For the first time in his five-year career for Strickland Steel and Lumber, Jack Harvey left work early. He wouldn't have taken the day off, but his boss had heard through the grapevine why Jack was so eager for the lunch hour to come and had insisted that Jack take the day off. As he watched Jack hurry through the door to get home he shook his head.
What sort of man does it take not to ask for a day off when he's seeing his daughter for the first time in eight years?
He wondered. Everyone had heard Jack's sob story, but never from him. They had to go by rumors. Jack never mentioned the life he had left behind. Unlike all the other workers of Strickland, he had no family pictures framed upon his desk. He was alone. And how a man as good looking as Jack Harvey stayed single was everybody's guess.
Jack hopped into his truck and sped for home. It was just after noon and Callie had agreed to meet him there at one thirty. It was an hour's drive from Strickland to Jack's tiny apartment. He walked in stripping off his work clothes and plunged into the shower almost before his boots were off. He washed the sweat from his hard, toned body and ducked his head under the gushing spray, watching sawdust roll down the drain. He worked the oil out from under his nails and winced as the water sprayed a gash across his forearm. His job at Strickland was by no means easy, and over the past five years it had steadily transformed him from an overweight alcoholic into a somber and beautiful middle-aged man who looked closer to twenty-seven than thirty-seven. His job so to speak, was to cut and fit steel and wood and land companies in grueling bid wars that sometimes sent him across the country. He was very different from the man he had once been, and he was eager to show Callie how much he had changed. His alcoholism had cost him a good job, a loving wife…and Callie. God how it had hurt losing Callie.
He stumbled out of the shower and tossed his dirty work clothes into the hamper, yanking on a clean t-shirt over his only nice jeans. He shaved and brushed his teeth, splashing on aftershave, and then someone knocked on the door. Jack's eyes flew to the mirror. His damp dark brown hair hung carelessly across his chiseled features and his brooding blue eyes were bright with panic. People often told him he looked like James Marsden…but older.
On his brief walk across the studio apartment to the front door, he remembered the past. He and Lisa had gotten married when they were just eighteen because Lisa was pregnant. Jack was working as a gas station attendant making barely enough money to make rent, let alone all their bills and food and things for a new baby. The stress of marriage, a new family, and financial problems were too much for Jack and he started drinking. It had taken only a few months for him to develop a serious problem. When Callie was six months old, Lisa started working from home to make enough money so they could eat at least. As the years passed, she built up an incredibly successful and lucrative business. When Callie was ten, Lisa finally did the smart thing and divorced Jack.
The custody judge considered him irresponsible and dangerous. And although Jack loved his daughter, that simply wasn't enough, and the judge terminated his parental rights. Shattered, Jack had spent the next year battling the decision while his drinking grew worse and worse. Finally, he took the job at Strickland, and had since transformed into an upstanding, financially secure, and reliable person. He had been clean for four and a half years, and also managed to seclude himself entirely. He had no friends, no girlfriends, nothing.
Now, Callie had just turned eighteen, and she wanted to see him. Jack hesitated as he stood before the closed door. Taking a deep breath he opened it, and they stared at each other.
When Jack had last seen Callie she was a little girl with freckles, chubby cheeks, disheveled golden brown hair and scruffy as a homeless dog. Before him stood a breathtaking young woman with hair so short it was boyish, a soft fringe of golden brown bangs falling into her soft blue eyes. The short hair accentuated her long, swan-like neck and elfin features. Her eyes were huge, her nose small and straight, her lips unsmiling, full and sensuous. She was so tall it startled Jack, and as slim as a boy, straight up and down with small, high breasts, narrow hips, and long, long legs. She wore a thin pale blue sweater over a short black skirt and black summer sandals. Her graceful, well-manicured hands were holding a small tan purse against her hip, and she swallowed as she stared up at him.
"Dad?" She asked in disbelief. Feeling tears crowd his eyes, Jack moved forward to embrace her, somehow having expected to see a little girl at his door. He pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her soft, silky hair. He felt her hands close around his back and was conscious of her purse digging into his hip. Carefully he let her go. "You grew up." He whispered touching her cheek. Callie studied him, searching her memories, but he just didn't resemble the father she remembered. "It's been a long time." She said softly. Jack took a deep breath and lowered a kiss to her brow. She smelled like baby powder and perfume.
They spent the day catching up. It was a three-hour drive from Callie's college to his apartment so she decided to stay the night. Ignoring her protests, Jack insisted she take the bed. He listened to her shower running that night as he lay on the couch, and then watched her walk across the room to the bed wearing a tiny towel wrapped around her figure, her short hair dripping water down her neck and the swell of her breasts. She stopped in front of the couch on her path to the bed.
"Dad this is silly." She said. "Why don't we just share the bed?"
Jack looked at her uncertainly. "I don't know if that would be proper." He told her, feeling like he had a girl over instead of his daughter.
Callie sighed, grabbing his arm. "Come on, I'm not going to get any sleep if I keep feeling guilty for cheating you out of your bed." Jack crossed the room with her to the bed and climbed under the covers. He expected Callie to walk back to the bathroom to change, but instead she climbed under the covers wearing only her towel and then he heard it hit the floor. His breath caught in his throat. Sweet Christ, she was going to sleep naked.
