Junior For The Mountain Man

by Crowne, K. C.

  “Great! What would you like to play, Caleb?”

  Caleb looked at me, then at Tabitha. He wasn’t very good at anything that required moving around, but he loved being a part of the group and getting to play with the older kids.

  “How about Pass the Ball?” I asked. His eyes lit up and he nodded, practically wiggling in place.

  Jacob, a five-year-old that often liked to pick on Caleb, groaned. “That game is boring. I want to play musical statues.”

  Other kids joined in, exclaiming that they too wanted to play the dancing game instead. I looked at Tabitha. Musical statues was a popular game where we played some silly music, the kids would dance until the music stopped and they have to freeze in place. It was a fun game, and it wore them out - which was often a good thing early in the day, before naptime.

  But I’d promised Caleb he could pick the game.

  “We can dance afterward, Jacob,” I said. “First, we’re going to play pass the ball! Everyone, get in a circle, please.” I glanced around. “Jacob, Olivia, please join us.”

  I motioned for Jacob and his friend to join the group. They were standing off to the side. Olivia wasn’t usually a troublemaker, but she looked up to Jacob and seemed torn between joining the other kids in the center of the room or staying with her friend.

  Caleb sat down beside me on the floor. He was usually my little shadow, but I wanted him to be around other kids. It would do him some good. His home life was a wreck, so I wanted him to have some sort of normal life at daycare. But it was hard to get him to interact with anyone, especially with older kids like Jacob picking on him every change he could get.

  Eventually, Olivia gave up and joined the circle. Jacob stood out from the group. His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he stood defiantly off to the side. Caleb looked at him with hurt in his eyes.

  Tabitha knew what to do, however, and took over from there. She took care of Jacob, which would include a conversation on why it wasn’t very nice to talk to us like that as well as basic manners towards other classmates. It was possible that we would need to involve his parents soon if his behavior didn’t change.

  I got the game started by pressing the button on the little handheld radio and passed the ball to Caleb. Caleb passed it to Olivia, and from there, the kids were smiling and getting along. When the music stopped, a three-year-old named Madison was holding the ball. She grinned happily as Tabitha re-joined the circle and took her over for her prize. Jacob sat down and joined his classmates. We continued playing the game until everyone had a chance to win a small prize - which mostly included things like toothbrushes and books, most of which were donated by the local dentists or the library in town. I picked up a few little toys as well, whenever I could.

  Just as the game was wrapping up, the front door to the center opened and Grant came back inside. I scrambled to my feet, feeling the heat rising inside of me.

  “What are you doing back? I mean, not that I’m complaining, but—” God, I really should just keep my mouth shut sometimes.

  Grant didn’t seem phased by my poor choice of words. “I’m running to the home improvement store for a few things, wanted to get some measurements for the ramp and the hand railings.”

  “Oh, thank you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Caleb walked over to me, and I took his little hand in mine. “Help?” he asked, staring at Grant with the most adorable look on his face.

  “Nah, little man. I got this,” Grant said.

  My heart pitter-pattered in my chest when he talked to little Caleb. I’d never really seen him around kids before, so to see him interact so well with my young cousin made me swoon.

  “I help, please?” Caleb asked, his voice a little whinier. “Please?”

  “I’m just getting some measurements,” Grant said with a shrug. “I’m sure he could help hold the tape measure, I guess. Or something.”

  You’d have thought we’d told him we were taking him to Disney World by how excited he got, wiggling and smiling. It warmed my heart to see him so happy, especially since we’d been having a lot of trouble with the other kids, and I knew his father was hardly ever home.

  And to see Grant with Caleb by his side just made my insides turn to mush. It made him even sexier to me. I’m not sure what it was about a man who was good with kids, but it upped their attraction by a million.

  I made sure Tabitha was good with the rest of the kids, and as we walked by the nursery, I saw that Frannie, the town grandma, had everything under control in there.

  Grant started on the bathrooms, measuring the space for some new handrails. The ones we had in place were a little high. Just as promised, he allowed Caleb to help him - Caleb thought he was helping, anyway.

  “Here, hold this for me right here,” Grant prompted.

  Caleb looked at the end of the tape measure and placed his hand on it, acting like it was serious business - like it was the most important job in the world.

  My face hurt from smiling so much. I didn’t say a word or get involved, I just stood back and supervised. I trusted Grant with Caleb, but because he wasn’t a licensed daycare provider, I couldn’t leave him alone with the kids.

  Caleb’s hand slipped, and the end of the tape measure slipped down the wall and crashed to the ground. He covered his ears and said, “Uh-oh.”

  “It’s okay, little man,” Grant said, placing the tape measure back where it was supposed to go. Caleb held it again, this time without dropping it.

  There was a look in Grant’s eyes I couldn’t place. While he was so kind and gentle with Caleb, I could see a hesitancy there. A darkness, even. He did everything he could to hurry the job along, and at times, it felt like he wasn’t looking at the boy. When he did, there was a sadness in his eyes I’d never seen before.

  “Alright,” Grant said, rolling up the tape measure. “I think we’re good for today. Thanks, little man.”

  “You welcome!” Caleb said proudly.

  I reached for Caleb’s hand and said a quick word to Grant. “That was sweet of you.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “I mean it, though.”

  “So do I,” he grumbled. “Seriously, don’t mention it. The kid obviously needed it today. And hell—I mean, heck— we’ve all been there.”

  Grant seemed extra eager to leave after that, but Caleb was as happy as a clam.

  Ooo000ooo

  “Hey, Andy, it’s getting late and I want to go home. Just wondering when you’re going to pick Caleb up? Also, did you call the orthopedic specialist I told you about? You really should get his feet checked out.”

  I sighed as I hung up the phone. Caleb yawned as he sat at the table with his crayons and coloring book in front of him. He wasn’t coloring, though; he was watching to see what we were going to do.

  It wasn’t the first time my cousin had forgotten to pick up his son, and I was certain it wouldn’t be the last. Andy was way too selfish to be a father, much less a single father. Of course, most of the time, he was buried in his work, but even when he wasn’t, he was off on some fishing excursion he forgot to tell me about, leaving me to watch his son for a few days while he took off. He’d tell me about it after he left, saying, “I thought I told you and you agreed to watch him.”

  Nope. Never did.

  If it wasn’t for Caleb, I’d have cut ties with him long ago. He was the only family, beside Tabby, that I had left after our father died, but that didn’t give him free rein to treat me like shit either. But Caleb needed at least one adult figure in his life to make sure he was being taken care of, and that person was me.

  I couldn’t afford to take him to the doctor for his feet, however. I’d already done the research, found a great doctor, and passed that info off to Andy, but he was in denial that his son had any issues. He didn’t see him struggling to play with the other kids or to keep up with kids his own age. He struggled to walk, and I knew if it wasn’t taken care of soon, it might cause permanent damage.
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br />   My hands were tied, however, since I wasn’t his legal guardian. I couldn’t seek out medical care for him without his dad’s permission, which I was working on. I nagged him about it every chance I got.

  “Alright, buddy,” I said after a few minutes and no call back from Andy. “Looks like you’re coming home with me tonight.”

  Caleb smiled. “Can we watch Mickey?”

  “It’s a little late for Mickey, bud,” I told him, ruffling his hair.

  Some kids might hate the idea of not going home or their parents not picking them up, but Caleb was used to it - and he seemed to like my house well enough. Even if it wasn’t kid-friendly, he got to sleep in Tabby’s room when she was away in Salt Lake for college. Luckily, she’d left earlier that afternoon for the next few days.

  We packed Caleb’s stuff, and I continued checking my phone. Andy usually called me right back, saying he was sorry, talking about how he got held up at work or thought he’d mentioned going out of town. But there was nothing. It was almost eight p.m. and everyone else had gone home except for us. It was Caleb’s bedtime, and all he’d had for dinner so far were some of the snacks I kept on hand for snack time or lunch. I made a mental note to grab something fast on the way home, knowing my fridge at home wasn’t well-stocked at the moment.

  Luckily, I did have a car seat for him in my car; for that I was thankful. Andy let me borrow the extra one once, and I guess he knew I’d be taking his kid around a lot, so he just never asked for it back.

  I buckled him in the car seat and climbed into the driver’s seat, checking my phone one more time before turning on the engine. Still nothing. I put my phone away and drove home. Caleb used to ask all kinds of questions - where is my daddy? Why are we going to your house? When will he pick me up? - but he didn’t this time. It was now the norm, and he seemed to know what to expect. We’d get home, and usually Andy would come by after he fell asleep - around ten or eleven, sometimes later - or the next day. Or he’d call and tell me he’d be a few days.

  Caleb yawned again in the backseat.

  “We’re almost there, Caleb,” I said, pulling into a McDonald’s drive thru. It was the one and only fast food restaurant on the outskirts of our small town. I hated feeding the boy fast food, he needed real food, but he also needed to get to bed soon - and there was no time to run to the store.

  Caleb perked up at the sight of the golden arches.

  “You hungry, bud?”

  “Yes,” he said, eyes still heavy with sleepiness.

  “We’ll get you a happy meal. How does that sound?”

  “Good.” He spoke through a yawn.

  I ordered some food and let him eat in the car since I knew he was going to pass out as soon as we got home.

  As I suspected, he fell asleep before we even pulled into the driveway. His hand was still in the bag, reaching for another fry. I took stock of what was left and decided he’d eaten enough that I was satisfied he wouldn’t wake up starving in the middle of the night and carried him inside.

  Once he was safely tucked into Tabby’s bed, I went into the living room and tried calling Andy again. It went straight to voicemail. I left another heated message then texted him as well, telling him to call me.

  I usually waited up, expecting him to eventually call or stop by, so I flipped on the TV and scrolled through Netflix until I found something enticing. I was tired too, but it was still early. I stayed up as long as I could, until my eyes grew too heavy, and I fell asleep in the middle of a movie.

  When my alarm went off at five a.m. the next morning, I checked my phone for any signs of Andy calling or texting. Nothing yet. While unusual, it didn’t send up any red flags. As the years went by, Andy became more and more selfish and entitled, calling later and later or leaving Caleb with me for longer.

  I reached for my phone and called him yet again, preparing a searing speech for him. Instead of his usual voicemail greeting, however, the mailbox was full.

  Great.

  I sent him a text, telling him to get his shit together and call me or I would get CPS involved this time. I waited for confirmation that my message went through, but it never came. All my other messages remained unread as well.

  Fuck, Andy. I rarely swore, but this time, he’d gone too far.

  Chapter 3

  Grant

  The screams echoed in my mind. I could hear them in my dreams as clear as the day it all happened. I sat up in bed, drenched in sweat and on the verge of screaming myself. Not from fear, like the people who died that day, but in frustration. I couldn’t do anything to save them; not then, and certainly not now.

  Some days, I wished I had burned up alongside them. At least then I wouldn’t have to live with the guilt and the memories of their charred remains, knowing we’d failed them. They’d trusted us, and we failed them.

  It was just after five in the morning. I pushed myself out of bed and went through my morning routine in a daze. I needed to do something, anything, to keep my mind busy.

  I’d picked up everything for the ramp at the daycare, and there was no better time than the present to take it over and install it. I was out the door by 5:30, at the daycare by 5:45. I half expected Piper to be there since the center opened at six, but there was no sign of her car.

  I quickly got to work installing the ramp, which was mostly built already. I’d started it in the basement at my home and just needed to make sure it was safely installed and in place. As I was finishing, right at six, Piper’s car pulled into the parking lot.

  When she got out of the car, I noticed her hair was still wet and she looked frantic. She didn’t even notice me, so I checked out her tight ass as she bent over to get into the backseat. When she stood up, she had Caleb in her arms. She turned and carried him toward the entrance, finally noticing me. Even though she looked to be in a hurry, she stopped and offered me a friendly smile. Like always, that smile did things to me I couldn’t explain and wanted to ignore.

  “Oh my God, Grant! This is amazing,” she said, referencing the ramp. “You did it all this morning?”

  She wasn’t wearing her usual Little Cubs t-shirt. Instead, she had on a fitted tee with a v-neck, and Caleb’s body weight pulled it down just enough to show off her perfect cleavage. It was so wrong to be checking her out, and I scolded myself as I pulled my gaze away from her, focusing on the ramp instead.

  “Not all of it, but yeah, it’s ready to go now.” I shrugged.

  “Wow, it looks great,” she gushed. “Thank you so much.”

  Before I could stop her, she moved closer to me - putting Caleb on his feet - and gave me a tight hug. I wasn’t really much of a hugger, and it was weird to feel her so close to me. It stirred things low in my body every single time, and this time was no different. I stepped away, trying to hide the tightness in my jeans.

  Thankfully, another car pulled into the lot, turning Piper’s attention to them.

  “Oh, I better get the doors unlocked,” she said with a chuckle. She dug through her jean pockets for the keys and took Caleb’s hand and guided him to the front door. The entire time, I watched her body, the way it moved, and it just drove all the blood flow south.

  I waved to Frannie as she got out of the car, turning my body away so she wouldn’t notice the erection in my jeans. Of all the places for a hard-on, the parking lot of a Goddamn daycare was not it.

  “Oh, hey, Grant, do you mind helping me with something?” Piper asked from the doorway. “There’s a box on a really high shelf in the supply closet that none of us can reach, and I don’t have a step-stool or anything.”

  I wanted to run away, to tell her I had to go, but I couldn’t say no to her when she needed my help. I nodded. “Sure, but then I need to get going.”

  I didn’t have any other plans for the day. Originally, I wanted to work on the handrails in the bathrooms, but I didn’t want to spend the day hiding an erection. I had to take care of that, and fast, especially if I would be working there from time to time.

/>   I followed Piper inside, and she asked Frannie to keep an eye on Caleb and the front door. Piper led the way to the supply closet and stepped inside. I joined her, and it was cramped as hell - our bodies were practically pressed against each other. Piper blushed and wouldn’t meet my gaze, obviously sensing the awkwardness.

  “It’s that one that says Art Supplies,” she said softly.

  As I strained to reach the box, Piper was pressed between me and the wall. She stared up at me with those deep, grey eyes and licked her lips. The tightness in my body worsened. I grew harder looking at her, imagining what those perfectly pink lips might taste like. It had been so long since I’d kissed anyone. I forgot what I was doing, no longer reaching for the box at all, and I leaned closer to Piper. She stood on her tiptoes, angling herself upward to close the distance. She wanted it too.

  All rational thought left my mind as our lips moved even closer together.

  “Ms. Piper?” Frannie’s voice spoke from behind us, stopping us. “Mr. Miller would like a word with you.”

  I cleared my throat and finished what I was doing, grabbing the box over our heads and handing it to her. Neither of us could look the other in the eye.

  I had to leave first to let Piper out of the closet, and I couldn’t even look at Frannie as I exited. I mumbled something about needing to go and hurried from the daycare.

  My cock was literally throbbing and aching for release when I got to the car. I was relieved to be out of there, and even more relieved that I hadn’t done something stupid in kissing her, but I couldn’t stop my thoughts. I wanted to run my hands down her curves, to feel her breasts pressed firmly against me, and not just during a friendly hug. I wanted to explore the softness of her skin, kissing every inch of her flesh. And most of all, I wanted to be inside her.

  Breathing heavily, I drove home as quickly as possible. I had to clear my head before I did something really, really stupid.

  I was barely in my own house when I dropped my pants. I made it to the couch, dropping my boxers along the way. Gripping my cock, I stroked myself as I fell into the cushions, imagining Piper’s tiny hands gripping my hard-on.