Daddy’s Shy Little Girl by Jess Winters
CHAPTER TWO
Donnie
The girl in front of me is about the most perfect looking girl I’ve ever seen. It’s damned difficult to keep my eyes from her, and I do my best to focus on the conversation around the table. I feel kind of stupid, actually. I have no intention of being a Daddy again so why in the world I would go to a barbecue at Timothy’s house to hang out with a number of Daddies and their little girls? I suppose that has to do with habit more than anything else. These are the kinds of people I hang out with. Ordinarily, though, I’d hang out with Daddies and only interact minimally with the little girls.
Ordinarily, all the little girls at a gathering like this would be taken.
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be at the table eating a hamburger right across from a little girl that isn’t taken.
Ordinarily, any little girl that I happen across who doesn’t already have a Daddy wouldn’t be the kind of little girl that makes me instantly desperate for a little girl again.
I can’t help it. Janna is lovely. She’s beyond lovely. She has the features I adore from the little oval face that makes me think of her as some kind of Victorian princess to hair in lovely red waves gathered on either side of her head in ponytails, bright green and expressive eyes I could lose myself in and little dimples that make her face look innocent and playful all at the same time.
She’s also utterly reserved. Maybe that isn’t the right term. She’s very quiet and it almost seems like if anyone at all talks to her she blushes. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything cuter than Janna with pink cheeks. God, I want to lift her up and hold her and squeeze her and tickle her and…
This is bad thinking.
I need to let go of these thoughts, damn it.
I’m a horrible guest as we eat because I can’t do anything but stare at her while trying not to. Every time she sees me staring, she turns bright red and looks away. Meanwhile everyone else in engaged in happy conversations and having fun. Finally, Timothy stands up and says, “Okay. Daddies are going to the backyard for beers. Little girls go to the den for cookies, games and coloring.”
I find myself inordinately relieved that Janna and I will be in separate places while simultaneously dreadfully lonely at the thought of being separated from her. I’m hit bad here. Brttney squeals and gets up. “Wait until you see the new games I got!” she says and starts to walk away.
Timothy says sternly, “Little girl!”
She turns around shamefully and whispers, “Yes, Daddy?”
“We clear our place when we leave the table,” Timothy says more gently.
She smiles guiltily and says, “Yes, Daddy! Sorry.” She lifts up her paper plate and her napkins along with her plastic cup and walks to the trash. She sticks her tongue out impudently at Timothy as she walks past him and squeals as she narrowly avoids a swat on her ass. She and Janna follow the other little girls to the den while Timothy and I follow the other Daddies to the backyard.
We engage in the usual small talk about work and sports and hunting and the various gossip of the town. I’ve always loved how everyone seems to know each other in small towns. I don’t find the intimacy nosy. In fact, I find it incredible that people in this town really are like one big extended family.
These thoughts are true and I would think them if I weren’t lonely but my loneliness lends a poignancy to them and without realizing I tune out the conversation around me. I am lost in my thoughts for several minutes until Timothy’s voice startles me back to the present.
“Earth to Donnie!”
“Yes! Sorry.”
“There he is! Hey, Donnie, Richard and I were just discussing—what was it we were discussing, Richard?”
Richard cups his chin in an exaggerated display of thinking, then snaps his fingers and points at me. “How you should grow a pair and ask Janna out instead of moping in a corner all night and possibly the rest of your life.”
I chuckle. “Come on, Richard, I just met the girl.”
They stare blankly at me for a few minutes. “And?” Richard finally says.
“So, it’s not like I’m dreaming of wedding bells or anything.”
Richard turns to Timothy and says, “Hey, you ever notice that when Donnie lies, his voice goes up in pitch a couple notes?”
“You know, I did notice that,” Timothy replies. “He sounds almost squeaky.”
I roll my eyes and say, “Okay, guys, I get it.”
They ignore me and Richard says, “I wonder how high his voice will go?”
“Guys—”
“You think we can get him to sound like a chipmunk?”
“Guys—”
Timothy says, “I don’t know. Let’s see.” Timothy turns to me and says, “Hey Donnie, tell me again about how you’re not head-over-heels for Janna.”
“Okay!” I say, raising my hands in surrender. “Okay, you got me. I like her. But you know I’m not looking for a little girl. I can’t risk getting hurt again.”
“Yeah, that was the ‘grow a pair’ part,” Richard responds. “It’s a fancy way of saying, ‘Move on and don’t let the tragedies of your past dictate the course of your future.’ Which is a fancy way of saying, ‘Grow a pair and ask that girl out!’”
“Okay, Voltaire,” I say. “You win. I’ll ask her out.”
“Perfect!” Timothy says. “Here she comes right now!”
I turn to see Brittney and Janna walking out to the deck. Brittney smiles at Timothy, “Daddy, can I take Janna shopping with me on Saturday?”
“Of course, princess,” Timothy replies.
Brittney claps her hands and does a little jump with excitement. “Thank you, Daddy!” She turns to Lydia. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
She begins to lead Janna away but Timothy calls, “Before you guys go back to the den, Donnie has something to ask Janna.”
Brittney looks between me and Janna and grins mischievously. Janna looks like she wants to find the nearest hiding spot but Brittney doesn’t allow her to escape. She pushes Janna over to me and says, “Sure! What do you want to ask her, Donnie?” in a singsong voice.
Janna smiles nervously up at me. Her eyes only meet mine for a moment before dropping to her feet but that brief flash of green gives me the courage to say what I need to say.
“Janna,” I ask. “Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?”
