Page 70 of Crazy in Love

She picked up the Magic 8 Ball on her nightstand. “Any chance he comes back for me?” She shook the ball and checked the answer.Ask again later.

“Humph.” Why did she bother with this dumb thing? It was never helpful. She chucked it into the closet, snuggled back into bed, and allowed herself some time to wallow.

One great thing about the bookstore was that she made her own hours and could come or go as she pleased. No one would care if she came in an hour or two late.

Faith knew moping was pointless. She’d signed up for short-term, and that’s what she’d gotten. It hurt, but she would put up a good front for her friends. Especially Tess, who would feel guilty, even though she’d warned Faith multiple times.

She pulled herself out of bed, got ready, and headed to the bookstore. She tried to stay busy, decorating for Halloween and preparing book orders for the holidays. Over lunch, she emailed Gary Jeffreys. Told him she was Carol Lewandowski’s daughter—Lewandowski was her mother’s maiden name—and needed to meet with him.

A week later, he responded, suggesting they meet the very next day at a diner in Manchester. After clearing her schedule, she spent several hours meditating and visualizing. She flipped through tarot cards and scrutinized her horoscope, trying to divine how things would go down.

The following day, she pulled into the diner parking lot and wiped her hands on her pants. “I’ve done some crazy stuff,” she mumbled to herself. “But this takes the cake.”

She entered the restaurant but could tell right away he wasn’t there. Only three tables were occupied. Two pairs of men dressed for a business lunch, and one couple. All were too young to be her father, and no one was alone.

Faith found an empty booth and sat facing the door. Too nervous to eat, she ordered only coffee. And that was just to give her hands something to hold on to. Ten minutes after the appointed meeting time, she resigned herself to the fact that he wasn’t coming. But just as she moved to leave, she spotted a man in the parking lot getting out of a newer Mercedes-Benz. He wastall, thin, and handsome. She recognized his nose as one she saw in the mirror every day. It was him.

She smoothed her hair and quickly cupped her hand around her mouth to check her breath. The man entered and found her immediately. Her frantic waving made her easy to spot. He walked over to her table.

“Faith?”

“Yes. That’s me. Thank you for coming. Won’t you sit down?”

The envelope sat ominously next to her coffee cup.

Her father—that was weird to think—slid into the booth across from her, eyes darting around the room as if expecting someone to jump out at them.

“Thanks for meeting me,” she said. “I’ll get right to it. This is the letter I told you about in the email. It’s from my mom, Carol Lewandowski. Do you remember her?”

He nodded.

“Well, anyway. Like I mentioned, she passed away recently, and I found this in her belongings. There were two more like it—sealed and dated.” She slid the pink envelope over to him. “This one’s addressed to you.”

He picked it up but didn’t open it right away. “How’d you find me?”

“A friend of mine is good at finding people.”

“A cop?” he asked, visibly agitated by the notion.

His defensive tone put her on edge. Why would he be so nervous about cops? “Not really,” she lied. Not the best way to start a new relationship, but it seemed to be the answer he wanted, and she couldn’t piss him off before he even read the letter.

He ripped off the short side of the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. She gave him a minute to read and digest it.

“If it says what I think it says—that you’re my father—I thought we should meet.”

“Why?” His gruffness surprised her.

“Well, I just…I thought…you might want to know,” she stammered. It dawned on her that maybe he didn’t believe her. Or that he pegged her as some grifter, looking for a payday or something. “I don’t want anything from you. Like money or a kidney or whatever. And if you have a family and don’t want to tell them, that’s fine. I just wanted to let you know and meet you.”

He relaxed a bit. “I do remember Carol. She was quite an unforgettable woman. You look a lot like her actually.”

Faith smiled, taking it as a compliment. “Yeah. I get that a lot.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Faith caught sight of four men, guns drawn, approaching the diner at a run. Before she could react, they burst through the doors, causing her father to turn.

His face immediately turned to panic when he saw them. “You bitch.”

“What—” Faith didn’t have time to finish her question. The men eating at the tables next to them had also jumped up and pulled weapons. It took her a second to realize they were coming after her! Or someone at her table.

---