Tender Billionaire Daddy by Scott Wylder

CHAPTER ONE

Lacy

I parked my bike right outside of Queensville, and walked along the side of the road. There weren’t any houses around, just forest and fields on either side of the road, as well as a ditch. It was the perfect place for people to toss bottles out of car windows.

Using gloves and an old canvas bag, I picked up bottle after bottle. It wasn’t a lot, but my waitressing shifts were being cut back, and I was barely paying rent, let alone getting enough for food. If I find enough bottles, it could mean the difference between eating ramen for the next week and eating scraps from the restaurant.

I filled the whole bag with bottles. I went back to my bike to grab another one.

It honestly wasn’t that bad. It was quiet and peaceful today, which was a nice change of pace from the busy restaurant. This month was tough, but that was because school was out at the local college. Once the college kids came back, the shifts would pick back up. So, this was just a break; not a permanent situation. Hopefully.

I started to fill the second bag with bottles. As I did, I heard some rustling in the leaves in the ditch. A big rustling. I backed up fast. “Shit, shit, shit!” The last thing I needed was to have to get rabies’ shot, because I’d gotten myself bitten by a psychotic raccoon.

The rustling stopped all of a sudden and then I heard an irritable bark.

I relaxed instantly. It was just a dog. However, there weren’t any houses around for at least a mile, which meant the dog was definitely lost.

“Puppy!” I called out. “Come here, puppy?”

The rustling started up again. It was coming from a few feet away. I slowly walked over to where the rustling was and brushed away some of the debris in the ditch. Sad eyes blinked up at me from a dirty face.

“Oh, Sweetie,” I whispered. I knelt down and held out my hand to the dog. It shied away from for a second, before cautiously sniffing my hand. I smiled. “See, it’s okay. It’s okay. Let’s get you cleaned up, all right?”

I picked up the dog, gently. It was a tiny little thing, but it didn’t look overly skinny and it had a dirty collar on. It hadn’t been lost for very long, even if it had gotten really dirty in the meantime.

The dog shook in my arms, but I couldn’t tell if it was from cold or fear. I carried it back to my bike and carefully put it in my bike basket. “Okay,” I sighed as I got on. “I’m going to bike us to my apartment. It’s about two miles away. Do me a favor and don’t jump out of the basket, all right?”

The dog curled up in the basket as if resigned to its fate. I chuckled and scratched it behind the ears before setting off.

I had a dingy studio apartment on the poor side of Knoxville, which was the town right next to Queensville. The heating was broken more often than not and the hot water could randomly go out during showers, but the landlord gave me some leniency, whenever I had to be a couple of days late with the rent.

I carried the dog into my apartment and put it in my kitchen sink. I turned on the water and started to massage the dirt out of its fur. As soon as I turned the water on, the dog wagged its tail and started to lap at the running water. I chuckled. “Don’t worry, Sweetie, I’ll get you a bowl of water as soon as you’re clean.”

I took off its collar to check for a tag. The tag said “Peppermint”. I smiled. “Is your name Peppermint?” The dog’s ears perked up at the name.

“I guess it is, then.” I flipped the tag over and found a phone number on the back. Perfect. With some luck, I could get the dog back to its rightful owner tonight or tomorrow morning. I had a couple of leftover burgers from work in the fridge, so I could give Peppermint some food tonight, but tomorrow would be a completely different story.

After washing Peppermint, I gave her a bowl of water, before I dialed the number on the tag.

“Hello, this is Gouldson,” said a deep voice.

The name sounded vaguely familiar. Maybe he had been in the restaurant recently. “Hi, I think I have your lost dog.”

“You’ve found Peppermint?” Excitement rose in his voice. “How is she, is she okay?”

“She seems fine, just a little dirty. I gave her a bath and some water and she seems to be doing fine.”

“Where are you? I can pick her up tonight.”

I looked around my dingy apartment and cringed. “How about we meet at Knoxville Park? It’s down the street from the college.”

“Perfect. That’s perfect. I can be there in twenty minutes. Thank you so much. I’m sorry, what’s your name?”

“Lacy,” I said, smiling. “I’ll see you then.”

After hanging up, I wrapped Peppermint in a towel and grabbed my coat. “I’m going to take you back to your owner,” I told her. “Soon you’ll be safe and happy in your own home again. Won’t that be nice?” I felt a pang of sadness. I wondered what that felt like.