Page 4 of The Hottest Daddy
River leaned his head against the cool glass of his window and closed his eyes.I have to get out of this funk,he thought. Berry needed him. Luke, Carmen … he would have to try to make the best of his situation, even if his heart was breaking. He sighed and went to bed.
The next morning, Sunday woke, freezing cold and stiff. Groaning, she rolled out of bed and felt the radiator. Cold.Dammit.Her lower back ached—the bullet had smashed into it and was still lodged there—and she felt a wave of nausea at the pain. It was always worse in the cold.
She cranked the heating up to full and made herself some tea while she waited for the apartment to warm up. In New York, things like that had always been taken care of for her.
She grinned to herself. Talk about entitlement. Sunday pulled the comforter around her as she drank her tea and soon enough, her new home was warming up.
It was still early, just after dawn, and when she could face going to the window, she looked out onto the streets of the small town. It looked quaint, even old-fashioned, to her Manhattan eyes, but she could see from the lines of stores and businesses that it was a working town, not as flashy as its near neighbor, Telluride. She’d never been to Colorado before and the sight of the mountains, the snow, the pine forests was almost magical to her.
It was February, and the snow lay in thick drifts at the sides of the street. Even this early, some people were clearing the sidewalks, sprinkling salt or kitty litter down on the ground. Nothing got in the way of the business here. She saw a tall, pale white young woman emerged from the coffeehouse on the corner, her long dark hair flying as she skidded on the icy ground. Sunday grinned as she saw the girl laugh, her head thrown back as she clung to the streetlight nearest to her. Sunday heard some men calling out to the girl, saw two local deputies going to her aid, watched as the girl laughed with them and beckoned them into the coffeehouse.
She looked so free, so relaxed. Sunday made up her mind to go to the coffeehouse as soon as she was dressed and say hello. The girl looked approachable and fun.
Luckily, in the shower, she took care to wait until the water ran warm before stepping into it. Once in, Sunday shampooed her dark hair then let the water soothe her aching body. The bed was little more than a makeshift cot, and she resolved to buy herself a proper bed as soon as she could afford it.
Which was weird. In her New York account sat nearly two million dollars … and she couldn’t touch it. Her credit cards, were all destroyed now. The FBI had given her a certain amount to survive on while she earned her first paycheck and waited for new credit cards in her new name, but it would only be enough for food and rent.
Jesus,she thought now as she dried her hair,all of this because of one asshole’s obsession. A whole life erased.She felt a jolt of guilt.At least you have a life to be changed, Marley Locke. What about Cory?
She dug the photograph of him out of her jacket and traced the shape of his face.God, I miss you, baby. I’m so sorry, so, so, sorry.She could feel tears threatening again but dashed them away with an impatient hand.No. No more wallowing.
Outside, the temperature was below freezing and big clouds of her breath almost fogged her vision. Sunday tottered uncertainly along the sidewalk, smiling shyly at people who said hello to her, hoping no one would recognize her. Without her signature blonde hair, without the carefully applied makeup, she doubted it. She had, after all, decided against the violet contact lenses. She hated the feel of the things and besides, she mused to herself, her brown eyes were nothing remarkable, especially without makeup.
She pushed her way into the Lumia coffeehouse to be greeted by a wave of chatter. Clearly, everyone in Rockford gathered here, and for a moment, she almost thought about turning around and escaping.
But then the girl she had seen this morning appeared in front of her with a wide smile. “’Allo,” she said in a broad English accent, “You’re new here, ain’t you?”
Sunday grinned back at her. The woman’s smile was huge, infectious, and friendly. “I am. Hello, I’m Sunday.”
She held out her hand, and the other woman balanced a tray on her other arm and shook it. “Hello, sweets, I’m Daisy. Nice to meet you. Want some coffee?”
“Please.”
“Come and sit at the counter with me and I’ll give you all the gossip.”
She followed Daisy back to the counter, nodding politely at some curious customers. Daisy was resplendent in a red dress which clung to breakneck curves, her almost-black hair tumbling in waves down her back. Even at eight in the morning, Daisy had applied bright red lipstick, which only enhanced her thousand-watt smile.
“What’s your poison?”
Sunday settled on the stool at the counter and looked at the beverage list. “I’d kill for just a huge mug of black coffee.”
“My favorite too,” Daisy said easily and poured out a steaming cup for Sunday. “Here. Now, welcome to Rockford.” She studied Sunday as she sipped her own coffee too. “You here with family?”
Sunday nodded. Here we go. The questions she and Sam had practiced until she was word perfect. The lies. The fake histories. “No, just for work. Time from a change from California.”
They’d decided on California because of the accent. She could pull that off easily. Daisy rolled her eyes, grinning. “Yes, a break from all that sun sounds like heaven.”
Sunday smiled. “Seriously, when there is no change of season for years on end, it gets a little wearying. So, I decided to come here. It’s beautiful.” That wasn’t a lie, at least.
Daisy nodded. “It is, I’ll give it that.”
“You’re obviously not from these parts.”
“How d’you guess?” Daisy chuckled. “My dad met my step-mum in London, but she had to come back here. She was the daughter of the owner of the old ski place up the mountain so when he died, she had to run it. So me and Dad moved over to the States.”
“You like it?”
“I do, actually. It was so different to me, the whole culture, but I’ve been here nearly half my life now, twelve years. I’m used to it.” Daisy nodded at her coffee. “It’ll get cold.”
