Page 51 of Her Gentle Daddy

Looking up from his computer, Sean studied her. He was probably making sure she had enough clothes on to go outside, even though it was warm enough out to wear shorts. He had a thing about keeping her warm.

“In the backyard only.”

Nodding her head, she skipped outside to the massive backyard with her furry friend trailing behind. He barked happily when they stepped out onto the luxurious porch with a stone fireplace and custom outdoor furniture. It was an area made for entertaining, yet it seemed almost untouched. She wondered how often her Daddy had people over before she came to live with him.

The thought of having a BBQ sounded like fun, but that meant having people over, and she didn’t do very well around people. The only people she knew and trusted besides her Daddy were Zane, Jace, and Damian. That would be a pretty lame BBQ having a bunch of men and no other Littles or women to talk to.

Olly ran up to her with a frisbee in his mouth, letting her know that he was ready to play. Bending over, Gabby pulled the toy from his little razor-sharp teeth and threw it the way her Daddy had taught her, as far as she could, though it only made it about half of the length of the backyard. She giggled when Olly tried to run so fast that he tripped over his feet and tumbled in a somersault before getting back up and running after the frisbee again.

As soon as he had it in his mouth, he ran back toward Gabby. Fetch was quickly becoming his favorite thing to do other than beg for snacks. If she wasn’t careful he was going to become a fat little dog, and her Daddy would find out she was feeding him a lot more treats than she was supposed to.

“Give me the frisbee, boy.”

Releasing the disc to her, Olly took off running before she even threw it for him again. She smiled at the enthusiasm of the puppy and tried to throw it even further than the first time. When she released the frisbee from her fingers this time, it flew higher and further… Only when it landed, it landed in a tree at one of the corners of the yard.

Olly plopped down under the tree and barked several times, waiting for her to do something. Walking out to the tree, Gabby stared up into the limbs, trying to figure out exactly where it had landed, shushing the barking dog at her feet.

It didn’t seem all that far up. Probably low enough that she could just climb up the trunk and reach it. Pushing on the trunk to try to shake the tree and make the toy fall, Gabby frowned when it didn’t even move a tiny bit. She really needed to lift weights or something, so she wasn’t such a wimp.

Deciding to grab a chair from the porch to help her reach the first branch, she dragged it out to the yard and stood, balancing carefully and reaching as high as she could and was just able to wrap her hands around the lowest limb. Gripping it tightly, she lifted her feet from the chair, and placed her foot on the trunk, pushing herself up. As she did so, one of her feet kicked the chair over and she had a brief moment of panic as she thought about how she would get back down to the ground. Ignoring the worry since she was already in the tree, she moved one foot and then the other, grabbing branch after branch and pulling herself up. By the time Gabby looked down again, she was much higher off the ground than she had anticipated.

Don’t freak out. You’re not that far up. You cannot have a panic attack in a tree.

Easier said than done as her breathing started becoming more shallow. Looking up to the frisbee, she focused on the prize and that helped take her attention away from her looming anxiety.

“Gabrielle!”

Uh oh.

Sean came out running toward the tree and stopped directly underneath her, his stormy expression letting her know that he was not happy. Her bottom clenched, knowing she was probably getting a spanking for this, but also feeling very relieved to see her Daddy there because she had no idea how she was going to get down.

“I don’t know how to get down, Daddy.”

She could see the panic in his face as he assessed the situation, making her own panic worsen, and her breathing became ragged and inconsistent.

“Gabby, baby, you need to breathe. I need you to listen to Daddy, okay? I have to get my ladder which means I have to leave you here alone for a few minutes. Do you have a tight hold of the branch you’re on?”

Nodding her head, she tightened her hands around the rough bark until it was almost painful.

“I will be right back. Do not try to move, do you understand?”

Like she could if she wanted to.

“Okay.”

Sean ran full speed around the side of the house toward the garage, and within a couple of minutes, which felt like hours, he was back with a large ladder. Leaning the ladder against the tree, he made sure it was steady before climbing up the steps so he could reach her. As soon as his arms clamped around her waist, she felt relief wash over her knowing he wouldn’t let her fall.

“Let go of the branch and wrap your arms around my neck.”

His tone was no-nonsense, and she did what he said without hesitation. Maneuvering her, so her body was pressed against his, she wrapped her legs around his waist and held on tight as he made his way down the ladder.

When they made it down to the grass, Sean set her down on her feet and let out a sigh of relief before his face turned furious again.

“What in the world were you doing?”

“I accidentally threw Olly’s frisbee in the tree.”

Hands on his hips, he glared down at her.

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