Bad Daddy’s Forgotten Little by Mary Potter
CHAPTER FOUR
Jack
After I finished brushing Snowy’s fur, I immediately checked her trough in order to make sure she had plenty of water and oats. She knickered happily as I patted her on the back and carefully made my way back out of the stall. The last thing I wanted was to spook her as I exited the stall and get kicked in the chest. As soon as the stall door was closed and locked, I smiled and watched the beautiful mare as she ate.
Martin had always been disappointed with the way she turned out. We had bought her as a foal, and we believed that she would stay as flawlessly white as the day we bought her. However, within the first year, we were surprised to learn that she wasn’t a purebred, and her brown spots had started to come in, disappointing Martin even more. At first, he wanted to sell her, but, when I pointed out there was no point to it, he decided to keep it and allow one of the many Littles to keep the horse for themselves.
“Jack?” Ryan asked as he entered the barn, and I stopped to look at him as he led Red into the barn. I frowned when I saw the other horse by the barn entrance.
“I think you forgot one, Ryan,” I pointed out as I moved towards the horse. Ryan shook his head.
“No need to worry about it,” he started to protest as I made my way over to the horse. I frowned in confusion as I realized it was Thunder, my own horse.
“What are you doing with Thunder?” I asked as I turned the corner. It was at that moment that I froze and stared down at the person holding my horse’s reins in disbelief.
It was a woman I had never seen around the farmhouse before. She was a tiny person, maybe no taller than five foot five, and she also had long blonde hair and blue eyes. It struck me as strange that she looked exactly like Jessie, but Jessie was not as busty as this girl before me. I frowned as I looked from the girl to Ryan and back.
"Are you kidding me right now?" I snapped as I stared at Ryan. "Is this why we're all still waiting on you back at the farmhouse in order to take the cattle to the new fields?" Ryan rolled his eyes.
"Chill out, Jack," he groaned as he looked at me. "The fields can wait a little while longer." I raised an eyebrow at him.
"And what about Jessie?" I ordered. "She'll be heartbroken." The woman frowned as she looked at Ryan.
"Who's Jessie?" she asked as she stared at Ryan. Ryan waved a dismissive hand at her.
“My ex,” he told her as he smiled sweetly at her. He then turned his attention to me. “I’ll deal with Jessie. In the meantime, this stays between you and me.” I shook my head.
“So, Jessie was telling the truth,” I said as I stared at him. “You make me sick. I can’t believe you would do this to anybody.” Ryan rolled his eyes.
“It’s fine,” he protested as he stared at me. “As long as you don’t tell Jessie anything, no one’s getting hurt.” I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not letting you do that,” I argued as I glared at him. “You ruined Martin’s life, and you’re ruining Jessie’s life now. The point of a Daddy relationship is to love and protect, not ruin.” The woman stopped and looked at Ryan.
“Daddy?” she asked, sounding more confused than ever. “Do you have kids or something?” Ryan shook his head.
“No, I don’t,” he told her as he glared at me. “Now listen here…” I shook my head.
“No, everyone’s done listening to you,” I told him with a death glare. “I’m going to tell Jessie everything.” With that, I turned towards the farmhouse and started down the barn.
“No, you’re not!” Ryan shouted as he grabbed me by the shoulder.
Before I could even react, Ryan turned me around and punched me in the face. I felt my nose crunch under the force of his fist as he punched me, and I glared at him as I stopped myself from falling to the ground. As soon as the lights stopped dancing in my eyesight, I grabbed Ryan by the shirt.
“You’re a dead man!” I shouted as I pulled him in. In that exact moment, right before I could punch Ryan, I heard a sharp, shrill scream, and I stopped to look at the source of the scream. It was Jessie, standing there next to a broken glass and a discarded cookie. I released Jessie and turned to Jessie. “Jessie, I…” Ryan pointed towards the farmhouse.
“Jessie, get back inside right now!” he shouted, and I turned to punch him in the face. His nose spurted blood as he fell back.
“Leave him alone!” shouted the girl that had been riding Thunder as she raced to Ryan’s aid. Jessie stopped and looked at me.
“What’s going on?” she asked, staring at me in shock. I sighed and shook my head.
"I found out what Ryan's problem was," I told her. "He's been sneaking around with another woman."
