Daddy Dearest: A Christmas Story

by Rachel Burns

  “Sure. I don’t have anything better to do.” Morgan pointed out with a friendly smile on her face.

  “Then yes, please.”

  Morgan got up and put her coat and purse in the break room. She helped a man carry out the table and chairs from of the break room, and then she went to work. It surprised her how naturally it all came back to her. She was actually enjoying herself.

  If the people who worked for her could see her now, they’d love it and laugh. Hardly a soul knew that she had taken a break after her second year of college. At least, that was how she told the story when anyone questioned her about her missing year.

  Hearing that she had run away from home would only puzzle people and open a can of worms. She didn’t want to have to explain.

  Working in business had taught her how to lie. She was getting good at it. She never lied about anything big, but things like lost contracts that had been filed improperly, things already being in the mail, and her past, were considered little white lies. Search teams could find a lost contract, express shipping could move a package along faster, but nothing could remedy her past.

  At the moment, Morgan felt as if she were in her element. Filling coffee cups and asking people what they wanted, and fulfilling their strange wishes while they tried to stay on their diet over the holidays made her happy.

  “You can start here anytime you want,” the other waitress told her.

  “I already have a day job. This could only be a hobby,” she teased her back.

  “What do you do for a living, sweetie,” she asked Morgan.

  “I own and run multi-billion company,” Morgan replied truthfully.

  “No kidding?”

  “I’m dead serious, but this is more fun.”

  “If you think this is fun, then you haven’t lived yet.” The waitress grinned at her.

  Morgan pretended to laugh along, but she figured that the other waitress didn’t believe her. It didn’t matter. For her, waitressing had been the best time in her life.

  Morgan might be returning to her job as waitress soon anyway. Or would she try a new job and become a mother?

  The gymnasium was ready for people to move in, but there was still so much for her to do here. She decided to stay and help. They were showing a kid’s movie in the gymnasium, so she wasn’t in a hurry to get over there.

  “We’re going to stay all night to catch the people who can’t move on.” The owner of the restaurant told her. He had pulled her aside in a quiet moment. “I’d like to give you a little something for helping out like you did.”

  “Sir, you don’t have to. In fact, I insist that you don’t. I’m good.” She assured him.

  “I can’t align that with my conscience,” he told her.

  “Then take the money you would have given me and give it to any charity you want. That’s what I’d like best.” Morgan walked away from him before he could protest.

  “That doesn’t seem right,” he sighed, calling her back.

  “Then make me a hamburger and some fries, and could I have a chocolate shake with that?”

  “You’re asking? Of course, you can. I’ll get right to it.” He was thrilled to be able to do something nice for her.

  Morgan turned back the customers excited that for another unhealthy meal that she would soon get. A group of people had just come in, and they were stomping the snow off of their boots. Morgan asked them what they’d like and chatted with them for a moment.

  She told the cook their orders, and then she noticed a man sitting with his back to her. Figuring he hadn’t ordered yet, she went over to him. “Have you gotten a chance to look at the menu, sir?” she asked him ready to take his order.

  When he didn’t answer her, she looked at him. “Master Sawyer,” she proclaimed in a soft voice. Suddenly, it was getting difficult for her to breathe.

  “Since when do you work here?” He was also surprised to see her.

  “A while now,” she lied. Suddenly, she couldn’t confess that she was on her way to see him. It was too embarrassing. Her dream must have been just that, a dream. He wasn’t at home, pining over her like her father had told her.

  “Do they treat you well here?” he asked her, looking puzzled.

  “Yes, they do. They’re very kind.”

  Sawyer grinned at her. “Have you been here since your father died? Assuming he has.”

  “Yes, he died on Thanksgiving three years ago.”

  “And then you came out here?” He sounded almost doubtful.

  “I was traveling again, and this is where I ended up staying.”

  “I’m really glad to see that you’re well. I was worried about you.”

  “I worried about you too,” she confessed.

  “When is your break? Maybe we could catch up a little?” he suggested with a playful look in his eyes.

  “You haven’t said what you were doing in this neck of the woods.” Morgan pointed out

  “Me?” Sawyer pointed to himself. “I had a meeting with another mayor. I was on the way home, but the road is closed.”

  “Yeah, I heard about that. It’s been good for business. We’re doing really well tonight.”

  “How are your tips?” he asked her.

  “Because it’s Christmas, they’re pretty good.”

  “So when is your break?” he persisted.

  “Soon. I was about to grab a bite to eat.”

  “Then eat with me. I’m guessing that you either ordered chicken in a basket, you love anything in a basket, or you ordered a hamburger and fries. Which is it, darling?” He sounded as if he were playing with her.

  “A hamburger. I had the chicken for lunch,” she confessed. “You look well. Has life been treating you good?”

  “It has. How about you?” he asked her.

  She wanted to dodge that answer. Nothing happened to her in life outside of work. She couldn’t admit that to him. “I’ll go put in your order.” She stepped away from him, feeling like a nervous little girl. But she stopped and looked over her shoulder. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go away.”

  “I promise, I won’t,” he told her.

  She swallowed hard and went back to the kitchen to talk to the owner, telling him that she would like to eat with her acquaintance.

  Morgan went back out and pretended that she worked here all the time. She already knew her way around because the set up was similar to what Sawyer had.

  “Morgan, time for your break.” The owner brought their meals out and set them down at Sawyer’s table. “It’s on the house. She’s been an enormous help to me tonight.”

  “I know. She’s great,” Sawyer agreed with him.

  “I’m an enormous help every time I work,” Morgan stated, joining Sawyer at the table.

  “I know.” Sawyer assured her. “It was nice of him to say that.”

  To make sure that she didn’t say the wrong thing, Morgan drilled him with questions, asking him about everyone they knew back home.

  “And do you still live above the truck stop?” she asked him, wanting to find out if there had been an ember of truth in her strange dream.

  “Not anymore. I built a place. It’s just a small ranch, but I like it.”

  “Have you lived there long?” she asked him, wondering if he might not have been lying to her about being at a meeting with another mayor.

  “I just moved in.”

  “I’m trying to picture how you would decorate the place. I’m picturing lots of horseshoes and rope.”

  “Well, you know how much I like rope,” Sawyer teased her.

  “I remember that we both liked it. You must have been the best in your boy scout troop.”

  “I wasn’t. I didn’t get good at it until I started being interested in women,” he confessed.

  “I see. Have you used rope on lots of women?”

  “On three of them. Two I met and practiced on them. I took a course on it. They were un it too. But the third woman, she was the one who I loved to tie to my bed
.”

  “Then why did you leave me?” she asked him, wanting to understand why he had turned her life upside down like he had.

  “I didn’t want to, but I had to face facts. A man like me couldn’t give you the life you deserved.”

  “The life I deserved. Look where I am now. This is exactly the life we had together.”

  “I had no idea. I assumed that your father would leave you his money.”

  “It was his money to do with as he wished. I had to respect his decision,” she stated, not answering his question.

  “Naturally,” Sawyer agreed with her.

  Morgan finished eating and went back to work. She could feel Sawyer’s eyes on her. He came over to her and said goodbye before he left. Morgan felt as if her heart were being torn out.

  When it was time to lock up, the owner told her that she could sleep on his couch, saying that it had to be more comfortable than the gymnasium floor.

  She thanked him, and they left together.

  “Morgan,” Sawyer called out to her. He’d been waiting for her out in the cold and snow. “I overheard that you don’t have a place to spend the night. I was able to get a room at the motel. We could share it,” he offered.

  “Thanks, but I already found something.” Morgan’s face flushed. He knew that she had been lying all along.

  “I thought maybe you would rather spend the night with me.” Sawyer persisted.

  “Why would I want to do that? You dumped me, remember?”

  “I was an idiot. But I lied to you before. I was heading to your house when I got caught in the storm. I’m guessing that you’re heading to mine. Am I right?” he asked her.

  “I think I’ll leave you two alone if that’s alright with you, Morgan?” the truck stop owner asked her.

  She blushed and nodded at him. “He won’t hurt me,” Morgan assured him.

  Once they were alone, Morgan looked at Sawyer. “Why didn’t you call me out on my lie?”

  “I could see that you were nervous, so I lied too. It was the gentlemanly thing to do.”

  “It would have been nice if you had said that you were looking for me,” Morgan muttered.

  “Then I’ll say it now. Come here and let me hug you, darling.” He wrapped her up in his arms. Then he laid his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the snow and to his room. “You’re still wearing my ruby around your neck, but the Rolex gave you away. I read about you in the magazine. You took over your father’s company. It’s doing very well.”

  Morgan nodded and slipped out of her coat. “It’s mine now. I can do what I want with it. He was clear about that.”

  “You’re doing him proud.”

  Morgan shrugged her shoulders. “I proved to myself that I can do it.”

  “I like the sound of you talking like that.”

  “Like what?” she asked him confused.

  “Like a strong woman who knows what she wants.”

  “What if …?” Morgan took a deep breath. “What if it’s you I want?” she asked, hugging her coat to her body.

  “Then heaven help me if I try to stand in your way.” He opened his coat and hung it up. “May I take your coat?” he asked her, sounding extremely polite.

  “Yes, please.” She longed to call him master and be his again.

  Sawyer hung up her coat and turned back to her. Their eyes were locked. Neither could stop the stare or look away.

  “Should I have called you master?” she asked him.

  “No, I’m not going to be your master again.”

  “Oh,” Morgan said, feeling like an idiot. She had just embarrassed herself.

  “I’m going to be your daddy instead. Our relationship is going to be deeper this time around. You’re going to be my little girl. I’m going to hug you and kiss you and build up your confidence in yourself and your abilities like a real father does.”

  “My father wasn’t like that until the end. In the end, he tried to be a better person.”

  “He hurt you, he taught you to think you deserved to be hurt, but that isn’t true. If I had known what you went through, I would have explained it to you back then. I would have told you how special you were and explained that no one was allowed to hurt you.” He took hold of her, embracing her tightly as she grew weak in the knees.

  “How do you know what happened to me when I was younger?” she asked him as a chill went down her back. The last thing that she wanted was for him to know about her past.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Tell me why you chose today to come back to me?”

  “Someone told me that you were lonely without me,” she replied.

  “Who was it?” Sawyer asked, still holding her in his embrace.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  Sawyer got a feeling. It was nagging at him. “Was it your father?” he asked her.

  “What do you mean my father?” Morgan started to shake a little.

  Sawyer rubbed her arms to warm her up. “I had a dream about him.”

  “I had one about him too. He showed me you when you were younger, and then he showed me you in your new house, and then again years later. You were still alone. That broke my heart. That was why I was on the way to you.”

  “He showed me the same things. I wanted to kill him. Then I saw how lonely you were now. I wanted to go to you and make you realize what a wonderful person you are. I’ll always be here for you. You can count on me, Morgan.”

  “Do you promise?”

  “Yes, I do. I’m going to be the man in your life. I’m going to take care of you. We won’t be master and slave anymore. Instead, we’ll be daddy and little girl. Would you like to be my little girl and let me care for you?” he asked her.

  “Would I have to be a little girl all the time?”

  “No, darling. It would be like before. We would do scenes.”

  “But what about sex? Would we still do that?” Her eyes widen in fear. Sex with Sawyer was important to her.

  “Oh yes.” He bent down and gave her a sweet kiss. He liked it so much that he kissed her several more times. His hands began to roam over her body. “Daddy needs to get these clothes off of you. I have to bring you to bed.”

  Morgan blushed like a virgin as he sweetly removed her clothes and laid her down in his bed.

  Her eyes roamed over his body as he undressed. He still looked so mouthwatering good.

  Her legs spread open for him when he joined her in bed. They made love, enjoying each other’s innocent touches.

  Afterwards they snuggled close together, still kissing each other.

  “That was nice,” Morgan commented.

  “Nice?” Sawyer asked her.

  “What we used to do was better,” she stated.

  “Just you wait what Daddy has planned for you in the morning. But for now we have to sleep. I’ve been on the road all night and day.”

  “I was on the road all day, and then I worked at the restaurant. I win,” Morgan informed him.

  “I’ll see to it that we both win in the morning. We’ll sleep in, and then we’ll call into work and tell them that neither of us will show up for a while. This will be our honeymoon.”

  “Honeymoon?” she asked him.

  “Why not? We can find a justice of the peace along the way. Maybe right here in town. Your friends from the diner can be our witnesses.”

  “Or we could go home and get married with our friends. I think they’d like that. They’ll want to be there for us.”

  “You’re right. I wonder which side of the church the police will sit on?” Sawyer mused.

  “They’ll be on my side. I’m better at cutting slices of pie than you are,” Morgan stated with confidence as she fell asleep.

  Chapter 36

  “Horace, you’re good taking care of everything, right?”

  Morgan woke up when she heard Sawyer talking. She rolled over and saw him talking on the phone with his back to her. He was trying to be quiet.

&
nbsp; “I’ll be back as soon as the weather is better,” Sawyer told Horace.

  “Where I am right now?” he said, making it sound as if he were repeating what Horace had said. “I’m bringing Morgan back home where she belongs.”

  “No, I didn’t kidnap her. She was already on the way home. My little girl knows where she belongs.”

  Morgan was surprised that he was referring to her that way aloud.

  “She’s with me right now, sleeping. Oh, and I need you to be my best man at our wedding.”

  Then Sawyer didn’t say anything for a long time. Horace apparently had a lot to say.

  “As soon as possible. I don’t want to give her a chance to change her mind.”

  Horace said something again, and they both laughed. It was so nice to hear Sawyer laughing that Morgan sighed with happiness.

  Sawyer looked over his shoulder at her. “She’s awake. I have to go now. We’ll see you soon. Bye.” Sawyer hung up and walked over to her. “Good morning, baby. Did you sleep well?”

  “Yes, I did. How long have you been up?” she asked him.

  Sawyer frowned and shook his head. “You were supposed to call me Daddy. I guess I need to remind you about that. Do you have to go to the bathroom before Daddy punishes you?”

  Morgan thought about that for a moment. Then she nodded.

  “Then you better hurry,” he warned her sweetly.

  Morgan quickly got up and hurried into the bathroom. She closed the door behind her, not wanting him to hear her pee. They hadn’t seen each other in years, and she didn’t feel comfortable with that anymore. It would take time for that.

  She hurried back to him and stood in front of him as she wracked her brain, trying to remember how she used to do this. Had her heart always pumped this loudly?

  “Hold your hands out to daddy,” Sawyer instructed her.

  When she held her hands out to him, he smiled at her. “The hardware store was open this morning. I found something that we both like there.” He pulled rope out of his pocket.

  Morgan was a little shocked that he had left her here alone. She was naked, and the town was filled with people who usually didn’t belong here.

  “Daddy had his eye on the door the entire time. You were safe. You know that Daddy would never do anything that could possibly put you in danger.”