The Best Goodbye (Rosemary Beach, #13)(48)

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.

“She’s mediocre at best,” Elle snapped.

“Don’t be pathetic,” I replied, bored with this entire conversation.

“I hate you!” she called out heatedly.

I felt nothing in return, so I had no response.





Addy


He had watched me all night. It had made me feel excited and nervous at the same time. I liked knowing he was there, but I was also worried about forgetting what I was doing if I looked back at him.

I expected him to meet me the moment we closed, but he wasn’t there. I went to the back to get my purse, still thinking he’d show up, but he didn’t. Elle kept looking my way and smirking, as if there was something she knew that I didn’t. I ignored her and decided I would stop by his office to say good night. Maybe he was busy.

His office door was open, and I could see it was empty. I thought about texting him but changed my mind. I needed to get home to Franny. I would wait until he contacted me. Maybe he had been trying to tell me something, but I’d never looked his way to find out what it could be.

There were several scenarios running through my mind, but as I stepped outside, I realized it was none of them; his truck was still there in the parking lot, and so was he. In the darkness, I could see him deep in conversation with a tall blonde, her hair pulled back tightly in a ponytail, dressed in tight black leather. They couldn’t be any closer to each other without actually touching. I paused and took them in. Even in the shadows, I could see that Captain’s face was intent as he listened to her.