Cowboy Baby Daddy

by Claire Adams

  “Stella.”

  “Look. If Christian proves himself, then when I take the company back he can be the senior VP. But, Harte To Heart Medical Supplies should have a Harte running it. It doesn’t say Gunn To Heart Medical Supplies. We aren’t intentionally trying to injure people so they’ll use our product,” I said.

  Daisy threw her head back and laughed at my comment. It was true, though! Why was someone with a different last name running the company when someone of the same last name was perfectly groomed for it? It just didn’t make sense, no matter what cryptic, cockamamie crap Christian wanted to sell me on yesterday.

  “You’re a fucking mess, and you need a massage,” Daisy said.

  “Well, get me into one, and I’ll show you a woman ready to receive one,” I said.

  “Well, let’s hope your nails are dry in the next 10 minutes, because that’s when our appointment starts.”

  “Oh, hell. Did you buy me a massage? Daisy, this is too much,” I said.

  “Stella. You just lost your father. You’re dealing with some serious internal struggles over this company thing. Your boyfriend isn’t doing you any favors. I’m treating you to a spa day,” she said.

  “Thank you,” I said. “Really.”

  The two of us went to get massages before we headed on to an early dinner. Daisy absolutely spoiled me, and by the time she dropped me off at my home, I was ready to fall into bed and sleep. We pulled up to my home, and it seemed like such work to get from the car to the porch, so I was glad when Daisy began talking.

  Until I realized what she was talking about.

  “Just be careful. Your judgment of Christian is clouded by the fact that the two of you couldn’t stand each other growing up. And I can’t say I get it, but I can imagine how alone you feel right now. When I lost my mom and dad—”

  I reached over and grabbed her hand while Daisy’s eyes misted over. Five years ago, she lost her parents in a house fire while the two of us were on vacation at the beach. We had decided to have a girls’ weekend and go find us some summer flings to bring home, but less than a day into the trip she got a call from the police department.

  “I’m concerned that you want the company for the wrong reasons. It’s obvious you don’t want it for the glory or the money, but I’m worried you’re sinking your talons into the company so you don’t really have to let go of your dad,” she said.

  “Daisy, I—”

  “Just be careful,” she said.

  “I will. I promise.”

  I waved to her from the porch while her words ricocheted around in my mind. I walked back into my dark, lonely home, and the thought of returning to my father’s book shook me with exhaustion. I pulled myself upstairs and flopped down onto the bed, breathing in the deep scent of the room while my mind ran away from me.

  My eyes watered when a distinct memory of my father pulled to the forefront of my mind. It was the first time I could remember ever going to the store with him, and there was a woman in there with a cane that wouldn’t elongate as far as she needed it to go. She was complaining of pain in her back because of how far over she had to hunch when walking, and I watched my father pull every cane from the back store so the woman could leave with one that worked.

  He spent over an hour with her, pulling cane after cane he had in his inventory. He would pull them out as far as they would go, the woman would walk a few steps, and then he would start the process all over again.

  And all because she came into the store for back pain.

  That was what I saw when someone mentioned ‘front end of the business.’ I saw customer service and care. I saw helping hands in a sprawling city that seemed heartless to those who needed it most. I saw a hands-on approach to medical supplies and a caring smile exchanged between two people.

  But, most of all? I saw my father. Helping the people he loved the most in a city he held near and dear to his heart.

  I sobbed into my pillow when I realized Christian would never understand that. He would never understand that because he never wanted to go to the store. Not when he was younger, not when he was older, and not now.

  Not until the wills were read.

  I needed to figure out what his mother had said to him in that letter, because something told me that was the key to taking this company back.

  “I’ll fix this, Father,” I said. “I’ll fix this, I promise.”

  Chapter Nine

  Christian

  The first day of work rolled around, and I realized I didn’t have anything appropriate to wear. Up until this point, the jobs I’d had only required jeans and T-shirts. The only suit I did own didn’t fit me correctly, nor did the dress shirt I had along with the one tie I’d bought on a whim. I looked ridiculous in the monstrosity I called a suit, but it was the only thing I had that was remotely acceptable for the job.

  I skipped the morning coffee at Todd’s coffeehouse and went straight to work. I wanted to try and get there before Stella did to minimize the idea that I didn’t know what I was doing, but by the time I got there, she was already calling everyone in for a meeting. She looked very professional, with her blouse tucked into her black work slacks, and the look she gave me when I walked through the door told me she wasn’t impressed.

  “Meeting in 10, guys!” she called out as I walked through the door.

  “Hey there, Stella,” I said. “What’s going on?”

  “I thought it’d be nice to get everyone together just for a short meeting. This isn’t just a transition for us; it’s a transition for them, too,” she said.

  “Sounds like a good idea. Anything specific you want to touch on?” I asked.

  “Not particularly. I want to reassure them I, oh, I mean, ‘we,’ have everything under control. Plus, we need to introduce you. They know who I am, but they have no idea who you are,” she said.

  “Good idea,” I said. “See? We make a great couple already.”

  “Is that the only suit you own?” she asked.

  I saw her eyes looking me up and down, and I couldn’t imagine how ridiculous I looked. The bright yellow shirt against the brown tie in the large gray suit I was wearing was probably doing me no favors in the professional department. But, the way Stella was looking at me made me feel like we were back in our teenage years. Like she was looking down on me for something I was doing that she didn’t approve of.

  “It is currently, but it won’t be once I can get established and get back out to shop,” I said.

  “Yeah, you’ll need to do that. Just follow my lead in the meeting for now. Once you become more comfortable, you can take the reins,” she said.

  “I believe I’ll do just fine on my own,” I said.

  I watched her roll her shoulders back before she gave me one more look. There was something off about the way Stella was acting right now versus the way she behaved the last time we saw each other. The Stella from earlier this week had been sorrowful and vulnerable. There had been memories to regale and a confusion about her that she couldn’t kick. She was comfortable in her vulnerability and open to the idea of us working together. There had been a softness to her eyes, an openness to her tone of voice, and her smile had crinkled her eyes.

  Today she was different. Her shoulders were tight, and her body was always slightly leaned away from me. The lilt in her voice reminded me of the tone from our teenage years whenever Stella would attempt to coach me on something she thought I didn’t understand. I noticed she was intentionally trying to put herself between my body and the employees that passed behind her to head to the meeting.

  The Stella I was currently looking at was still pissed I owned the company.

  “You coming?” she asked.

  There was something in her voice. Something in the way it lightly scratched against my ears that was a dead giveaway. It was reminiscent of the same harshness she held in her tone when she stormed out of the lawyer’s office after the reading of her father’s will. It had the faintest twinge of the condescending t
one she took with me at lunch when she tried to verbally beat me into handing her the company.

  Stella’s still trying to take this company from me.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I’m coming,” I said.

  If she thought she could walk through these doors and step up to take Harte To Heart, she was sorely mistaken. I knew she was having a hard time processing the death of her father as well as coping with me obtaining the company, but the truth of the matter was her father didn’t leave her this company. I got the distinct feeling her father never intended to ever give her the company, but convincing Stella of that would be close to impossible.

  I walked behind Stella into the room and followed her to the front. If I played her little game and gave her a bit of the upper hand at times, it would give me a chance to watch her. I could watch the moves she was making and get a sense of what her plan might be, which would enable me to better position myself to protect this company. The truth of the matter was, in her father’s letter, he stated that her intentions in honoring him with the company weren’t what he wanted. She mentioned to me, time and time again, that honoring him was what she wanted to do, and every single time she said it that line the lawyer read would flash through my mind.

  Part of me ached for the pain Stella was experiencing, but part of me was ready to play the game she was immersing herself in fully.

  “Hello, everyone,” Stella began. “First off, I want to take a moment to, um, well, to just say I’m sorry.”

  Everyone was looking at her with big, bold eyes, wondering what she was going to say. If you called the entire company in for a meeting, then that meant many people would have to roll out of bed to hear what you had to say. It meant you had something important you only wanted to address once, and I had a feeling that wasn’t what Stella was doing.

  “I’m sorry that my father has passed, and uh, that you guys are here during this transition,” she said.

  I furrowed my brow slightly in confusion. I had a feeling I knew what she was trying to say, but it wasn’t coming off very well.

  And it registered in the other faces of the people in the room.

  “Anyway,” she said. “My father loved this country — I-I-I mean, company — very much. He had some plans in the works that will continue to be produced and seen through, and I just wanted to introduce you to the man on my right. I mean, left. The man on my left.”

  “That’s Christian,” someone in the back said.

  “Hey, Christian!” someone else called out.

  I watched Stella’s face pale a bit as she began to wring her hands together. Public speaking always made people nervous, but Stella was proving she was not cut out for it. Part of me wanted to step in and rid her of this painful experience, but I had to play her game.

  Just as she was determined to show me that she could run this company better than I could, I had to show her that she did have weaknesses I could fill with my strengths.

  “We have some exciting things in the mix that I think my father will really enjoy.”

  I winced at the phrasing while Stella froze in place. Gone was the strong, steadfast look of the woman trying to usurp this company. In its place, however, was the vulnerable look of a child who had just lost her father. Who had just discovered a weakness she didn’t know herself to have.

  Who had just lost everything.

  “Morning, everyone!” I cut in. “As Stella has said, I’m Christian, and I’m very honored to be meeting all of you. I know your mornings are precious, so I’ll keep it short. My stepfather, much to the surprise of both of us, has left us both the company to run. I’ll be the face of the company as well as the runner of the front end. Customer service, client checkup, new contract negotiation, and finances will be my expertise. Stella here will be running the back end. She’ll oversee new hires, new projects, licensing, warehouse production, and all of the hard work it takes to give this place the life it needs.”

  Stella slowly panned her gaze over to me, and I saw the steely look settling on her face. She was pissed that I took over. That I didn’t give her enough time to collect herself. I could see her pride was going to be a problem. She’d be angry at me for the rest of the day, and she’d come up with some excuse as to why she needed a bit more time to gather her thoughts, but I didn’t care. Everyone here was tired and had a life, and they couldn’t wait around for her to gather up her life so she could speak with them.

  “We do have some projects that were near and dear to my stepfather’s heart that we will be continuing, but there are also some new projects we will be taking on as well. One of my major ideas is to take the attic space of this store and transform it into two office spaces: one for myself and one for Stella. That way, we are readily available during regular office hours and accessible to help maintain the store and address any big problems.

  “In the meantime,” I continued, “Stella and I are here to help you. My stepfather was near and dear to every single person’s heart, and I want you to know that our doors and ears are open. If you want someone to talk with, we are here for you. If you want someone to cry with, we will come sit with you. If you want someone to indulge in memories with, we’re here for you. All of you. Always.”

  Stella’s eyes were hooked onto the side of my face, but I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, this meeting was over. Everyone had smiles on their faces, a few tears in their eyes, and they were nodding along with every word I had to say.

  “If anyone has any questions or comments about anything, in particular, you are more than welcome to stick around and talk with myself or Stella. We want to know your feedback on how you feel we could make this place shine brighter than my stepfather ever thought possible. But, if you do not have anything you wish to talk about at this time, then you are free to leave. The schedule for the week is behind the counter out front if anyone needs an assurance and a reminder.”

  They all clapped before they got up and left, and I turned to Stella with a pleased look on my face. I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my baggy suit pants, but all she was doing was staring at me with a frown on her face.

  If looks could kill, I would’ve been dead the moment I stepped into this room with her.

  “I need to go call the contractor,” I said. “The sooner they can get going on these offices, the faster we can move into them.”

  “You’re not going to even run that idea by me?” she asked.

  “Do you think it’s a bad one?” I asked. “Having offices right here where we are accessible to our employees?”

  Her silence spoke volumes.

  “Go ahead and get a checkup done on the projects your father had spinning. I know one of them is close to being rolled out, but I’m not sure how close,” I said.

  And with that, I held my head high. For the first time in quite a while, I felt as if I had a forward trajectory with my life. Our jobs were clear, the way the work in the company was delegated was clear, and there were tasks we both had to get done before the weekend arrived.

  But the stomp in Stella’s foot as she left the meeting room told me she wasn’t happy.

  It was going to be a long road.

  Chapter Ten

  Stella

  The office space my father used was two blocks down the road from the main supplies store. My father set it up like that to keep him active, but Christian wouldn’t know that because he never came by when he was younger. While moving the office space right above the medical supplies store seemed convenient, it wouldn’t keep us active. My father was a proponent of healthy choices while aiding those who didn’t always make the best ones. He took care of himself while being in the business of helping others.

  It was the dichotomy that ran the entire store, and Christian knew nothing about it.

  I was unpacking my stuff into the space my father used as a meeting room for special clients. Sometimes, people wanted to talk privately with my father, and he had an entire setup for it. The room had a comfortable couch, three cushioned c
hairs, two vending machines, a plush rug, a beautiful window the sun could shine through, and shelves of books on every subject he thought would be necessary and comforting for someone to see.

  There was no desk, and I preferred it that way.

  I unpacked a few of my things and set the necessary items on the coffee table before I pulled out a picture of my stepmother and my father. The woman was a saint, putting up with some of the quirks my father had, and I realized I never cherished her as much as I should have. She was beautiful, she had been vibrant, and you could see it in the way my father looked at her that he loved her with every bit of his soul.

  “They were a power couple, weren’t they?”

  Christian’s voice startled me so much I almost dropped the picture onto the ground.

  “They loved each other, that’s for sure,” I said breathlessly.

  “You remember when that picture was taken?” he asked as he walked over to me.

  “No. I honestly don’t,” I said.

  “It was taken on beach trip we took during that massive storm,” he said as he plucked the picture from my hands.

  “Oh, I remember that. The one we thought would completely wash out the hotel,” I said.

  “It was an anomalous storm that no one knew what to do with,” Christian said. “Mom was petrified.”

  “ And Dad was excited to ride the damn thing out,” I said, giggling.

  “Remember all the jokes he made about being on the East Coast and finally getting a taste of how they felt during hurricane season?” he asked.

  “Remember how pissed your mother was that he was making all those jokes? She kept saying—”

  “‘—Lives are lost in those storms, Charles. Not in front of the children,’” we said in unison.

  “They took this picture right after the storm cleared the coast,” he said. “Right there on the beach after that storm completely tore through it. Your father was astounded by the beauty that followed such a violent event.”

  “I’d like to think he wasn’t talking about the beach, but about your mother,” I said.