The Best Goodbye (12 page)

I noticed her car the moment it turned onto the small street, and I stood up so she would see me. This was it. I was going to meet my daughter. It was also my chance to show Addy that I wasn’t a completely cold bastard.

The car stopped in a parking spot a few feet away, and I could see all that blond hair, so much like her mother’s. It stood out, just like Addy’s always had. Addy turned and said something to her, and Franny nodded before they opened their doors and stepped out.

Franny’s face watched me with a mixture of hope, fear, and excitement. She was as easy to read as Addy was. I was beginning to think that she’d gotten nothing from me, but to have a daughter who was the exact replica of Addy wasn’t a bad thing—or at least, it wouldn’t be until she was old enough to date. Then I’d have to make sure boys knew how well I handled a gun.

The thought made me scowl, and Franny halted her steps. I realized what I was doing and shook the thought away, putting a smile on my face that wouldn’t scare my kid. She relaxed some and reached for her mother’s hand before walking the rest of the way toward me.

I shifted my gaze to Addy, who had her long red hair pulled to the side in a low ponytail over her shoulder. Her shoulders were bare, and her fair skin displayed a smattering of freckles. I used to tease her about them while kissing each one of them, which always made her laugh.

The pale blue of her tank top matched her eyes, making them shine even brighter as she looked at me. There was a slight warning in them, but there was also trust. She was trusting me to enter Franny’s life, but I could see that the mother in her was a protector. Again, something we had never had in a parent. I loved that she made sure our daughter had what we had always longed for. I would make sure that Franny got that from both parents now.

“Hello, Captain,” Addy said, with a small smile. “Franny probably has a lot of questions for you. I hope you’re prepared for an inquisitive little girl. But let’s get some ice cream first and just get to know each other. Ease into this.” She was in control, and I was OK with that. She knew what made Franny comfortable. Even if I wanted to stare at Franny and ask her about school and her favorite music and what kind of movies she liked, it wasn’t time just yet.

I nodded my agreement and tried to reassure her with my gaze that I wouldn’t mess this up. I wanted to keep that trust she’d given me. I wanted Franny happy, too.

We walked inside, and Franny looked up at her mom. “What kind are you getting?”

“Mint chocolate chip,” I answered for Addy, remembering that she always chose it if it was available. I would sneak money from my mom’s purse and take her to get ice cream after school whenever I could.

Addy’s eyes widened, and she looked up at me before turning back to Franny. “Um, mint chocolate chip,” she repeated.

Franny beamed at both of us. “She always gets that. I keep thinking she’ll change her mind. She never does,” Franny explained, as she looked over the different flavors.

“And you never get the same flavor twice,” Addy said, then took a quick peek at me. “Like someone else I know,” she whispered, smiling. She was not only letting me know that she remembered that I liked to try every flavor but also showing me that our daughter had some of my traits, too. Franny might have been Addy’s Mini Me, but she had her own personality. I could tell that already.

“I want to do the praline pecan. It has pecan pieces in it. See?” Franny said, pointing to the ice cream.

“Cone preference?” I asked her.

She turned her excited face toward me. “I like waffle cones.”

I already knew what Addy liked. I turned to the young boy waiting to take our orders. “Two scoops of pecan praline in a waffle cone, two scoops of mint chocolate chip in a sugar cone, and a scoop of each of those in a waffle cone.”

“Mommy never gets us two scoops,” Franny said, her eyes big as she looked at her mother.

“It’s OK. Today’s a treat day,” Addy assured her.

I felt Addy’s gaze on me and met it with my own.

“You don’t like mint chocolate chip,” she said matter-of-factly.

That had been true at one point, but over the past ten years, mint chocolate chip was all I ever ate. I wasn’t telling her that, though. Instead, I shrugged. “I’m a daredevil.”

She grinned and shook her head, before reaching for the cone full of pecan praline that the guy handed over the counter. “Here you go, sweetie. Let’s find a good spot in the shade to eat this.”

Franny hurried for the door while licking her ice cream, and Addy turned back to me. “I’ll pay for ours.”

Like fucking hell she’d pay. “I got this,” I said, then took her cone from the guy and handed it to her. “Go help Franny find a spot.”

Addy studied me a moment, gave me a small nod, and did as I’d asked.

He was different. This wasn’t the man I’d come to know over the past month. He wasn’t as hard and cold. The fact that he remembered my favorite ice cream may have gotten to me a little. It was as if, for a moment, I had River again. I didn’t want to expect that or hope for it, though. But I was glad for Franny that this was the man she would meet and know.

“He’s really tall,” Franny said quietly. “He seems strong.”

Tall and strong. That was what she thought so far. I smiled as we sat down at a round table with a large umbrella blocking the sun.

“He also bought our ice cream. That’s nice.”

I agreed with a nod. “He’s a good man.” Deep down, I knew he was.

Franny grinned and licked her cone.

“Good spot,” Captain said, as he pulled out a chair on the other side of Franny and across from me. “Ice cream good?” he asked, looking at Franny.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand while nodding vigorously. “I love it here. We got to come here once for a treat when we first moved in. But it costs a lot, so we don’t come anymore.”

I wanted to crawl under the table and hide, but I had nothing to be ashamed of. Franny was not a deprived child. She had a good life, and I’d given that to her. I held my head high, as if what she’d just said wasn’t embarrassing to me at all.

“Ice cream all the time takes away the thrill of it. You’d get bored. Keeps it a treat when you only get it every once in a while,” Captain said. I could feel his gaze on me, and I lifted my eyes from my own cone. He gave me a small smile and took a lick of his ice cream.

“Mom said that you used to take her to get ice cream a lot. Did it get boring?” Franny asked with complete sincerity.

Over the years, whenever she asked about her dad, she’d ask me to tell her something about him. She remembered every single story. I dropped my eyes back to my ice cream. I hoped he understood that I didn’t fill her head because I was holding out hope that something would happen between us; I just gave her pieces of him along the way.

“Yeah, I did, and you have a point. It never got boring,” Captain replied.

“I didn’t think so. It tastes too good. We have ice cream for lunch at school on Wednesdays. But it doesn’t taste like this, and it’s only vanilla or chocolate.”

“Is that so?” Captain was listening to her intently, and she was eating up the attention.

“Then on Fridays, we get a cupcake to celebrate all the birthdays that week, and sometimes we get red velvet. Those are my favorite. Except my friend Anna likes the chocolate ones best, so her favorite week isn’t my favorite week and . . .” Franny had her father’s attention, and she was on a roll. I leaned back and enjoyed my ice cream, while our daughter told Captain everything he could ever want to know about her life. She hardly came up for air. The only breaks he got were when she needed to take a lick of ice cream, and even then, he barely had a chance to catch his breath before she started talking again.

I stared out over the ocean, but every once in a while, I’d steal peeks at Captain to see how he was handling such a chatty nine-year-old. Every time, he looked fascinated. As if there was nothing she could say that would bore him. He nodded his head and said the right things at the right moments. This only made Franny more eager. I had a feeling she’d been saving it all up for this very day.

The way he interacted with her made it clear I’d been wrong to hold back from telling him about her. Hiding from him had been my way of protecting her, but had I really thought that the heart I once knew could be so different ten years later? Even if he had changed and hardened some, his goodness and protective instinct were still in there. I knew Franny had just become one of the luckiest little girls in the world.

Because when River Joshua Kipling decided you were worth protecting, he did it with everything he had.

Ten years ago

She was yelling, and we could hear her outside. River stopped at the front door and put his hand in front of me, holding me back. “You go to our spot at the pond. I’ll deal with her and then meet you there.”

If I didn’t go into that house, she’d be furious. He knew that. Last week, she had thrown a glass at his head when he sent me to my room and told me to lock the door. I wasn’t letting her do that again. Thank goodness his reflexes kept him from getting hit.

“No, I’m going in. She’s been threatening for weeks to send me away. I don’t want to give her a reason.” I knew that using my fear of leaving him would be the only way he would agree.

“I won’t let her.”

“River, you can’t stop her.”

“She won’t send you away, because she knows I’ll report her. I’ll call social services. I’ll leave, too. She knows it. You’re not going to be taken away from me.” The determination in his voice made me feel safe, even though I was standing outside a house with a madwoman raging inside.

“She’s on the phone with Dad,” he said, reaching down to squeeze my hand. “Go to the pond for me.”

I shook my head. “No. I won’t leave you here.”

River sighed, then turned to face me and placed both of his hands on my shoulders. He towered over me now at six feet. “Addy, please. I can handle her and calm her down. But if she hurts you, I will hurt her. I don’t want to hurt my mother. She needs help. I need to go in there knowing you’re safe.”

I stared up at him, wishing he wasn’t right. “I hate you having to deal with her alone. I hate being the reason.”

He pulled me close to him and lowered his mouth to my ear. “You’re my reason for everything.” Then he kissed me on the cheek and straightened back up.

In the midst of this insane moment, I had butterflies in my stomach going crazy. But he always had that effect on me. “I can’t remember what my life was like before you,” I told him honestly. “And I don’t want to remember.”

He smirked. “I remember what mine was like before you, and I don’t ever want to live without you again.”

After our ice-cream date, Addy agreed to bring Franny over for dinner in three days on her night off. I was trying to give them both time to adjust to having me in their lives, but I sure as hell didn’t want to wait that long. Watching Franny talk was fascinating. She was a ball of energy, and I felt like I had a lifetime to make up for with her.

The paperwork on my desk was waiting for me, but my head wasn’t on work. It was on the two girls in my life. The only two I would ever love.

A knock interrupted my thoughts. “Come in,” I called out.

Brad opened the door and stepped inside. I’d left a message for him to come see me. I had something we needed to discuss, and the kitchen wasn’t the place to do it.

“Hey, you need me?” he asked, looking like he’d just crawled out of bed.

“Late night?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes. I wanted his attention off of Addy.

He nodded. “Yeah, I was up late trying a new idea for a menu. Took me three tries, but I think I nailed it. I’ll make it today and let you try.” The guy was obsessed with food, but that was what made him the best.

“You do that,” I replied. “Close the door, and have a seat.”

Today the new manager was coming into the restaurant, which was going to give me more time to spend with Franny—and her mother. Because I intended to spend time with Addy. Even if she seemed unsure about me.

“Brad, what’s your relationship with Ad—I mean, Rose?” I corrected myself quickly. Calling her Rose was hard now. Remembering at work would be difficult. Explaining a name change to everyone wouldn’t be easy.

Brad frowned and shifted in his seat. “Nothing yet. I mean, I think we’re friends. I like spending time with her. Is that against policy? I assumed since you dated Elle, it was OK.”

He went from nervous to defensive fast. “No, it isn’t against policy, but I’m going to ask you to step back in your pursuit of Rose.”

His frown deepened. “Why?”

Because she was my Addy, and I didn’t want him fucking near her and making her laugh. “Because you have a kitchen to make first-class. Flirting with the servers isn’t something you have time for. Rose has a daughter. She needs to focus on that when she’s not here. So back off.”

Brad stared at me a moment, then moved to stand up. “Not sure how me being her friend and seeing her after hours affects any of that. She’s the best server we have, and you know it. She doesn’t let anything affect that.”

He needed to back down. My hands clenched tightly as I glared at him. “Don’t push me on this,” I said, lowering my voice to meet his challenge.

“Do you like her? Is that what this is about? Because last time I checked, she isn’t your speed. You go for the Elles of the world. And Rose isn’t like Elle. Not even close.”

I agreed with him completely on that. “I’m watching out for her. That’s all. You can leave now.” I didn’t want to leave any room for argument.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. I knew how I looked to him right now. He wasn’t going to say anything with the warning in my glare. With a frustrated expression, he turned and left my office.

That had gone as expected, but it had to be done. Brad was the best chef around here, and I’d hate to fire him because he couldn’t back off from Addy.