The moment Hank touched the hot pipe he knew he'd made a mistake. He snatched his hand away quickly as he could, but the damage was done. He thought he'd gotten lucky at first—he didn't feel anything—but then came the searing pain, and he thought he was going to black out.
Hank was usually a tough guy, but the pain was bad enough that when the foreman insisted he go to the ER, Hank didn't resist. He intentionally didn't look at his hands. Seeing the damage would make it real. The foreman called his son to meet him at the hospital. Tom was in college and available. His daughter Samantha was working, and he did not want to pull her away. Hank was long divorced and between girlfriends, so there was no one else to call.
"You got lucky," the ER doc told him. "It's only second degree burns. If you didn't have excellent reflexes the damage would have been much worse. You should be able to make a full recovery."
"How long will I be out?" Hank asked. He was one of those men who needed to work. He hated being idle.
"It is fairly deep, so I'm guessing you're going to need a couple weeks to recover. The good news is that I doubt there will be much scarring, and no permanent damage."
"Thanks, doc."
On the inside, Hank was cursing. He worked with his hands, so returning to work before he was healed was not an option. Not only that, the wound was on his dominant hand, which was going to make performing everyday tasks difficult. The burn would have to be treated and redressed daily. He knew Samantha would be right there to help him, but Hank hated leaning on anyone. He did not want to be a burden.
"Daddy! What happened?" Samantha said when she got home from work.
"It was just a little work accident. It's no big deal. I might need a little help with the dressing, but I'll be fine, really."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of you."
"Really, Sam. It's not your responsibility."
"I know you like to think you're a big strong man, but it's okay to take some help."
"It'll be fine. Trust me."
Hank was already finding it difficult to do things with his off-hand. Opening a beer with one hand was nearly impossible. He'd been trying for 10 minutes when his daughter came home.
"Let me do that, Daddy." She took the bottle from him and twisted it open.
"Thanks, Sam."
Samantha hated seeing her dad like that. she knew it was important to him that she saw him as invincible. It was going to kill him to accept help from her, but she was not going to let him struggle to fend for himself. She felt obligated to be there for him—especially since he didn't have anyone else right now. It had been a couple years since he'd been serious with anyone and had increasingly become a homebody. Samantha didn't understand it. She knew he was a good looking guy. He was in his early 50s, but was still strong as an ox and had a full head of steel-gray hair. More than one of her friends had come sniffing around him, only to be warned off by Samantha. She didn't know if it would really bother her if her father dated someone younger, but she did not want it to be one of her friends. She had always felt oddly jealous when one of her friends talked about how hot her father was.
Hank went through to the living room and Samantha followed with a beer of her own. She had become a good companion to him, but he really wished she was out leading her own life. Samantha was only 26. She should be out having fun and hanging out with her friends—not watching the game with her old man. His daughter had had a serious boyfriend for several years, but they broke up about six months ago, and it was bad. Samantha had not expressed any interest in dating since then. Hank knew she had to have guys chasing after her. Even though she was his daughter, he knew she was beautiful. Samantha was tall and fit, but thicker and curvy, like her mother had been. Her ass was nice and round and her tits were big and beautiful—not that he dwelled on that stuff. She had fiery red hair and wonderful emerald eyes. Hank knew from an early age that he'd be chasing the boys away from his door. No boy would ever truly be good enough for his little girl.
"So what did the doctor say? What do we have to do?" Samantha asked.
Hank ran down the doctor's instructions, but assured her he could do most of it himself. "I don't want you anchored to the house because of this."
Samantha gave him one of her luminous smiles. "Did it ever occur to you that I like spending time with my dad? At least there's one man in my life who I know is not a jerk who's going to screw me over."
"Sam, not all men are like that. Your brother isn't like that."
"No, he's a sweet kid. He's also always at his girlfriend's, so he's not going to be much help with this."
Hank ignored that. "I just think you need to get yourself out there again. I've found that the best way to get over heartache is to get back on the horse." It was another version of a conversation they'd had numerous times since Samantha's break up.
"Like the way you went tearing through all those women after you and mom divorced?"
Samantha recalled how in those first couple years it seemed like her father was with a different woman every week. At first she was embarrassed by it, but then her interest was piqued by the sounds coming from his bedroom. Their house was small enough that if her dad was having a particularly good night she could not avoid hearing it. That knowledge had always made Samantha shy about having sex in the house herself, and on the occasions she did, she struggled to be quiet—quite unusual for her. The curvy red head had a robust sex drive.
"I'm not suggesting..." Hank couldn't even finish the thought.
"No double standards here, Dad. If you really want me on the horse, I could throw on a low-cut top and go down to the bar."
"Sam, come on. Knock it off. You know what I mean."
"I'm just teasing you, Dad."
"It's not funny."
"I'll meet someone when I meet someone. I believe in leaving things in fate's hands. Besides, I could say all the same things about you. When is the last time you had a date?"
"It's not as easy when you get older, Sam. Hopefully you'll never have to worry about that."
"You're not old yet. And I'm sure there are still plenty of women who'd like to jump on the horse."
"Sam! Stop it. We shouldn't talk about that sort of thing."
On more than one occasion Samantha had wondered how much of a horse her father was. No, she didn't think of him in those terms, but based on those noises coming from his bedroom he had to be pretty large down there. She'd always thought it was unfair that a woman's assets were right there for all to see—and judge—but she couldn't find out what a guy had going on until it was too late.
"You started it."
"How about you get us more beers and we concentrate on the game?"
"Yes, sir!"
Neither Samantha nor Hank were lightweights when it came to drinking, but combining beer with painkillers was not a good idea, and Hank was pretty goofy when it came time to go to bed. Samantha was tipsy too, but she was able to stand on her own two feet. Hank stood and fell right back to the couch.
Samantha helped her father back to his feet and then assisted him upstairs to his bedroom. He had to stop and pee, but once in the bathroom Hank found it impossible to get his jeans open. Reluctantly, he called in his daughter.
"It's okay, Daddy. It's not the first time I've had to get a guy's pants open," she laughed.
"Hey! I don't need to know about that," Hank insisted, while thinking that his daughter was a little too good at getting his belt unbuckled and his jeans open. He wasn't under any illusions that she was a virgin, but still, he didn't want to think about that.