Page 24 of Always Be My Baby

He called out a, “Hey, sweetheart, everything okay?” I shook my head, angry tears starting to roll down my cheeks the more I thought about that disastrous exchange, but I stayed tight lipped as I passed the chefs.

Once in my office, I slammed the door, went to my desk, folded my arms to rest my head on them, and then I just let it all out. Tears and curses… and more curses. It hurt so badly. Why? Twenty Years. My father had been gone for almost twenty years. And it wasn’t like he’d died when he left, he simply left. So why did meeting Lachlan hurt so much? It pissed me off the way the idea of my father’s life without us turned me into this driveling mess. And that made me cry harder, curse a little more. I was pissed at my dad, pissed at Lachlan for showing here, for telling me he still saw my dad on a regular basis, but mostly, I was pissed at myself for letting all that affect me.

It wasn’t but a moment later that I heard the door creak open and I knew Girard had come to check on me. He walked around the desk, scooped me up in his arms, sat in my vacated seat with me on his lap, and pressed my face against his shoulder as he held on and rocked me while I cried.

“Hey, it’s okay to cry,” he said. “You need to get it out, you get it out. But, sweetheart, you’ve got to let me know what happened so I can help you.”

“Lachlan showed up.”

Girard’s body stiffened underneath me. “He was here? And no one came to get me?”

“I didn’t want you to kill him…” I sniffed a loud, ugly sniff, almost like a snuck instead. It was the kind of sound that most people would gag from. “before I could find out what he wanted.”

Girard, bless his heart, totally ignored it. “You know I wouldn’t havekilledhim…,” he said instead. “What did he want?”

“Did you know that he’s the oldest of three kids? The other two still live at home. Lachlan told me that the other day they were having dinner and Dad told him about an old family Bible. And Dad admitted that he forgot it back in Michigan when they’d moved. That was what he said. Whenthey’dmoved.” I stopped to take a breath and wipe at my eyes. “And then he said that Dad wantedhimto have the Bible and he was sorry that he no longer had it.”

“What kind of shit is that?” Girard spat, clearly upset on my behalf.

“The worst part is when I confronted him about it, about my dad having six kids total, only three of whom he sees, Lachlan had the nerve to turn it onme. He said I wasn’t part of Dad’s life. As ifIleft?”

“NowI am going to kill him. He better never step foot in here again.”

“I don’t think he will. I told him that when we got rid of the house, we got rid of everything that was in the house.”

“You don’t have the Bible then?”

“Oh no, I have the damn Bible. It’s in my storage unit with the restaurant stuff. At least, I think. But it’ll be a cold day in hell before he has it.” I wasn’t lying when I told Lachlan that I sold what I could, gave away what I could and trashed the rest. But despite hating my dad, I’d figured that with the way people love genealogy, Tess or Jimmy might have questions about our family history. Or if they had kids someday, which Tess has a daughter now, knowing history on that side of the family might be useful. So I kept it. I put in a box that followed me to New York and eventually back here.

Girard laughed his fool head off as he bent in to kiss me. “That’s my girl,” he said while still chuckling against my lips. I loved the sensation of Girard laughing or speaking while kissing me. It tickled and beyond that, it seemed like such an intimate gesture. Something you’d do with someone you really, genuinely cared about.

“I think I’m okay now. If you need to go back to work, it’s fine.”

“I don’t really want to leave you.”

“Really, I’ll be fine. Thank you for coming in here to check on me. I needed you and you were here.”

“That, sweetheart, is never hardship.” He kissed me one last time as he stood and deposited me back into the chair. “I’m good to get back to work, but you don’t ever need to take that on alone, do you hear me? I’m here. I’ve always got your back.”

“I know that.” And I did. Especially now. He held my hand until the last possible moment when we had to break apart because he was simply too far away for me to touch.

After I got myself together, I grabbed my coat and my purse, and the spare keys to Girard’s truck that he’d given me when I’d officially moved in. While everyone else was busy in the kitchen cooking away, I headed out the back door and made the ten-minute drive to the storage unit.

There were perks to being a neat freak… Okay, a control freak. One of those being my tidy storage unit. I installed shelves when I’d first rented out the unit. All of my boxes were labeled so I knew exactly what was inside. On the very top of the far shelf, there was a small box withhomewritten on it in black sharpie marker. I cradled the box on my hip and left the unit, locking the door behind me before I drove away.

Whatever reason Lachlan actually wanted this Bible for, I planned to find out.

Girard

The night before Valentine’s Day finally arrived and I couldn’t be happier about it. Lee and I and the rest of the restaurant staff had been working our butts off, busy with preparations for tomorrow. Just because we loved the work, didn’t mean it wasn’t hard work. Especially since despite the packed house we anticipated for lunch, for those who couldn’t get in for dinner service, it still wasn’t going to be nearly as busy as the night when we opened up both dining rooms at the same time.

And although we were in full-on rush mode, it was time to spring my little surprise on Lee. Neither Lee nor I would be working Valentine’s Day. All my preparations, making sure Lena knew her job, making sure Serena was comfortable in her new position, and going over everything I had to go over with Sawyer, all that preparation led to this weekend.

She and I were taking our first trip away together. And I swore to myself that it wouldn’t be the last.

I grabbed Lee’s coat and purse, and my keys, and ushered her out to my warming truck. It wasn’t easy to pull this off. But seeing as Lena went in later than us now, I had her go to the house and pack a bag for Lee. She brought it with her, placing it in the backseat of my truck before she came in to start her shift.

“Ready to go, babe?” I asked.

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