5. Marshall

Chapter 5

Marshall

Marshall couldn't resist looking over toward Kipp and his new friend as the two men sat and ate their breakfast together. Of course, Marshall knew that Kipp was as clear and undeniably a Daddy as any man – but what about his friend?

He's got the Daddy look.

And he's gruff and grumpy too.

I'm thinking he might just be…

The diner was way too busy for Marshall to be indulging in any idle speculation though. Kipp's friend might have had biceps sent from Daddy heaven, but there were paying customers who didn't give a damn either way. And Marshall's number one priority above anything else in that moment was to ensure that each and every customer was totally satisfied by their Hot Plate experience.

‘Mr. Jacobs, I'm on it,' Marshall said, smiling as he hollered to the kitchen for a double pancake with extra fruit on the side. ‘ Mr. and Mrs. Sellworth, I know you're ready for your grilled cheese and side of slaw. It's on its way.'

Marshall loved his job. There was absolutely no denying it. Being a server in the diner was never going to make Marshall a millionaire, he knew that all too well. But for the time being, it filled Marshall with the kind of joy that was hard to find.

Working hard, playing hard, and seeing the best side of life was what propelled Marshall through his days. And while there was always going to be the distraction of hot Daddies around, Marshall felt more than happy with his life as it was.

After scooting over to deliver a frothy latte and enormous choc-chip cookie to one eager customer, Marshall was about to get his butt back behind the service area. But as he turned, Marshall felt a hand on his shoulder.

‘Excuse me?' Marshall questioned, immediately feeling uncomfortable. ‘Oh. It's you .'

As if being touched like that wasn't bad enough, Marshall's mood soured very quickly as he saw it was none other than Tag Rackvill who was the perpetrator. Tag was an out of town property developer who had been buying up a lot of land and housing around the fringes of Eagle Ridge. To say that Tag was an unwanted presence in town would have been an understatement too. The citizens of Eagle Ridge were well aware that Tag's only intention was to build expensive holiday homes and ultimately seek to drive long time local residents away.

Tag's greed was bad enough in itself.

But Marshall's dislike of Tag was personal .

For the previous twelve months, Tag had been applying more and more pressure on Marshall's mom and pop to sell him their family home. Marshall knew that his parents' home sat on an area of land that would allow Tag's property empire to spill over into Eagle Ridge itself. This wouldn't be good. But worse than that was the fact that Marshall's parents kept rebuffing Tag's offers, and he simply wouldn't take no for an answer.

Tag was showing himself to be pretty relentless in attempting to get Marshall's parents to sell. But it was more than that. There was a feeling that Tag was only showing part of his hand. Men like Tag rarely got all their money y honest and fair means, and there was always an edge to him that made Marshall feel very on edge.

It felt like one super-rich guy thinking he had a free run over all those less well off than him and all he needed to do was throw some money around and everyone would bow down to his wishes. Tag was bad news, there was no other way of putting it.

The truth was that Marshall was rapidly running out of patience with Tag's behavior and hated the fact that his elderly parents were being harassed by such a jerk.

‘Yes?' Marshall enquired, more than a hint of irritation in his voice. ‘Can I get you a coffee? Preferably to go…'

‘ Ha , feisty as ever,' Tag replied, his black aviator sunglasses masking his ice-cold blue eyes. ‘No, I'm good. I prefer my coffee to taste like… well, you know, real coffee. Anyway. I was thinking that I should take you out for dinner one evening, Marshall. I could show you what a little bit of money can get yo u in life. And if I could bring you round to helping your parents see the error of their ways too, then that would be a nice little bonus. So… what do you day?'

Marshall felt a surge of anger bubble up inside him. However the fact remained that Marshall was representing the diner. Marshall knew that Max would totally support him picking up the nearest milkshake and tipping it over Tag's smarmy head, but that wasn't the point. Marshall was in charge of the diner, and he felt that he had no other option but to act as professionally as he could – even in the face of Tag's entitled provocations.

‘I don't think so,' Marshall replied, suppressing all his angry urges as best he could. ‘Now, if you don't mind, I have customers to serve.'

With that, Marshall made a move to step away from Tag, however Tag's hand reached out and grabbed him by his arm.

‘Hey! Get off me,' Marshall snapped, pulling his arm backward in an attempt to free himself.

‘No one says no to me,' Tag said, an ominous tone in his voice. ‘Not you, not your parents, and not anyone from this piece of crap town I'm trying to help.'

‘I said get the hell off me,' Marshall said, his lip trembling in a mixture of anger and upset.

‘What, are you going to make me?' Tag laughed, the snarl in his voice at odds with his Hollywood smile.

‘No, but I will,' came the voice from behind Marshall .

As Marshall turned he saw Kipp's friend towering behind him, and judging from the look on his face, he wasn't kidding.

‘Oh, let me guess… you're his Daddy?' Tag laughed, his scornful tone telling its own story.

‘I am,' the man answered. ‘And you're clearly bothering Marshall. So I suggest you leave the premises right this second before things get very ugly. And take this as a very strong recommendation not to approach my boy again.'

Marshall couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. But he knew one thing, and that was that Tag was now very gingerly making his exit from the diner. Tag wouldn't give up in his pursuit of his parents' home, but Marshall knew that he might think twice before approaching him again with his sleazy offers, and it was all down to one man's intervention.

However before Marshall got the chance to thank his knight in shining armor, he turned and saw him walking out of the diner over on the far exit.

‘What the hell just happened…' Marshall muttered. ‘And why did I like it so much?'

The remainder of Marshall's shift at the diner flew by. And even though Kipp and his mysterious friend left the diner without a word, Marshall couldn't stop himself from thinking over what went down.

Why had the man said that he was his Daddy ?

Wasn't Mr. Hero just a little presumptuous to claim that he was his boy?

Or should he simply be grateful that a hero stepped in to save him from Tag's unwanted advances?

These questions and many more spun around Marshall's mind until he was dizzy. But thankfully Marshall was now in the best place to discuss this and more…

‘OMG, that's so wild,' Dale said, a look of glee in his eyes as he listened to Marshall's retelling of the day's big event. ‘But you know who that was, right?'

‘No, not really,' Marshall replied. ‘I mean, Kipp's friend. The guy I saw in the bar by himself that night. But other than that, I've got no idea.'

Marshall could tell from the look in Dale's eyes that he had something to reveal. And judging from the excited squeals of delight from Arlo and Nick, Marshall's other Little friends were keen to find out too.

All four Littles were in their best rompers and having a classic evening playdate at Marshall's apartment. With the warm red glow from Marshall's chill-out lamp and the floor covered in pillows, cushions, and duvet covers, there was a real sleepover vibe going on. Added to that the fact that there was enough chocolate to last a lifetime, and it really was the kind of cozy playdate that Marshall loved.

‘Who is he? Who is he?' Arlo and Nick cheered in unison. ‘We need to know!'

‘Okay, okay, well his name is Zane,' Dale said, smiling. ‘And my Daddy says that he's a great guy. He's staying in a barn at the ranch and helping Daddy out with all the work we've got going on.'

‘He sounds strong ,' Nick squealed, a look of sheer delight on his face.

‘Yup, he sure is,' Dale said, blushing. ‘My Daddy is super-strong, but Zane is definitely in the same league.'

‘One question,' Marshall said, his attention taken by the fact that Zane was staying in a barn on the ranch. ‘Where's he from? And why is he staying in your Daddy's old barn?'

It was at this point that Marshall could tell that there was far more to Zane than met the eye. Marshall could see that Dale was thinking of the best way of putting things, and this typically wasn't a good sign.

‘Just spit it out, Dale!' Marshall said, rolling his eyes. ‘As long as he's not an axe-murderer on the run, I think I can deal with it.'

‘Ha, he's certainly not on the run,' Dale laughed. ‘And I'm pretty sure he's not an axe murder either. But…'

‘But…' Marshall said, his hand deep in a bag of sweet and salty popcorn.

‘He did just come out of jail,' Dale continued. ‘I don't know if he's even a real Daddy, but he's a great guy. He's so nice, and hardworking, and he's even made friends with a stray puppy.'

‘ Naaaaaaw ! He sounds awesome,' Arlo squealed. ‘A bad boy with a heart of gold! I love it!'

The three other Littles all giggled and gossiped their approval as Dale went on to describe Zane's perfect physique, mysterious vibes, and all round captivating energy. But Marshall wasn't so sure. Sure, there was no denying that Zane was hot. And it certainly felt like something hot when Zane stepped in to intervene with Tag. But nothing could take away from the fact that Zane was an ex-con who was living in a rundown old barn on someone else's property.

Marshall had always wanted a Daddy who could provide him with real security.

And Marshall knew that after the financial drama his parents went through during his childhood, he wanted a man who could cover all the monetary bases to keep them warm, well-fed, and with a good roof over their heads.

Zane might have ticked a lot of the dream Daddy boxes, but if he was living life outside of the law and all the insecurities that came with it, then that was a big red flag as far as Marshall was concerned.

Marshall knew that while his friends might have been all in favor of Zane, they were seeing things from their own point of view. They all had their own Daddies. They didn't need to think about the practicalities of it all. Zane could have been the hottest, most heroic man in the world, but if he couldn't give Marshall true, long-term stability then he simply didn't see how it could ever even begin to work out between them.

‘Okay, okay, enough about Zane,' Marshall said, suddenly wanting to switch the subject as far as he possibly could away from the man in question. ‘And like you said, Dale. He might not even be a Daddy. So who cares?'

Marshall could see that his friends weren't convinced by his change of subject, so decided to take matters into his own hands.

‘Come on, let's play stuffie cuddles,' Marshall said, picking up Beachie and walking him over toward Sass and the other stuffies. ‘Who wants to cuddle me first?'

‘Me! Me!' Arlo said, picking Sass the strawberry stuffie up and hopping him over to meet Beachie.

Soon enough, the four friends were on all fours and helping their dear stuffies have a fun time of cuddles, snuggles, and gymnastic flips and twirls. With a soundtrack of chilled nursery rhymes and lots of laughter and giggles, Zane was soon forgotten – well, forgotten by nearly everyone…