Page 9 of This Heart
She smiled and clapped her hands, then cupped my face. “Daddy! Pancakes!”
My heart, I swore, grew tenfold. She was happy this morning. Kids are incredibly resilient without the trappings of adulthood and the emotions of grief and guilt to weigh them down. My daughter was moving on, and it was high time I did the same thing.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I smiled. “That sounds yummy!”
I brought her over to the changing table, changed her diaper, and then put on a pink and white jumper that Opal had bought for her. She was still a tiny little thing, and the changing table still worked, but I wasn’t sure how much longer she would fit on there.
“Let’s go make some pancakes.”
As we left her room and headed down the stairs, my cell phone rang. It was Jeremy, one of the managers at The Muddled Moose.
“Hey, Jer, what’s going on?”
“I really hate to do this to you, Liam, but we have an issue.”
Walking into the kitchen, I turned the lights on and set Winnie down. She ran to the refrigerator and waited for me to open it so she could get a juice out.
“What kind of issue? More importantly, why are you even at work at this time of day?”
“Jason, the hotel manager, called me. The health department is here for an inspection.”
I stared at the phone. “That’s the issue? Why would he call you and not me?”
“I can’t answer that one. He told me that they want the owner of The Muddled Moose there.”
I sighed. “Why, though?”
“Apparently, they have an issue with the rooftop bar.”
Groaning, I dropped my head. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I need to find someone to watch Winnie.”
“I’ll let them know you’ll be there soon.”
“Another thing, tell them to call me and not you. If they want the owner, call the F. U. C. King owner!”
Jeremy laughed. “Will do.”
After hanging up with Jeremy, I pulled up Jake’s number.
“Morning, Liam.”
“Hi, Jake. I hate to ask you this, but is there any way you could come over and watch Winnie? Jeremy just called, and the health department is at the rooftop bar for some kind of inspection and wants to speak to me.
“I’m so sorry, Liam, Opal, and I aren’t in town. I thought you had the day off.”
“I do. I did. Um, it’s totally okay. Enjoy your day with Opal.”
“You’re sure? We’re about three-and-a-half hours away.”
Closing my eyes, I tried to make my voice sound unbothered. It wasn’t their fault that I hadn’t found anyone to watch Winnie for me yet.
“Honestly, it’s all good. Enjoy your day, Jake.”
After ending the call, I picked up Winnie. “How would you feel about getting pancakes at Daddy’s work?”
Her eyes lit up, and she nodded in agreement.
“Okay, let’s get your bag all packed up and we’ll get you those pancakes, pumpkin. Maybe Daddy can get Papa on the phone.”
