Page 36 of Always Be My Baby

And just like that, my mood lifted as we both fell into laughter. What was I thinking keeping this from Girard? I should’ve known by now to get it out in the open and let him get me back to good.

We continued to have fun out in the crisp, cool air. Floyd saw fit to chase every unlucky bird or squirrel who stopped to rest within his field of vision. But as the day wore on, that Facebook message grew heavier in my pocket. After a couple of hours, we loaded up a soggy Floyd back into the truck, dropped him off at home, and then headed into work.

From there, Girard kissed me goodbye and then we went our separate ways, him into the kitchen and me into my office. I must admit having Lena around to take some of those burdens off me made a huge difference. The amount of work I could get done now and actually go home at a decent hour was incredible. I kind of felt stupid for not having done it years ago.

After finishing up some paperwork, my eyes found my phone and then darted to the computer. Back and forth, back and forth between the two, and I finally couldn’t take it anymore. My dad— I hadn’t talked to him since I was ten years old, and he messaged me onFacebook.

I had to find out what he wanted.I had to.

It took a couple of steadying breaths for me to open up my messenger, but I did it. I hitreply.

What do you need?I typed. His response came back relatively quickly, as if he’d been waiting on me.

Dad:Need you to drop those charges.

Me:Why would I do that?

Dad:He’s my son.

‘He’s my son…’ That was a smack in the face and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why? I knew his contacting me was about Lachlan. That man never cared about me, or Tess or Jimmy. So then why did it hurt so badly? I actually felt my lip begin to tremble. Bump that. My dad didn’t get my tears. I squared my shoulders, shook my head to clear my thoughts… and typed.

Me:And who are you to me?

Dad:Where are those envelopes that were in the Bible?Yet again, not even an empty apology.

Me:So you knew he broke into my house? Thanks for admitting that here in text. I could have you arrested for accessory. And they’re gone, BTW.

Dad:Those didn’t belong to you. I’ll sue.

Me:You left them when you took off when I was nine years old. Good luck with that.

Dad:He’s your brother. He has a gambling problem.

Me:Not my brother. I only have one. Lachlan is the man who broke into my home and trashed it, causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage—and he’s your problem. Not mine.

I didn’t give him the chance to respond, ending the exchange and blocking him. I walked out of the office into the kitchen area and looked around. Girard was at the stove today. I knew he was going to have inventory to get done, but he liked to get the soups and sauces going for the staff to ease their burden with one less chef on the floor during service.

“Girard,” I called out louder than I wanted to but it was the only way to be heard over the kitchen commotion. When he turned to look in my direction, several other heads turned to look at me, too, but he was the only one I paid attention to. The smile on his face dropped the minute we locked eyes. “Are you terribly busy?”

“Never too busy for you.” He gave his sauce one more stir, turned the heat down, then he called over to Diego, “Watch this for me.”

“Yes, chef,” Diego answered. Diego wasn’t nearly as tall as Girard, but he had a handsome face with a strong jawline and deep, almost black eyes. I remember him coming into the restaurant with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but under the tutelage of Girard and Sawyer, he’d settled into his position from what I saw of him.

I stepped back in my office and waited for Girard to join me, which was but a second later. I must’ve looked exactly as I felt, that I needed a hug real bad. Because that was exactly what Girard did. Before I even got to tell him about my problem, he walked over, wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in close to his body. I sagged against him, placing my hands on his ribs. I was usually a very strong woman, but some days, I needed my strength from other sources and Girard had an endless supply of strength for me to draw from.

He kissed the top of my head. “You talked with your dad, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I sighed. “I shouldn’t have. But curiosity got the best of me.”

“And I’m guessing it was all about poor Lachlan…”

“Yeah, um...yes. He knew that those envelopes were missing from the Bible.”

“Damn, I wish you would have taped that conversation.”

“I didn’t call him. It was strictly over Facebook messenger.”

“You know we could turn that conversation over to the police, right? I don’t know what they could do about it, but seems to me if he knew Lachlan was coming for that Bible, doesn’t that make him some sort of accessory?”

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