“Nope.” I point back to the bar where Laila is training two new employees. “I stopped by to check in with Laila and my new hires.”
Fallon nods. “Where’s Lennie?”
Lennie pops out from behind the bar, running toward us. “Fallon!” she yells, squeezing between us to wrap her arms around Fallon’s waist.
“Hey, sweetie,” Fallon says, picking her up and giving her a hug. “How’s your day so far?”
“Really good. Daddy and I went out for breakfast, and then he got me a new bookshelf for my room, and then we came here to say hi,” she rambles.
“Wow,” Fallon says. “Sounds like a fun day to me.”
“It is. Laila said that one day she’s going to teach me how to make beer.”
“I bet you’ll be amazing at it.” Fallon smiles warmly at her.
“Not for a long time,” I tell her. “At least until you’re twenty-one.”
“How many years is that?” Lennie asks, and I can see the gears turning in her mind as she tries to figure it out. As far as I’m aware, first graders don’t learn subtraction, so I don’t think she will get it. It’s hard to believe I have a first grader, but with the school year starting a few weeks ago, it’s official.
“Sixteen years,” Fallon supplies.
“That’ssolong,” Lennie gripes.
“It will go by fast, I promise,” I tell her.
I expect Fallon to say something in response, something witty or cute like she does since she’s so good with Lennie, but she doesn’t. She’s focused on the door to the reception hall, where a man has entered with a woman on his arm.He’s wearing a black suit, and his dirty blonde hair is slicked back with what appears to be an obscene amount of gel. There’s a woman clinging to his side, an almost bored look on her face.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I ask Fallon, but she doesn’t reply. Her face is pale, eyes hollow as she looks at the man. “Sunshine. Talk to me.” I take her chin between my fingers, purposefully taking her eyes from the man.
When her eyes focus on me, there’s a sense of fear in them. My daughter is still in her arms, and I can tell she’s starting to get scared. “Lennie, go back to Laila, please. Tell her I need her to watch you for a few minutes.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she quickly agrees, sliding down Fallon’s body and running back to the bar.
“Eyes on me, sunshine,” I tell Fallon. “What’s happening?”
Finally, the dead look in her eyes disappears, replaced with anger. “That’s Brad.”
“Brad?” I ask, confused, looking back at the man. He’s walking around with the woman, and he looks lost. Then, it clicks. “Your ex-husband, Brad?”
Fallon nods, and I snap into action. I take her hand in mine, watching Brad as he turns in the opposite direction, then I lead Fallon down the hall to her office. I sit her in her chair, and rub my hands on the tops of her shoulders. “How do you want to do this?” I ask her. “Do you want to talk to him? Do you wantmeto talk to him?”
“Why is he here?” Fallon asks absentmindedly. “He’s never reached out to me before, why is he here? Why now?”
“I don’t know, sunshine. I really don’t, but I can find out for you.”
She shakes her head vehemently. “No. Who knows, he’s probably here for the wedding or something. It’s fine. Ineed to get back to work and pretend like everything is normal.”
“Is that really what you want?” I ask. “Because if it’s not, I won’t hesitate to go ask him why the fuck he’s here, and kick him out.”
“No. Please don’t, Jase. If he’s here as a guest, that will reflect poorly on the company, and we can’t have that,” she pleads.
While I see her point, I can’t help but be irritated. I don’t want that man within a seventy mile radius of her or Presley if I can help it. He’s done nothing to deserve a spot in their lives. He gave them up.
“Fine,” I grumble. “But I’m not leaving. Lennie and I can stick around until you’re done.”
“Jase, you can’t stay that late. It will be midnight or later by the time I’m done. Lennie can’t stay up that late.”
“I’ll figure it out. Maybe I’ll call Andrew. He’s been wanting to have her over for another sleepover.” I use my thumb to swipe across her cheek, pushing away the few stray tears that have fallen.
