extra mile.
I heard the typing of the great American novel all around me. Aspiring authors were looking to be heard, but they were a dime a dozen. The baristas were struggling artists making ends meet until they were discovered.
“My brother was a fool. I know he hurt you by leaving in the dead of night. That letter was nothing more than false platitudes. Samantha, you deserved better than that. I don’t know why you pine over him. Get on with your life by getting under another one.” She didn’t know what she was talking about.
Gillian was a consummate flirt who knew how to bring the boys to the yard. It was all about batting her eyelashes and showing some skin. The woman was built in the image of what made a man pant like starving dogs.
“I thought your brother was different. I was wrong. It was bad judgment to sleep with him under the influence of alcohol. He stumbled out at the crack of dawn without looking back. I’m not entirely sure he knew who he was sleeping with. It took two to tango.” The liquor opened up the doorway to something I had always wanted to do.
“There are a million stories in the naked city. Don’t give him the satisfaction of crawling back to him. Keep him at a distance and maybe you can get on with the rest of your life.” It was easy for her to say that, but she wasn’t dealing with the consequences.
I woke up every morning with the reminder of his warmth in my bed. He was coming home to a woman with a forked tongue and attitude to match. I could be intimidating at 5’8 and 145-pounds where it mattered. I had reduced tough seasoned veterans into weeping little boys. They wanted to give up on themselves and I wouldn’t let them. Steven was going to receive the same treatment.
“He knows my success rate better than anybody. I was responsible for getting his best friend back on his feet after a mortar attack. He was never supposed to walk again, but today he is on crutches on the road to a full recovery.” I was secretly looking forward to seeing my onetime lover again.
“I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. I was mistaken in my belief that you could work it out between the two of you. I would say an impartial mediator might help you work through your issues. I have a colleague in my office that comes to mind. I wouldn’t dream of taking you both on as clients. It would be a conflict of interest.” She had a gift in psychology and was making a mint by peering into the heads of her clients.
“We both heal the human spirit in our own way. I will do what I can for his body, but you might want to schedule him for your colleague to look at concerning his state of mind. They go hand in hand to make him whole again.” He was charismatic, but I had a feeling he was going to be carrying a chip on his shoulder the size of the rock of Gibraltar.
“It’s a terrible position he’s putting you in. I can’t imagine what is keeping you from telling him how you feel about him.” Gillian was wearing a white argyle sweater stretched over the formation of her boobs pressed tightly inside the fabric.
“I feel a little ashamed of letting it get too far. I knew he was scheduled to ship out at a moment’s notice. I wasn’t expecting to find him drowning his sorrows in the bar. By the time I found him, he was already seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.” I had to do something to break the cycle of resentment burning like an unending candle in my heart.
“I was a little angry when you told me about your one night stand. We agreed growing up that siblings were off limits. I had eyes for your little sister Angela. We had one long lingering kiss under the mistletoe three Christmases ago. I confessed and you told me that it couldn’t happen again for the sake of our friendship. It took a long time for me to come to terms with your betrayal.” I was frozen out of her life for almost a month before we finally cleared the air.
I was wearing casual attire not showing off my best assets. They were never in contention against those cheerleaders with the huge pompoms in high school. They might’ve had a change of opinion if they were able to see me now. I wasn’t a late bloomer.
“We got passed it and we will get through this. I think it goes without saying that I would like you to keep your mouth shut about this to your brother. We’ve never discussed it and it might be time to finally say something.” I was still wondering how much he remembered and was damned and determined to find out.
“It was easy when he wasn’t around, but he can usually see through me. I would say that he has other things on his mind besides a forgotten one night stand. His commander told me that he was deep undercover. I was able to sweet talk a few more details out of one of his platoon when they returned sidelined by an injury.” His deep cover had resulted in painful shrapnel tearing into his exposed hand. The damaged nerve endings made it almost impossible for him to move his fingers.
“I don’t know how I’m going to be able to keep a straight face around him. My treatment is longer than normal. We’re going to have to be in an enclosed space with one another for many weeks. His eyes are the devil’s handiwork. He wasn’t exactly shy about his affections.” I had seen him with his fair share of young women, but he never was able to find the one that completed him.
I squirmed in my seat with my nerves frazzled by seeing his face again. The man had this cocky attitude with the eyes of the tiger to strip away the possibility of refusing his invitation to his bedroom.
“I don’t condone what he did, but he needs you. I know it’s unfair to ask you to put aside your differences. This is my brother we are talking about. We might fight once in awhile, but we still love each other. That is never going to change.” The heavy weight was on my shoulders to give her brother a fighting chance to get back what he had lost in battle.
“It’s not going to be easy on any of us. I don’t think I can say anything about our one night. It would only complicate things. I can’t have the distraction of him feeling like he did something wrong. We do this under the guise of a clean slate.” I drank the rest of my coffee feeling the caffeine imbue me with the necessary energy to continue with the rest of my day.
I had two clients which demanded my undivided attention. I’d already received confirmation on my cell phone about Steven coming in for an evaluation.
“We will weather this storm together. I will talk to him tonight. He arrives home at 5:00 PM. I have to go and prepare his favorite meal. It might give him a moment of happiness. It’s going to be short-lived and I don’t really know what to expect.” He was going to be resentful and lash out at the first person he saw trying to assist him in any way.
His independence was strong enough to survive anything. This was going to test his resolve and teach him a valuable lesson about himself. I was ready to be his teacher, but being his lover was foremost on my mind.
Tomorrow was a big day. It was shaping up to be an awkward experience for the both of us. I couldn’t bring myself to tell Gillian the real reason why seeing Steven sent a cold shiver down my spine. The circumstances were ripe with tension. My secret had to remain under wraps for the time being.
“I know you have every right to hurt him physically for what he did. I’m begging you to remain professional. He can’t do this without you. He will want to stand on his own 2 feet, but he’s going to need to use you as a crutch. It doesn’t hurt to have a familiar face. It might even make him more amenable to treatment.” Gillian put her hand on my shoulder in a reassuring gesture, but it did nothing to extinguish the angst building by the second in my heart.
“I won’t let my personal feelings cloud my judgment. I will make sure I get everything out of him. He will hate me for the first few days and curse my name under his breath.” It was kind of rewarding to know that he might feel a semblance of what he made me feel leaving me with the burden of that night on my shoulders.
She left me in the coffee shop to finish my apple cinnamon Danish. The sweet offering tickled my palate. I polished off the whole thing, but my appetite was eating for two.
I wasn’t showing, but those days were coming to an end. Hiding it from him was necessary for his continued mental health. I didn’t know if he could be father material with that chip on his shoulder. I was going to have to knock that off before attempting to tell him anything about the baby in the oven.