Page 41 of Love Notes & Lifelines
Daisie Dog stands and trots to Emmy’s side—at least they have each other.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Sometimes big people have big voices.” I smile and wait for her to respond.
“It’s scawy,” she whispers. Beck’s head whips in her direction before he deflates like a sad balloon.
“I’m sorry I scared you, lovebug. I didn’t mean to. Stella’s right. My voice just got too big for a moment. I’ll do better next time.”
She nods and takes a seat on the floor, but I see how small she tries to make herself. She’s a lot like me.
“What, Beck?” I tear my gaze away from the little girl in the pretty blue dress. “What do you want me to tell you?”
He takes a step back and rests his hip against his desk, but he wears an unreadable mask. “Are you playing me?”
It’s so absurd, I laugh. “Playing you how, Beck? I’m working twenty-four hours a day. Name one single thing I’ve gotten from you that would benefit me in any way that I haven’t earned.”
He narrows his eyes. “Why are you working so many hours?”
Damn it. Why did I open my mouth with this guy? The one time I break the rules, and this is where it lands me.
I shake my head when my words won’t come. I was here—I saw how poorly he reacted to the news of his sister even calling. His own sister. Every time she called, he got angry. He never lashed out, but it was there in his body language. Hopefully the girls will soften him, because if you’d asked me a month ago, I would have said Beck Hayes is adamantly against family andthe emotional baggage that always follows. If his reaction to my mother is a quarter of that, I won’t have a job anymore.
“Was it Caleb you were speaking about? One of your jobs with the sketchy boss?”
I’m quick to nod and even quicker to respond, “But I don’t have proof of anything. Neither does Teddy—yet.”
“But you were certain enough to risk speaking to a junior associate about it?”
I nod.
“Why didn’t you tell Elijah?” His face remains impassive, but his voice hitches on his friend’s name.
How the heck do I tell him this? My chest aches—all those broken pieces of my heart slice against its walls.
“I needed to be sure first. Elijah’s the only friend I have, and I…” I hate that my voice cracks. I should be stronger than this. “He’s all I have. I couldn’t risk losing him and I couldn’t guarantee that he’d believe me.”
His Adam’s apple bobs violently as he studies me. “Why do you work three jobs? I pay you very well.”
“It’s none of your business.” There’s steel in my tone that’s been missing for a very long time. “I work because I have to, just like anyone else. I have bills to pay and things to do and people who depend on me, just like you.”
“The difference, Stella, is that I’m not working around the clock.” His voice is aggressive, but his posture is guarded. This man confounds me.
My shoulders fall forward in defeat. “What do you want from me? My resignation? Do you want me to call Lottie and tell her I broke her rules? Well, that one I can’t do because I’ve never actually spoken to her. She’s connected through connections and there’s no direct access to her except for email.”
Emmy pops her head up from behind Beck’s desk and we both do a double take. She walks quietly to my chair then climbs into my lap and kisses my cheek.
“I lub you, Stella.”
Her words suck all the air from the room.
Beck hefts himself up so he’s sitting fully on his desk. His stare is akin to a hawk’s—he doesn’t miss a thing.
“I don’t work with liars, Stella.”
I bite my tongue to keep from crying, but my words quiver with my chin. “I’m sorry that’s what you think of me. If there was any other choice?—”
“I have to take them home.” His shoulders droop and his voice is quiet, introspective. He speaks as though he’s unsure, and it’s a tone I’ve never heard from him before. I’ve only known this man to be confident in everything he does. “To Sailport Bay,” he adds quietly.
That stings more than it should—I’m truly losing everyone this week.
