Possessive Best Friend

“He’ll do what?” I snap. “Spank me? I’m a damned adult now, Ronald. And you’re the one that deserves a spanking, little child.”

I turn and leave the room. I’m done with that man. He can’t help me and wouldn’t, even if he could. The bastard thinks he knows everything about everything, and I hate him for it.

I spot Dad standing at the end of the hall, looking worried. I march up to him, feeling rage all through me… but it dissipates at the look he gives me.

“Don’t be so hard on him,” Dad says.

“And why not?” I ask.

“Because he’s a bastard and a moron and my parents knew it when they chose me instead of him. I think he knows it now, too.”

I let out a long breath and lean against the wall. He smiles and leans up against the wall next to me.

“What do I do?” I ask him.

“I don’t know,” he admits. “Unlike my brother, I’m aware of my shortcomings.”

“Thanks, Dad. You’re so helpful.”

“Oh, you’ll figure it out, if you want. Although I don’t approve of this… business of yours.”

“Do you even know what it is?”

He gives me a sharp look. “I spoke with Shaun just this morning and he filled me in. Shaun thinks very highly of you, you know.”

“I know,” I say, unable to stop myself from smiling. “He’s a good brother.”

“Yes, he is. They’re all good. I had a bunch of good children, despite being born rich beyond measure. Do you know how rare that is?”

“I do,” I say. “I’ve met my peers.”

He laughs. “I suppose you have. Well, cheer up, Lora. You’re more like your mother than you realize. You’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks,” I say. “Speaking of which, where is mother? I suspect that if anyone can help me, it’s her.”

“Oh, don’t go bothering her just yet,” Dad says. “She’s painting at the moment and I do so love what she’s working on.”

I sigh a little and grin at him. “Fine. I’ll bug her in a little bit.”

“Thank you. Say, how about you come have a drink with me out back? We’ll leave Ron to stew for a little while. Who knows, maybe he’ll come out and offer to help you.”

I hesitate. I should go find my mom and ask her what we should do… but instead I just grin and nod. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

He seems pleased. He waves down a staff member, asks for drinks, and he leads me out back.

It’s nice, sitting with my father, just talking about his trip and acting like a normal family. It’s nice having nothing between us for a change. For once, he seems to treat me like an adult and an equal.

I think, finally, I just might be. Despite everything, I just might be.

I’ll bug my mother in a little while. For now, I’ll just enjoy this moment with my father. They don’t come often enough.18DeanLora meets me at the warehouse bright and early the next morning. I have coffee and breakfast sandwiches ready. She barely touches the food, but she drinks the coffee. We sit near the pile of fencing and pitching materials, leaning back on our hands.

“What’s on the agenda today?” she asks.

“I started emailing with a local guy about setting these cages up, so we need to plan the flow of this place before he shows up to give us a quote later. Then I think we need to pay my father a visit.”

“We do?” She frowns at me. “I’d really rather not.”

I laugh and lean against her. “I know. But someone called the cops on us, and I don’t think it was your dad.”

“Definitely wasn’t him. I don’t even think he knows the number of the police.”

I grin at her and shake my head. “We need to talk to him. Maybe we can get this put away and he can do something to stop whatever he’s put in motion.”

“We’ll still need permits and stuff.”

“Which we can get legally. But not if he’s making it harder.”

She nods, drinks her coffee, and stands up. “Okay then. Let’s get to work.”

“Already?” I sigh dramatically. “I thought we’d sit here and, you know, have sex for a while.”

She laughs and nudges me with her foot. “Get up, lazy ass.”

“Lazy? I carried these entire damn fences in here myself.”

“Boo hoo. Come on. I have a vision and I need you to help me plan it out.”

I slowly get to my feet, and for the next hour, Lora walks around, pointing at places, and talking almost nonstop. I let her go on and on, not adding all that much, because I don’t want to break her flow. And besides, this place is for her, not for me. I’m just the muscle, just along for the ride.

Eventually, she gets a pretty good idea of where she wants what. At the very least, we agree on where the batting cages should go, and so I start dragging some of the stuff over, just to get a feel for it. We stand there and stare at the space and I put an arm around her shoulders.