ME AND MY DADDI - Season 5 Episode 1

“But Dad, I don’t want to go. I want to go home,” Riley pleaded.

Emerson sighed and turned toward her as they sat in the back of the limo. “And I’ve already told you that I sighed you up to be a counselor in the camp. You’ll have a good time. Give it a chance.”

“No one will like me,” she whined.

He glanced over at his daughter. “You need to start making friends your age. You can’t stay at home by yourself all the time.”

“I’m not alone. Connie’s there with me.”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s the housekeeper, not your friend. Don’t tell me the gardener, Henry, or Mike, our stable master, are your friends, too.”

“But they’re nice to me.”

“Because I pay them,” he barked, then sighed, looked away, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know they like you, Riley, but they are not the type of friends you need. You’re twenty-two years old, and you act like a twelve-year-old sometimes.”

Any animation Riley had in her expression faded.

Ever since her mother died ten years before, his daughter had been at a loss. Her mother had been the center of her and her dad’s universe, and then she was taken from them in a senseless accident caused by a drunk driver. Since then, Riley had attached herself to her dad like a barnacle, and it seemed to get worse as the years passed.

Instead of growing up and going off to college, Riley had decided to stay home with him. When her personality should have been maturing, she had taken on more childlike qualities. She liked being tucked in at night, told what to do, and dressed more like a child than an adult.

“Dad, please. I’ll go to summer school or get a job.”

“Really? What kind of classes and where would you work?”

“I … I would take home-decorating classes and get a job at the ice cream parlor by our house.”

Emerson rolled his eyes. “You’re staying at the camp. You’ll get more out of it. Heck, you might even find a boy you like.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Dad, most boys I know are stupid.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. I’m never going to get grandkids, am I?”

“Oh, absolutely. I want to have babies someday, but I’m too young for them right now,” she informed him.

He rubbed his temple where a headache had started to build. He prayed something would happen to help her grow as a person because he didn’t know how much longer he could take it. He spent more time at the office nowadays than he needed to because when he was at home, she dogged his heels, never letting him sit in peace.

He would love to be able to have a scotch after dinner in his den and read some of the books he’d wanted to. But his daughter always wanted him to play a board game, cards, or watch animated movies. Her favorite was Beauty and the Beast. She also liked to talk about things he had no interest in, like fashion, movie stars, or horses.

He glanced down at his daughter when she gasped and then followed her gaze to see the camp come into view. There were twenty or more pristine white cabins—some larger than the others. There was a long, gray steel building with a sign that said Mess Hall over the door. The closer they got, the other areas around the camp came into view. He saw the lake with several rowboats lined up on the sandy beach, the stables, and a dozen horses in the corral attached to a large red barn.

It looked just like the picture he’d received. A friend of his knew the man who had owned it for years. Emerson had heard about the man, Noah Harrison, who was richer than everyone he knew but spent the summer at this camp he built.

Emerson had heard that the camp Noah built was like the one he went to as a child, which had changed his life, so now he wanted to give back. He didn’t know many people who went to the extreme that Noah did, and it impressed him.

Emerson hadn’t had an interest in it until someone suggested he put Riley in the camp. Since she was an adult, she had to be a counselor. He had proposed to Noah that she might help with the horses, and he said he’d see what she wanted to do.

He knew she was good with children and excellent with horses, so he thought it would be a good place for his daughter. His only hope was that this would help her and get her to be a little more independent. To get her to grow up and want to be out on her own.

The limo pulled to a stop. Emerson glanced down and saw how nervous Riley was. “Honey, you’ll be spending most of the time with the horses, remember? You’ll be teaching others how to care for them. You love that.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “I would like that.”

The driver opened the door and let Emerson and Riley out. They stood by the car as the driver pulled out all of Riley’s suitcases.

“Do you really need all of them?” Emerson asked as the fourth and then fifth big suitcase was pulled from the trunk.

She stared up at him, wide-eyed. “Of course, I’m going to be here for six weeks.”

He just nodded and kept his mouth shut, relaxing when he saw Noah headed their way. He had talked to the man about his daughter, so Noah knew the situation and that he might have a problem with her at first for the fact she’d never been away from her dad before.

Noah had assured him Riley would be just fine, and he’d see to it personally.

Emerson held out his hand, and Noah shook it.

“I’m so glad you guys made it.” Noah turned to Riley and held out his hand to her. He smiled gently when she stared at his hand and then him.

Emerson cleared his voice to get her attention.

She jumped and glanced at her dad before holding her own hand out. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Harrison,” she said politely.

Noah grinned. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss Holmes. I’m so glad you could help me out this summer.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “Really?” she asked. “You really need me?”

“Absolutely. Your dad told me how good you are with horses, and I desperately needed someone’s help with them and the children who will be learning to ride.”

She nodded eagerly. “I can do that.”

“Good. You’ll be in the women counselors’ cabin.” Noah pointed to one of the larger cabins.

“Other girls will be in there with me?” Riley asked nervously.

Noah nodded. “Yes, sweetheart, but they are all very nice. You’re going to make a lot of friends this summer.”

Riley’s mouth turned down.

Her father cleared his throat. “How about if Mavis helps you take your bags to the cabin while Noah and I talk?”

She glanced up at him with a little fear darkening her expression. “You won’t leave without saying goodbye, will you?”

“No, I’ll be right here. I promise.”

She nodded, rushed over to the driver, picked up a suitcase, and pulled another one behind her while Mavis walk

ed behind her with the other three.

Emerson turned to Noah after they watched the two enter the cabin. “As I told you on the phone, she’s very immature in some respects, but she’s smart and a hard worker, and she’s amazing with horses.”

Noah patted Emerson on the back. “She’s going to be fine. I have some experience with girls like her. A few of my friends have women like that. They are all really intelligent but don’t like how women are treated or the way they act. To be happy, they need more guidance than the average woman their age.”

“Really? I thought it was just my daughter that was immature for her age. I know losing her mother hit her hard, and I don’t think she’s recovered from it, and it’s been ten years.”

****

Noah wasn’t going to tell Emerson it wasn’t his friends’ daughters who were like Riley but their littles. The women in their lives they took care of. Unless you were in the lifestyle of big/little relationships, most people didn’t understand. Noah himself had had a few relationships like it but he had yet to find the little that fit him.

He was actually surprised at how many women wanted that type of relationship and had found more men than he thought possible who looked for women like that.

“She’s going to be fine. If I have any problems that I can’t manage, I’ll contact you, but I don’t foresee anything happening that I can’t deal with.”

“You have no idea how much this relieves me. I don’t know how to relate to her, and she just ends up getting on my nerves. I snap at her and end up hurting her feelings.”

Noah nodded. “I understand. I hope by the end of the summer, this problem will be solved.”

“I hope so, too. There’s a woman I’ve been seeing. Riley doesn’t know about her yet. She’s thrown a fit in the past if I had a date, but I’m a grown man who wants an adult relationship. I can’t have it while she’s around unless I lie to her.”

Noah watched Riley, and the driver headed back toward them. He smiled to see the animation on the girl’s face as she walked beside the man.

With her long dark hair in a ponytail swinging behind her, she looked really young until you got a look at her body. It was a mature woman’s body. Her hips were rounded, and her thighs were on the thick side, exactly how he liked. He didn’t go for the woman who starved themselves until he could see their bones. Her breasts looked like they were about ready to spill out of her bra as they bounced under her t-shirt.

“Riley, come and say goodbye to your dad,” Noah said, trying to head off a tearful goodbye. “I’m going to need your advice on something in the stables.”

Riley’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Noah nodded. “Really.”

She hopped up to her dad and hugged him tightly. “I’ll miss you, Dad.”

Emerson hugged her back. “I’ll miss you, too, pumpkin. I think you’re going to be a great help to Noah.”

She leaned back and smiled. “I will try.”

“Good.” Emerson bent and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “Be good.”

She took a step back as she watched her dad slide into the back of the limo. Mavis closed the door and walked around the car.

Noah placed a hand on her arm when she started to take a step to follow the car.

“Are you ready to help me, sweetheart?”

She pulled her gaze away from the departing vehicle, faced him, and tried to blink away her tears. “Yes, sir.”

Noah held out his hand. “Come with me.”

She took one more look over her shoulder before she placed her hand in Noah’s and let him lead her off.

He spent the better part of an hour showing her where the tack was and introducing her to the stable manager and some of the horses. When she started to relax and smile, he determined she was ready for the rest.