Page 118 of One More Heartbeat
It’s Peony’s.
She frantically squirms in the highchair, leaning away from the man, looking as if she plans to throw herself out of the chair—like someone in a burning building whose only chance of escape is to jump from a third-story window. Then she releases a wail so loud, so panicked, it startles the nearby patrons.
Garrett and I both make a move to her, but it’s Athena who shoots to her feet first and hastily lifts Peony out of the chair.
“Is it okay if I take her to the staff room?” she asks me, cradling Peony against her chest, blocking her view of us. Peony’s little body trembles in her arms.
“Go ahead.”
She levels Garrett a look so poisonous, I reverse a step from the force of it.What the hell?
From the confusion creasing Garrett’s brow, it looks like he’s wondering the same. He didn’t do anything wrong, so why is she mad at him?
Carrying Peony, Athena rushes to the hallway, like a mouse spotted by a circling hawk.
“I’m sorry.” Joffrey’s gaze follows Peony and Athena as they hurry away. “Didn’t mean to scare her.”
“I know.” Regret roughens Garrett’s tone. “She witnessed a man shoot her mother a few months ago.”
“Shit, man. I’m so sorry. Both for what just happened and for your loss.”
Garrett excuses himself to check on Peony, taking the two uneaten cupcakes with him.
Joffrey returns to a table where two other men are sitting, looking a little stunned, like everyone else, at what just happened. Or maybe something else has them surprised.
I walk to the front counter, stopping on my way at a table where two women are talking, their plates empty except for some crumbs.
“The ALS is draining me,” the blond woman says to her friend,without giving me a second glance as I pick up her plate. “I rarely have time for myself. I constantly have to do everything for him. For better and for worse…” She huffs, the sound harsh. “Whoever came up with the line has never looked after someone with a chronic illness.”
I don’t stick around to see what her friend has to say. I hurry to the kitchen, trying to keep the comment from tangling with the ghost of Joseph’s words. Trying to keep it from spreading through me like poisonous fungus.
I put the plates in the dishwasher and head to the staff room.
“He thought she was her mother,” Athena scoffs, her voice barely audible through the closed door, and I freeze, my hand pausing midway to the doorknob.
“She’s not the one who plays with her.” Bitterness reshapes Athena’s voice into something barbed and cutting. “Or is there for her when she has a nightmare. She’s nothing like Kenda. How can anyone think she could be Peony’s mom?”
I wait for Garrett to defend me, to explain spondyloarthritis makes it more difficult for me to get down on the floor and play with Peony.
I wait for him to remind her I must take care of my body, which takes more time than I’d like, so the spondyloarthritis doesn’t impact my quality of life as much.
I wait for him to remind her I have a business to run, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to spend time with his little girl.
I wait for him to say all these things, but he doesn’t. He remains silent.
The time I spend with Peony is usually just during our evening walks with Garrett. I wish I could spend more time with her. To be cool Auntie Zara, who gets to hang out with her and do all the fun things Peony wants to do.
But while the spondyloarthritis does slow me down and my work takes time from my schedule, it doesn’t mean I don’t love Peony. It doesn’t mean I don’t secretly wish she was my daughter, that I haven’t been waking up from dreams about Garrett, Peony, and me as a family.
The washroom door opens, revealing the man who I’ve been waiting to defend me. Peony is in his arms, and there’s a damp spot on her dress.
I blink owlishly. “Hi? I didn’t realize you were in there.” So who the hell was Athena ranting to in the staff room?
Whomever it was, her tirade seems to have stopped for now. The staff room is quiet.
“She got icing on her dress, so we were just cleaning it off.” Garrett smiles at his daughter.
“I was going to get something from the staff room, but Athena’s on her phone and I don’t want to interrupt.” Especially considering what she’s saying about me.
