The Best Goodbye

When I did, he walked me over to the sofa and sank down onto it while holding me. “I think I’ll keep you in here all night,” he said with a cocky grin.

“I’ll definitely get written up then,” I replied.

He shrugged. “I know the boss.”

Laughing, I leaned in to kiss him again. Because when we were like this, I was home.

Captain

I stood watching Addy in the dining room with one of her tables. I kept trying to focus on work, but I always ended up right back here. She laughed at the older man who was telling her some story that his wife looked amused by as well. She had a charm about her that put everyone at ease. I found myself wanting that all to myself.

“So that’s what has you so distracted lately,” Blaire’s voice whispered beside me. Turning, I looked down at my sister, who was checking out Addy with a grin on her face.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, a little annoyed to be caught by Blaire of all people.

“Coming to find out why you’ve ignored my last two phone calls and only given me one-word answers to my texts.” She nodded her head in Addy’s direction. “I like what I see. This is a good reason to ignore me. Bethy said she saw you with an attractive redhead and an adorable little blond girl last night. I thought I’d come see you and ask about it. But I can see for myself instead. So she has a daughter?”

I stepped back into the hallway before Addy could turn and see us looking at her and talking. I hadn’t noticed Blaire’s friend Bethy in Grayton last night, but then I’d had my eyes on my girls. No one else had mattered.

“Come to my office,” I told her. If Blaire was going to ask questions, I wanted some privacy.

“I didn’t peg you as someone who’d date a single mom, but I’m liking this side of you.”

“The girl, Franny. She’s mine.” There, I’d said it. I needed to tell someone. I wanted to tell someone. Blaire’s eyes went wide, and her mouth fell open as she stared at me.

“Yours?” she asked, still in shock.

“Rose . . . is from my past. A piece of my past that I keep close. It’s a long story. I didn’t know about Franny until a week ago.”

Blaire’s eyes flared bright, and she placed her hands on her hips like she was ready to attack someone. “She kept your child from you?”

I shook my head and held up my hand to calm my firecracker sister down. “It’s not like that. She couldn’t find me. I left that life and ran. Changed my name, made some choices that were bad. Finding me wasn’t easy. But she kept looking until she did.”

Blaire’s stance relaxed, and her expression softened. “Oh, well, that’s different.”

I nodded. “Yeah. She hasn’t had an easy time. I blame myself for that, but she has me now, and I’m not going anywhere.”

We stood in silence. I could see the wheels turning in Blaire’s head. I just had to wait for her to think it through.

“I want to meet them,” she said simply.

“Good. I want them to meet you, too.”

Blaire smiled. “I can’t believe this.”

If she only knew the real story . . . but I’d never tell her. My past was something that would stay between Addy and me. Blaire had just come into my life a few years ago. We shared the same father, but I’d been born to a teenage mother, who gave me up for adoption. When I had decided to find my birth parents, I also found Blaire. A sister I hadn’t known I’d had. We were growing closer now, but this was still more than I wanted to share with her.

“And her name isn’t actually Rose. It’s Addy. She was checking me out to make sure I had turned into a man worthy of our child, so she disguised herself and changed her name.”

Blaire’s grin grew. “I like her. She’s a protective momma. Says a lot about a person.”

“Just wait until you meet Franny and see what an amazing job she’s done raising her.”

“Dinner at my house on your next night off. Make sure you bring both of them.” Blaire didn’t ask; she just commanded.

“Let me talk to her about it first. Make sure she’s good with that. This is all new for us, and I don’t want to do anything that’s too much for Franny.”

Blaire let out a laugh and beamed at me. “You’re a daddy. I love this.”

I did, too. “Yeah,” I replied.

• • •

Once I had my sister out of my office, I went back to check on things. It wasn’t like I was needed, exactly, but I wanted to see Addy.

“Rose was late getting in today and late to the meeting in the dining room. I’m making the call to let her go,” Elle said, walking out of the kitchen and directly toward me.

“No,” I replied, annoyed that Elle was attacking Addy out of simple jealousy.

“Why? Are you seeing her? Is that it? If anyone else was this late, you’d let them go. Why does she get away with it?”

I walked around Elle and headed to the dining room.

“Answer me. Is she the one you moved on to?”

I stopped in my tracks, hating the disbelief in her voice, as if she found herself superior to Addy. Stupid girl. I glanced back over my shoulder and met her angry gaze. “She’s the best damn server we have here. You know it, and so does everyone else.”

As much as I wanted to tell her that yes, I was with Addy, I couldn’t do it. She would attack Addy with a ferocity that would end with me firing her and causing shit with Stout.