Page 60 of Daddy, Take Me Away
Stone’s chuckle had her head bobbling a bit as his chest rumbled. “And you’re a sleepy little duckie. Close your eyes, Webby, and have sweet dreams.”
Lifting herself up, she gave him a kiss, then curled onto her side, Mr. Quackers in her arms and her sweet bottom nestled into his groin as she spooned against him.
“Love you, Daddy,” she murmured, her eyes already fluttering closed.
“Love you, too, babygirl.” He smiled when her soft purr sounded as he lay awake a bit longer just holding her while lying in the comfortable bed in a house that he’d never known existed until he selected it using the VRBO app. He’d looked at the hotel and Bed and Breakfast options, but wanted a more private base where Micah would feel free to be her Little self.
Though he hadn’t expected a ghost to join them, he was glad that ghost was Lydia. Perhaps she too felt safe to be herself as well. He’d never before given life after death much thought but found himself wondering why Lydia hadn’t gone into the light as people encouraged spirits hovering between two planes of existence to do. Was she lost, waiting for something to happen or perhaps someone to return to her? He supposed his colleagues would consider him a bit off his rocker for not immediately getting back in the Jeep and finding a modern hotel, but that didn’t matter to him. His Little girl was thrilled to have a new friend and he knew this was a house neither one of them would ever forget.
On that thought, he finally joined his love in dreamland.
Chapter Nine
Micah
“How long does it take until we can drink these?” Micah asked as she gently ran her fingers over a cluster of grapes. She’d been rather shocked to discover there were actual mountains in Texas and not just hills. Local wineries dotted many of the valleys they’d passed. Precisely planted rows of lush vines covered acres of land with a sea of green leaves shading various types of grapes.
“If you’re talking about that particular cluster, I’m guessing a couple of years at least,” Stone said. “However, we can buy a bottle or two to enjoy when we rejoin the others.”
They’d joined a small group of other people to tour the family-owned facility, but Micah had been far more interested in the actual grapes being grown than in any machinery, though she had asked her Daddy if the huge metal vats were the “shiny” part of his poem.
“No, baby, these are just a bonus.”
Micah thought the true bonus was when he asked a worker if he could take her out to one of the pastures so she could see the grapes up close and personal. With permission granted, they’d hiked away from the group and were now standing between two rows.
“Daddy, do you think they’d mind if I tried a grape? I’ll pay for it.”
“I’m sure one is fine, but I’m warning you it’s probably pretty sour because…”
All Micah needed to hear was the part of it being fine as she studied the cluster to determine which was the one perfect grape among what she’d learned was called a “bunch”. She’d narrowed the choice down to two of the fattest grapes, when she heard the warning timbre in her Daddy’s voice.
“Micah—”
“I am hurrying, but it needs to be the perfect one, Daddy. This one is bigger, but see how pretty this one is? And it’s sort of a pinkish yel–”
“Micah.”
Something in his voice had her looking up only to see he wasn’t gazing at her, but off at something in the distance.
“What’s wrong?”
“We need to leave?—”
“You said I could pick a?—”
“Now!”
His tone one she’d never heard before. It had her chest tightening and the hair on her neck standing on end. “Daddy?”
“It’s okay, baby. Everything is going to be just fine. We’re going to walk very slowly back to the gate. Just stay close and follow me and whatever you do, do not run.”
Okay, if that was supposed to calm her, it failed miserably. She was about to tell him so when she heard what sounded like a snort, and not a cute little snort from a baby pig or a sweet puppy, or even a horse. This was a deep, loud snort and when it was followed by another, all she could envision was some one-eyed, huge monster ready to reach out and grab her.
“Daddy–”
“Don’t run,” Stone reminded, his hand finding hers and squeezing. “Don’t make any sudden movements. I think he’s just blustering a bit.”
He?
