New beginnings

Stella

I’ve never had a hangover like this before. I swear Gus must have put something in my whiskey. I slept all day and evening refusing a bath, food, medication, and most of all, phone calls from my family.

I knew I was going to have to tell them about Ash and me, but not like this. I was thinking more along the lines of a family dinner with my parents, Charlotte, Jack Jr., Ash, and Cannon. I figured I could ease them into it, introduce Ash and Cannon and go from there, but instead, they got a grenade in the middle of the night.

Now it’s time to suck it up and return their calls. I’m sitting up in bed, and nothing is spinning. I haven’t thrown up since early this morning, and I’m starting to get hungry. Ash took Cannon to eat dinner, and I’m alone. No more excuses.

I press call back on the last voicemail my daddy left an hour ago and wait for him to answer.

“Hello? Stella?”

“Yeah, Daddy, it’s me.”

“Fucking hell, woman, do you know what you’ve put us through the past twenty-four hours? Is it not bad enough that we’re homeless, but you have to go out for smoke and never come back? If you were under eighteen, I’d ground you forever and give you an ass whooping.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy, there’s no excuse, but I’m gonna tell you what happened anyway. I went across the street to Drink to get out of the rain and smoke my cigarette somewhere dry. Gus was feeling generous, and I had a few too many free shots of whiskey. Ash called and…”

He interrupts me, “I don’t care if you had too much to drink. Hell, if I’d known you were going over there, I would have tagged along, too. It’s the Ash Pride part of this story that I don’t like much. What’s going on with you two? First, you want an extra week’s vacation to spend time with him, and now he’s here pickin’ you up when you’ve tied one on?”

“We’re dating, Daddy. I met him at the conference, his son and I hit it off, too, and we’ve spent the last two weeks getting to know each other.”

“We talkin’ about the same Ash Pride? The one on the front of that magazine, sexiest man around or something like that?”

“Yeah, Daddy, that’s the one.”

“That rich playboy has a kid?”

“Yes, he does, a son, his name is Cannon, and he’s the sweetest boy I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t like it.”

“What's not to like? He spends time with me, he’s smart and handsome, his son loves me, and he’s not exactly hurting in the money department. What do you have against him?”

“Same thing the rest of the world’s got against him, he’s got a bad reputation for being a womanizer and an alchie.”

“He’s not an alcoholic, Daddy, I’ve never seen him have more than one drink with dinner. Hell… he was upset about me drinking too much last night. And he’s spent every minute of his time with me since I met him. He may have been a womanizer, or whatever you call it, before but I don’t see it now.”

“Aww, honey, that’s the sign of a good liar. He gets ya under his spell and sucks you in heart and soul. And when he’s tired of ya, he’ll toss you aside and snatch another one up. I know you want to find yourself a husband and settle down, but he’s not that kinda man, trust me.”

“Daddy, I love you, but you don’t know what you’re talking about. He asked me to move in with him. He’s going to pay for me to go to college and I’m going to take care of Cannon for him.”

“You sleepin in his bed?”

“Why?”

“I’m gonna take that as a yes. You’ve known him two weeks, how long you been sleepin in his bed?”

I don’t like this line of questioning. It’s none of his business how long I’ve been having sex with Ash. “Daddy, I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet ya don’t. That’s because you probably been sleeping with him since ya met him. I’m tellin’ ya, Stella, womanizer. Mark my words, you’ll be out on your ass before you can even get one of those college courses of yours done.”

He sounds just like mama did when I told her I was taking an extra week of vacation to stay with Ash. I had no idea my parents thought so little of me.

“Daddy, I have to go. Tell mama goodbye for me. I’m going home with Ash and Cannon tomorrow.” With that, I hang up and the tears that have been stinging the back of my eyes stream down my cheeks.

Thirty years of dedicating my life and loyalty to the family ranch, only to find out that my parents never believed I was capable of anything more than herding cattle.

Ash Pride made me believe otherwise the moment I met him. He saw my potential and pointed out my natural talent with children after one short conversation in the lobby of a fancy hotel.

I’m not wasting another day in this town. I’m not even going back to the motel for my things. I’m going to get on Ash’s jet tomorrow and fly home. Home. It’s amazing to me that his house already feels like more of a home than mine ever did and now I know why.

I didn't imagine that I was an outsider. I was an outsider.

An hour later curled up in bed under the covers trying to lose myself in a book I downloaded onto my phone, I hear Ash and Cannon come back from dinner.

“Tella! We got you tira, tera, t… We got you cake!” Cannon yells from the next room.

When they come through the adjoining door relief floods over me. I knew they would be back, but after the self-esteem hit, I took from my dad today a little part of me worried about being left behind.

Abandonment. It’s a horrible feeling, no wonder Ash has hang-ups about people leaving him. First his mother and then his fiancé leave him to fend for himself. My parents may not have physically abandoned me, but today I realized for the first time that I had been emotionally hung out to dry.

“He wanted to bring you a piece of Tiramisu. He loved it.” Ash says, his smile fading when he sees my red-rimmed eyes.

“It’s like coffee, our favorite!” Cannon says, shoving the cake box in my face.

“Thanks, buddy, I happen to love Tiramisu.”

“It might not be the best thing to eat after being sick, though. Why don’t you put it in the little refrigerator for Stella and she can eat it tomorrow?”

“No, no, I’ll eat it now. I’m actually getting hungry, and it sounds good.” I sit up and reach for the box. “And besides, we're going home tomorrow so I won’t have time to eat it later.”

Ash slips his hands into the pockets of his jeans and raises an eyebrow. “Home?”

“Yep, there’s nothing left for me to do here. I’m ready to go.”

“Yay! We’re goin home!” Cannon yells, and both Ash and I shush him at the same time.

“That’s too loud, Can man, keep it down. How about you finish watching that werewolf movie you were watching last night? I’ll be in in a minute.”

Cannon looks at me and then the adjoining door weighing his options. “I want Tella to watch, too.”

“I love werewolf movies, you go ahead and start, and I’ll come in when I’m done eating my cake, okay?”

“Okay. Hurry.”

I chuckle, “I will, promise.”

He does this little thing where he fiddles with the edge of his shirt before he runs next door to turn on the television. Cannon has a lot of little tells, and I’m learning them one by one. I know when he’s nervous, anxious, excited, happy, irritated, every emotion has its own tell.

“What’s up? Why the sudden change in plans?” Ash asks, sitting down on the edge of the bed taking his hands from his pockets. He pushes a stray hair behind my ear the way he does when he wants me to relax and give him information.

“I just don’t see any reason to stay.”

“What happened to moral support?”

“My parents are okay without me.”

“What about Charlotte?”

Charlotte. I hadn’t thought about her needing me. She’s been a mess trying to figure out how to help our parents. Her future was tied up in that ranch. Now that it’s gone and there is no insurance money, she’s scrambling to find a way to rebuild. She needs me, at least for one more day.

“You’re right. I’ll stay a day for her but the next day will you please take me home?”

“I will if you tell me what this is really about, I can tell you’ve been crying, why?”

It’s embarrassing to admit, but he deserves the truth after all he’s doing for me.

“I called my dad back, to tell him what’s going on, ya know?”

“Yeah, that’s good, they were going out of their minds.”

“I’m not sure why, unless they thought I got lost and wandered into a pasture in the rain with my head up to the sky and drowned.”

He cocks his head to the side and slides his hand onto my hip. “Come again?”

“My parents can’t believe I’m with you. My mom all but told me I wasn’t good enough for you when I told her I was coming to spend the week at your house. And today my daddy said you were a womanizer and I’ll be on the streets in no time when you get tired of me.”

“Wow, and I thought my parents were fucked up.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Stella, look at me.” He hooks his finger under my chin to bring my eyes to his. “You know that none of that shit is true, right? I mean, yeah, I have a reputation for being a playboy, but I feel different about you. You make me want to be a better man, a better father. You did that for me, and if they can’t see how fucking awesome you are, they’re blind. Their loss, my gain, darlin’, mine and Cannon’s.”

I sit up and scoot into his lap where I feel safe and protected, respected and valued. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything but state the truth, honey, but you’re welcome for that. You ready to go watch some werewolves bite the heads off innocent campers?”

“Oh my God, that’s the kind of werewolf movie he’s watching?”

“Yep, he loves the gore, the bloodier the better.”

“Yuck.”

“What kind of werewolf movies do you watch?”

“I dunno, Teen Wolf, Twilight, movies with nice werewolves.”

“Teenybopper shows?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, honey, it’s cute, but Cannon likes his werewolves mean and creepy.”

I take a deep breath and blow it out tightening my arms around his neck. “Alright then, creepy mean werewolves it is. Take me away.”

“I’m gonna kiss you senseless first, then you’re going to eat your cake, and then we can watch werewolves eat innocent people.”

“I like that plan.”

“Good.” His lips cover mine, and all of my insecurities disappear in a puff of smoke. His hand slides between my bare legs. With no panties to hamper his progress, he slips a finger inside me and curls it around to stroke my sweet spot. I moan into his mouth and secretly wish we could forget about the cake and the werewolves.

“You’re wet,” he says against my lips without breaking contact.

“I want you,” I whisper when his head tilts to deepen the kiss.

His finger leaves me, followed by his hand. I whimper and try to turn in his arms to straddle him. My heart is flying, my core aches, and all I can think about is him filling me with his cock.

“Later, darlin’. I don’t want an audience.”

He’s right, what’s wrong with me? Cannon is a mere twenty feet away in the next room awake watching TV.

“I know, sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

He takes my head in his hands and looks at me intently. “Don’t ever be sorry for that. When you start apologizing for wanting me, that’s when I know things are going to shit, and I don’t ever plan on this going to shit, understand?”

I nod, and he places a chaste kiss on my nose and reaches for my cake. He opens the box and I breathe in the light scent of cream and coffee while he loads a plastic fork with Tiramisu. “Open up.” He smirks at his choice of words, and I poke my lip out in a pout.

“Have a bite. Is that better?”

I roll my eyes and open my mouth. When the sweetness melts in my mouth, I close my eyes and moan. “Oh my God, that tastes so good.”

I pause for effect and smile before popping my eyes open to see him gawking at my enthusiastic reaction to a piece of cake.

“Gotcha.”

“You’re gonna think gotcha later when I tie you up and spank you.”

“Oooo, promise?”

He plops me back onto the bed and stands up. “I promise, and I never make a promise I can’t keep. Now eat your cake, I have to take a cold shower before I can watch TV with my son, thanks to a certain little minx.”

I look up at him through my thick eyelashes and take a big bite of Tiramisu. Then I smile. “You’re naughty.”

“Mm-hm.” I nod, and he shakes his head all the way to the bathroom.

I get up and grab my panties off a chair where they were hanging to dry with my shirt and jeans. Ash washed the puke out of them by hand this morning in the sink.

That’s not the kind of thing a man does for a woman he’s going to toss aside in a few weeks, is it? Surely not. I hate that my parents have shaken my self-confidence. Despite not being happy with ranch life I always liked myself. I’m decent looking, long dark brown wavy hair, bright green eyes, good skin, nice rack, and everybody seems to like me.

I’m a loner and a homebody, but I never felt bad about it before. My God, have I been living in a cloud of fantasy for thirty years? No, I’m not going there. Ash and Cannon think I’m great and that’s proof enough that there’s nothing wrong with me.

I dress in one of Ash’s long button-up flannel shirts and wrap a blanket around my shoulders. With my cake, I head into the next room to watch some werewolf slaughtering with my favorite kid.

Tomorrow is my last day in Redwater, Montana. I’m going to spend it with my little sister and my brother, and then I'm going to kiss this little town goodbye. Tomorrow starts a new chapter in the life of Stella Deardon, the chapter that I’m going to share with the sexiest man alive and his adorable son.

I can’t wait.