Page 1 of Single Dad at Mountain Creek Ranch
1
NASH
I love my two girls. I’d do anything for them. But today was supposed to be the one morning of the month I get to sleep in, and right now, I can hear two little voices loudly whispering at the foot of my bed.
“Uncle Jamie said not to wake him.” My oldest daughter, Abbie says, concern evident in her voice.
“But I’m hungry.” Sophie whines.
I peek one eye open. My younger brother, Jameson, is supposed to be watching the girls so I can get a chance to sleep in. The last time I was desperate enough to leave them in his care, I came home, and they were hopped up on sugar with him asleep on the couch. I swear one of these days’ life will give him the wakeup call he needs to grow up.
“What time is it?” I mumble, my face half pressed into my pillow.
“Daddy!” Sophie yells. I feel the mattress dip slightly as she pulls herself onto the bed by my blankets and jumps on me. “Daddy, I’m hungry.”
I look over my shoulder at my wild girl. Her hair is still matted from sleep and all in her face. No matter how many tricks I try from watching YouTube hair tutorial videos, I can’t get her hair to stay out of her face.
“Sophie!” Abbie scolds as she rounds the bed, looking worried that I'll be upset.
“Morning, kiddo.” I give her a warm smile, and her shoulders relax a bit.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Are you hungry too?”
She bites her lip. “A little.”
“Where’s Uncle Jamie?”
“He got a call from someone and said he had to go.” Abbie wrings her hands. “He seemed worried.”
"Well, I guess maybe we should all take a trip into town and get some chocolate-chip pancakes at Mirabelle’s Cafe, what do you think?”
A smile lights up Abbie’s face just as Sophie’s high pitch squeal of excitement nearly bursts my eardrum.
“With whipped cream?” Sophie asks, her body shaking with excitement.
“Depends on how quickly you two can get dressed.” Both girls race out of the room, nearly trampling each other in the process. “I want hair and teeth brushed too!”
“Okay!” they both yell back.
“And Sophie, don’t think that just wetting your toothbrush will work!”
“I told you,” I hear Abbie say.
I fear the day Sophie is a teenager. I’m going to have my hands full with her. Abbie is my little rock. But since their mother left us last year, it feels like she's pulling away from me, and I don't know why or what I can do to fix it.
I push back my blankets and stretch, my joints screaming at me. I may only be thirty-two, but a lifetime working on my family’s ranch has done a number on my body. Most mornings, I wake up, and I feel like a sixty-year-old man until I get up and moving again. I stretch to get the blood flowing through my body. I rub my face.So much for sleeping in.
I sit up and grab my cell phone off the nightstand next to me. I pull up Jameson’s number and call him. It goes straight to voicemail.
"Jameson, you have a lot of explaining to do," I grumble and click the end button. It's too early in the morning, and I haven't had my coffee yet to make a menacing enough threat for leaving my girls.
There’s a loud crash down the hall, followed by Abbie and Sophie arguing.
“Dad!” They both yell for me.
I sigh. “Here we go.”
