Daddy’s Little Surprise (Missouri Daddies #6)

19. Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

RAINEY

R ainey rushed to her office. The only thing she could see replaying in her brain was the men throwing punches at each other. Was Daddy safe? How was he going to break up the fight?

She grabbed Daddy’s phone, which was lying on her desk. He had put her face ID into his phone in case of an emergency. They had only known each other for a coupleof days, and she already had access to his phone. It was weird, but it felt so right.

Daddy had his name as Sheriff on his contacts. She figured since it was a small town, he would know the sheriff personally, but maybe she was wrong.

“Marco, Iwasn’t expecting to hear from you. What can I do for you?” the man asked.

“It’s Rainey. Daddy is currently breaking up a fight in my coffee shop,” she rushed out.

In her panicked state, she called him Daddy and not Marco. Hopefully, the sheriff was in the lifestyle and knew who she was talking about.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Won’t take me long.”

The sheriff hung up, and she waddledback into the main room.

“He should be here any second!” she yelled.

Rainey stopped and assessed everything. Daddy and another man were holding the two drunk people. They had calmed down, but Daddy was still holding him tightly. She looked over his body, not seeing anything wrong until she looked at his face. He had a bruise and cut on his jawline.

“Oh no!” she raised her voice and started to rush over to Daddy.

“Stop. Stay back. I don’t need you getting hurt. Daddy is holding him.”

She immediately stopped and started to shift on her feet in place. She knew it was a bad idea for her to go into the office and call the sheriff. She should have stayed and made sure nothing happened.

“Daddy.” Tears formed in her eyes.

“I’m okay, Little girl. It’s just a little bruise,” he tried to reassure her.

“He broke skin,” the other man said.

Daddy cursed and moved his body so she wasn’t able to look at the bruise and cut. It didn’t help, though. Rainey knew the bruising laceration was there. She knew he had gotten hurt.

She continued to shift on her feet, not knowing what to do. She so badly wanted to run up and inspect him, but Daddy told her to stay put .

“You’re okay. Take a deep breath for Daddy. Everything is going to be fine.”

But everything wasn’t fine. She could have lost him. It was an exaggeration, but she really could have lost him. Something could have happened be a freak accident.

Tears dripped down her face as she played scenarios over in her head. It hadn’t really occurred to her in the moment that he could have died. Everything could have gone bad. What if he got hit in the face that resulted in him falling backward, hitting his head in just te wrong place?

She didn’t want him to die. He had made her feel so much in a little amount of time. She wasn’t ready for him to leave.

“You’re okay. Everything is fine. Daddy is right here, and nothing is wrong. Can you take a deep breath for Daddy?”

She tried to do what he said, but she just continued to cry. What if something was wrong now and he could die? Did he need to get checked out? Where was the sheriff? He was supposed to be here any second now, but he wasn’t. Was everything going to be okay? Was he going to make it out alive?

“Little girl. Everything is okay. Daddy is all right. Nothing happened. You’re okay. Can you look at me?”

She couldn’t see the bruise and cut on his face, but she knew it was there. How could she get it out of her mind? It had been so blatantly obvious when she first looked at him. The bruise was just forming, but she could see the blood that had run down his face and onto his neck.

“I’ve got him,” another man said .

Rainey hadn’t even realized he’d come up to Daddy. Where had he come from?

“Thanks, man.”

She was still crying, holding her bump as they exchanged holds on the drunk man. Daddy slowly walked toward her, trying not to spook her.

“Daddy is right here. Everything is okay. Can I touch you?”

She didn’t give Daddy a moment to consider what he had just said. She launched herself at him, her bump getting in the way, but she didn’t care. She needed to feel that he was alive and okay. She didn’t know what happened while she was calling the police, but it was bad enough he got injured.

Rainey pulled back and started to inspect his face.

“Daddy is okay.”

Deep down, she knew that, but at the same time, she didn’t. She needed to make sure Daddy was okay. She needed to do it to calm her nerves.

“I’m okay, Little girl. It’s just a little scratch and a bruise. It’ll heal in no time.”

“Please, please just let me look at you. I need to.”

Daddy complied. She just continued to gingerly run her hands over the bruise and cut. Never once did Daddy flinch or wince in pain. But even looking didn’t help her.

She could feel her body shaking with nerves, tears still rolling down her face.

“I could have lost you,” she whispered as she continued to look at his face.

It really shook her to the core. She hadn’t realized that in any situation she could easily lose somebody so important to her. She also hadn’t realized how much he meant to her. She wasn’t ready to lose him, not when she had just found him.

“You’re okay, Little girl. I promise, everything is going to be okay,” Daddy gently spoke as he ran his hands through her hair.

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. She burst into another round of tears and Daddy pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. She nestled her face into the crook of his shoulder and neck as she cried.

“Everything is going to be okay. Daddy is right here. I’m not going anywhere. You can stay right here in my arms the whole time.”

“Marco?” a man asked.

She immediately recognized his voice. The sheriff.

“Baxter. So good to see you. Can you give me a couple of minutes?”

“Take all the time you need.”

Daddy continued to hold her close, rubbing her back every now and then.

“Baxter is going to take my statement. Once he’s done, I’m going to take you home and take care of you.”

“No.”

“Yes. I need to take care of you after I’ve talked to Baxter.”

“You need to get looked over.”

“It’s just a small laceration and a bruise, nothing to worry about. Ice and rest will help.”

She pulled back and shook her head. “I can’t lose you,” she whispered, her voice so small .

Daddy pulled away slightly and cupped her face with his hands. “You aren’t going to lose me.”

“Please.”

She just needed somebody to look him over so they could calm whatever was inside her.

“I’ve called Michael. He said he would be over in a minute,” the sheriff said.

“Thank you, Baxter. I really appreciate it.”

Rainey was still clinging onto Daddy, not wanting to let him go. If she did let him go, there was a chance something else could happen. What if one of the guys ran toward him and hit him again?

She peeked her head around to see what happened to the two guys. They were sitting, handcuffed to one of the chairs.

“You’re okay.” Daddy patted her back.

She looked at him and then back at his bruised and cut face.

“It’s just a tiny scratch. Nothing else. Daddy is okay, and Daddy is going to stay that way. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Can I ask a couple questions?” Baxter asked. “Get it over with so you can get checked over by Michael. Then you can go home and take care of her.”

She tightened her grip on Daddy, not wanting him to go anywhere. Were they going to have to take Daddy to a different room and leave her out here?

“Can I do it with her on my lap?”

“Is she yours, your Little girl?”

“Yes. If you need to do it without her, I will have to reschedule it for a different time. Right now, she doesn’t need me to leave.”

Rainey looked over at Baxter and he was already looking at both of them. There was a longing in his eyes. Did he want a Little girl of his own?

“Congratulations. She can stay. Don’t get used to it, though.”

“We won’t. She didn’t see much. Grace saw what happened, I was just the one who helped pull them apart. Something about a spilled coffee. Both of them were clearly drunk. They were yelling at each other and scaring the patrons.”

“How did you get hit?”

Rainey wanted to know that as well. She didn’t think he purposefully wanted to get hurt, but how else did he manage to?

“I grabbed one of the guys’ arms and wasn’t able to grab the other one when he hit me in the face.”

“Do you want to press charges?”

Her eyes went wide, and she stared at Daddy, body tense. Was he going to press charges? Part of her wanted him to press charges, but the other part didn’t, so everything would just go away. She didn’t want to think about this situation anymore.

“No. There’s no reason to press charges. He wouldn’t have hit me if I hadn’t tried to stop him. Just make sure he sobers up and doesn’t get into any more trouble.”

She relaxed and pushed her face into Daddy’s crook of his neck.

“If you change your mind, let me know. Michael is going to take a picture of your cheek in case you change your mind,” Baxter said. “If I need anything, I’ll contact you, but we shouldn’t.”

“Thank you, Baxter.”

“All right, let me take a look at your Daddy’s cheek. Could you move to the other side?” a man politely asked.

“Little girl, this is Michael. He is one of the other club owners, but he also owns a Little clinic.”

“The cutest Little clinic you’ll ever see. If you need anything, you come over and see me. In my clinic or at my house. Sometimes, I make house calls but only for a good Little.”

“Sometimes for their Daddy as well,” Daddy chuckled.

Rainey pulled back and looked at Michael. He was giving her a smile.

“I think you met my Little girl earlier today, Monroe. She said how nice you were and wanted to have a play date with you.”

She pointed to herself with a confused look. Monroe wanted to have a playdate with her? She figured after meeting, they were just politely inviting her to things. She didn’t actually think they wanted to hang out with her.

“Yes, you. She said you guys had a lot in common. So, whenever you’re feeling up to it, you just let your Daddy know, and he’ll talk to me.”

Michael started to tend to Daddy’s cheek.

“You don’t need me?—”

“Yes, we do. I need you to look over my cheek and let me know everything is going to be okay. I need you to clean it and inspect it like you would anything else,” Daddy slowly said .

Michael’s eyes flickered to her and found she was intently looking at him. Was he going to continue to look at Daddy? Was everything okay? There were so many questions running through her head as she stared at Michael. She could feel the tears pricking her eyes once again. Was Michael going to say Daddy didn’t need him because he was too far gone?

“All right. Let me just get my cleaning stuff out of my bag. But everything is looking good. There’s no major bleeding. If you ice the bruise when you get home, it shouldn’t bruise too much more. After I clean the laceration, I’ll be able to tell you if it’s serious.”

“I’m okay, sweet girl.” Daddy ran his hand through her hair.

Rainey opened her mouth but quickly closed it. She didn’t really want to talk.

“You’re okay. Daddy is right here, and I’m not going anywhere. Michael is starting to clean my cut and will let us know I’m okay.”

She was probably being over-dramatic, but knowing anything could have happened, and he could have died just set things more into reality for her. She had grown accustomed to him being around and helping her. What if he died? What would have happened? Would she have been able to survive?

“All done. This scratch has been cleaned and taken care of. Nothing is going to happen. You just need to ice your jaw.”

“Thank you, Michael. I really appreciate it. ”

Michael turned toward her. “Do you want to help me pick out a bandage for your Daddy?”

She nodded and leaned forward. Daddy’s arms were wrapped around her, holding her in place. Michael pulled out all his bandages, and she couldn’t help but giggle. There were princesses, animals, dinosaurs, hearts, and Barbies, but nothing plain.

“Ohh, I guess your Daddy will just have to wear one of these. I left all my grown-up bandages at home.”

Rainey looked at Daddy. Would he be okay wearing one of those bandages?

“Go ahead, pick one out,” Daddy encouraged her.

She looked back and was trying to decide which one she wanted. It was such a hard decision because she wanted all of them.

“I think your Daddy would probably want the dinosaurs, but I think he would look great with princesses or Barbies on his face.” Michael chuckled.

Rainey didn’t pay attention to either one of them. She knew it was for her Daddy, but the goal was to let her pick out the bandage, not Daddy.

She lifted her hand and pointed toward the princess one.

“Such a good choice. Your Daddy is going to look amazing with this one on. Such a good pick. Maybe whenever your Daddy comes in, you should pick the bandages.”

She nodded and watched as Michael put the bandage on Daddy’s face.

“Now, I’m going to need you to do something for me. Can you do that?” Michael asked .

She nodded once again, more enthusiastic this time. What did he want her to do?

“Your Daddy is going to need lots of loving and gentle kisses on his cheek. Your kisses are magical and will help your Daddy heal so much faster. So, I need you to kiss his cheek at least once every thirty minutes. If you do that for a coupleof days, the cut will be gone, and his bruising will have started to fade. Can you do that for me?” Michael asked.

Rainey briefly looked over at Daddy before looking back at Michael and nodding. She could definitely do that. If it was going to help Daddy heal, she could do it.

“Such a good girl. Your Daddy is so lucky to have you.”

She snuggled into Daddy’s embrace.

“If anything happens, let me know.”

“Thank you, Michael.”

Michael left, and Daddy held her. She could stay like this forever, but she knew life didn’t stop. There were things to do and fix.

“Let’s go home,” Daddy suggested.

He maneuvered her so thatwhen he stood up, she was bridal-style in his arms. She so badly wanted to wrap her arms around his waist, but her bump would have gotten in the way.

“Grace?” Daddy called out.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Do you need me to wait with you until someone gets here?”

“No, Sir.”

“Do you have somebody coming to get you?”

“I haven’t called him yet. ”

“Would you call him? We can wait with you.”

“I’ve got to stay here. The store doesn’t close for another couple hours.”

“It’s closed,” Rainey whispered. “Everybody will get paid for what they were supposed to work, but I think everybody needs to go home and relax for the rest of the day.”

She didn’t really want to speak, but she was the boss, and she couldn’t allow Grace to stay here. Her hands were shaking.

“Why don’t you call him while we’re still here,” Daddy suggested as he held Rainey closer to his body.

Grace pulled her phone out and dialed somebody’s number.

“Razor. C-could y-y-you come and p-pick me up?” Grace stuttered, and her voice was shaky. There were a coupleof seconds of silence before she started to speak again. “I’m okay. I just— I need someone to drive me home.”

It took several more seconds before Grace hung up and looked at Daddy. Razor was such an interesting name. Did his parents pick that name?

“He should be here in two minutes. You can go home and take care of her. I’ll be fine until he gets here.”

“Are you sure?” Daddy asked.

“Yes, Sir. I’m sure.”

Daddy started walking toward the front of the store, going out to his car. Rainey heard the rumble of a motorcycle but was too caught up with Daddy buckling her in to take notice.

“Daddy is going to take care of you. Don’t you worry.”