Page 26 of Heart of Gold

She’s still beautiful, even more so now. It’s still her energy I’m drawn to. Although she deliberately did parenthood without me, I know she gave our daughter an extraordinary life. I may not have been there for the first nine years, but I’m not going anywhere now.

Emily has to know that. There’s no way she’s getting rid of me this time.

No matter how much she didn’t care about me back then, and told me she did.

9

Emily

Monday

When I arrive at Bistro 530, Burke’s still busy, moving from one dish to another, focused on his work. The dining room is full of guests, even at two-thirty. I saw the Bad Biddies Club, a group of older women in town who love to gossip, so I shielded my face. I don’t want any of them noticing me, especially their fearless leader, that evil bitch, Miriam Oliver. That woman has it out for me, and she can sniff out my drama like a bloodhound with a steak.

Caroline offered to stick around, but I hugged her and thanked her for the birthday visit.

“You call me if you need anything,” she said into my hair. “Absolutely anything.”

Burke doesn’t have a jealous bone in his body, but it’s best he hears things from me. He keeps his phone off during restaurant hours, so I find myself in his kitchen often, resting my hip against a trash can.

“What is it, baby? I’m kinda busy here.” He sprinkles a finishing basil on top of a pasta dish.

“So, Olive’s father showed up at my birthday.”

His hand freezes mid-air, and his head swivels to mine with big eyes. He straightens to a military stance. “So that’s who that guy was. I thought he was long gone.”

“Me too,” I say. “I went to dinner with him last night. To tell him. It wasn’t anything.”

“Okay,” Burke says, his voice unsure.

“They’re meeting today. Three o’clock.”

“Should I be there too?”

“No, I don’t think so. I thought you should know. I didn’t want you to hear about it from anyone else.” I take a deep inhale before I say, “Also, he’s staying at the tiny house.”

“How long?”

“I have no idea.”

“Is he safe?” Burke asks, looking at his plates instead of me. He puts them both on the shelf and wipes his hands on his apron.

“Of course he is.”

“Well, the way you talk about him, it seems like you barely knew him.”

“We spent a lot of time together that week.” Burke knows the Cliff Notes, not the memories that came flooding back when Max reappeared. The hours we talked, how we couldn’t shut up around each other, the soul-bearing. I had never seen that anger from him, though, so maybe Burke was right. I didn’t know him at all.

“Be safe,” Burke says. He holds a skillet to sauté garlic. “Let me know how it goes.”

“I’ll leave you to it.” I land a kiss on Burke’s cheek, touching his forearm before I turn to walk away. The butterflies are absent, but I guess that is just nerves.

“I want to meet him,” Burke says. “Shake his hand and look him in the eye.”

“Okay. That can be arranged.”

Burke’s staring at the stainless steel of his counter before he looks to me. His jaw tenses, and he sets his hands on his waist. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

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