Page 38 of Always Be My Baby

“Then how will I get in touch with that bitch?”

I balled my fist and it was a damn good thing Lena was standing next to me, to grab hold of my bicep, staying my reaction.

“This won’t help Lee,” she said softly. And I knew Lena was right.

“Ifshe decides to meet with you,” I said through clenched teeth in an almost futile attempt to rein in my temper, “we’ll do it tomorrow, 10:30a.m.,at the diner.”

“How will I know which diner?”

“Things don’t change in Lake Shores. There’s only one diner.”

“How long do I wait? How do I know she’s actually showing up?”

“One…”

The man’s eyebrows jumped in surprise. If he didn’t move to leave…

“Two…” I pulled my phone from my pants pocket, swiping to unlock it.

The man looked between me and my phone. When he still didn’t look ready to move, I started, “Thr—” That was all it took to get him to leave. Lena and I both walked behind him, making sure he didn’t stop to cause any more trouble. We stood there, a formidable team with our arms crossed, glaring him down.

Outside, he began cursing up a storm. His bravado quickly faded when Lena and I turned to leave.

“I’m going in the back to talk to Lee,” I said. “She has to know he’s in town.”

“She’s lucky to have you, Girard.”

“Other way around, Len.”

Breaking the news to Lee about her father’s sudden appearance went over about as well as expected. That was to say, the woman actually began vibrating from her anger. No longer my trembling girlfriend who needed a hug. She was out for blood.

I filled her in on the entire conversation and about possibly meeting him the next day.

“You don’t have to do it,” I said. “You don’t owe him a thing, and you don’t owe Lachlan a thing.”

“I know. But I feel like if I don’t meet him, he’s just going to keep coming back. This way, he’ll get to say what he needs to say, I will not-so-politely shut him down, and hopefully he’ll be on his way.”

“If that’s what you want, sweetheart.” I ran my hands over my face, locking my fingers together at the top of my head. It was so frustrating. “But you know I’m going with you.”

“Absolutely,” she returned before I even finished getting outyou. “You might be my first real relationship, but we’re a team. And this seems like the kind of thing a team would do together.”

“Woman—” I loved it when she said shit like that. Because I knew it meant she really got it. This thing between us. I stepped up to the desk and bent over, pushing her back in her chair, then I pressed my lips to hers because I needed to.

When I pulled away, I smiled at the sight of the woman breathing heavily. “Now, I’m going back to work. You need me, come get me.”

With a dazed look in her eyes, she waved me away.

The next morning, at 10:35, we stood in the cold outside the diner. Lee had gone through the trouble of dolling herself up—her hair in this sexy, messy braid, and she wore this long-sleeved, plum-colored tunic-style Henley that hugged every single damn curve on her upper body. She paired that with black skinny jeans and these sexy wedge booties. Truthfully, I thought she wasted the look on an asshole like her father. WhenIwas so willing to show her how much I appreciated the look. But my grandmother used to tell me that when a person looked good, they felt confident. And lord knew that Lee needed confidence today.

Although it was chilly outside, she wanted to make him wait at least another five minutes, to “sweat it out a little.” My woman had an evil side. And I loved it.

Finally, she grabbed hold of my hand, looked me in the eye, and with a tentative smile on her face said, “Okay, let’s do this.” He was sitting in a booth closer to the front door with what looked like an untouched cup of coffee in front of him. The diner, Pearl’s, looked exactly like every old-fashioned diner you’d see on old television programs because it’d been built during the times that those programs depicted.

As we approached the table, he turned his head up from the apparent contemplation of his cup to glare at us, scowling. “Darren.” She greeted him curtly. And despite how badly I wanted to, I managed to hold back my snicker.

“Lee,” he gruffly returned.

“It’sMerileeto you,” she said sliding into the booth, dragging me down onto the seat along with her. “Now, what’s brought you back to Lake Shores after almost twenty years?”

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