Page 38 of Falling for You
I hear Olivia wail in the background, “Okay I gotta go, text me what you decide okay?”
“Sure thing, Sunshine.”
The wailing is cut off when she hangs up on me.
I want nothing more than to be home with my girls now. In the trenches with Ems.
My girls.Are they though? Not yet. Not Emma. I need to step up first. But she is mine, and I’m going to fix it.
I run my hand through my hair. Am I ready to ruin my friendship with Hunt? Because he’s going to kill me. And the rest of the family, will they all be pissed and cut me off? My only saving grace is that Anna knows and she hasn’t come for me yet.
I need to man up and tell Hunter. I can’t worry about him being pissed anymore. I can only hope he’ll come around. I pull up my messages and find his name.
Me:Hey man, you free tonight?
Hunter:I’m actually at your house helping Ems. Something is going on with her. Mom keeps looking at her like she might break. I need to figure out whose ass I’m kicking.
I gulp deep. I’m the guy he wants.
Me:Cool. Let me know if you need a beer later and want to swing by.
Hunter:Will do man. If I don’t, we’ll grab some this week. I promise. This customer is just kicking my ass with the little details and nitpicking so I need to design yet another kitchen model.
How the fuck am I supposed to tell him that I had his sister, kept her a secret, then ended things, and now I want to win her back and take us public because she didn’t deserve what I did before?
A knock sounds on my office door. “Come in.”
“You didn’t even know who it was and you already sound like you want to beat my ass.” Clark laughs coming in.
“Sorry. Just a rough couple days. I just got the paternity results.” Clark takes the seat across from me.
“Shit man. Good or bad?” he asks hesitantly.
“It’s good, I mean it’s what I thought. I’m definitely her father. But I’m already wrapped around her finger so if it came back the other way I’d be devastated. I need to figure out how to run things here and at home. Having a kid changes things.” I sigh, leaning forward on my elbows. “Especially when I couldn’t prepare for it beforehand.”
“You know that you have a good staff right? The best one obviously is here in the room, but the rest of them… I like to give ‘em shit but they’re a good crew. Especially Jasmine, you could make her a manager. She’s young and ready for more.” He purses his lips and raises his brows.
“I know, I know. The brewery is my baby and has been for years. It’s hard to just give up control.”
“It’s not giving up control, Roman. It’s still being the best boss we’ve ever had and making it home for dinner and bedtime some nights. Trust me. Sometimes the money and what you think you need, are the things that won’t keep you company when you’reolder.” A sadness passes over his face. He knows the feeling he’s speaking of.
“So, let’s get through the end of this rush. You can go home to do bedtime, and tomorrow we’ll talk about hiring a new waitress and promoting Jasmine.” Clark stands as if this was a final decision.
Instead of arguing, I just get up and follow him out. I’m too tired to think of reasons why we shouldn’t.
The rush only lasts another hour and Jasmine is more than happy to take over closing duties. So I can go home to Emma and Olivia.
I almost run out of the brewery, the pull to get home to them is strong.
Luckily I live on the outskirts of town so I didn’t get pulled over out here on the dirt roads for speeding home. I park the truck in the driveway and hop out, running to the door.
I listen for the girls as Fiona comes running down the stairs to greet me, and I hear Emma talking to Olivia from the bathroom upstairs.
“Hey girl, are you doing bath time?” I scratch Fi’s ears and follow her upstairs. “Come on, let’s go get them.” Fi prances toward the bathroom in excitement. I see her nudge Emma and look out the door to me, alerting Emma that I’m home.
“Hey! You made it home!” she exclaims. “Look Livvy girl, Daddy's home!”
I step into the bathroom and see Olivia smiling up at us, kicking her feet to splash in the tub.
