Page 24 of Laying His Claim
He answered the phone. “Dad?” he said, realizing that his heart was in his mouth. “Is everything okay? Did something happen to mom?”
The voice on the other end, the voice that been a source of strength for him for years, hastened to reassure him. “She’s fine, Justin. She’s right here beside me.” To prove him right, he heard his mother’s voice in the background, “Hello, Son. I’m fine. We’re fine.”
“Then what—”
“There’s been a fire at one of the restaurants,” his father announced.
“Ourrestaurant?” he asked, trying to come to grips with the idea. He, his brother Finn and their father, owned and ran several restaurants in Ottawa; they were a thriving business, with fine dining establishments set up in well-respected communities, as well as five fast-food establishments. To hear that one of them had been damaged by fire was horrifying. “What happened?”
“We don’t know yet, but it’s pretty bad. The damage was extensive. It’s going to take a lot of work to repair.”
“Was it gas? A boiler? Electrical fire?”
“We don’t know,” his father repeated. “The fire department can’t begin to carry out their investigation for a day or two, when everything cools. And then we’ll have to assess the damage and bring in the insurance adjustors.”
“I’ll be there today.” Usually, he spent most of his time in Ottawa, where he’d been raised and where his parents still lived. He even owned property there, although whenever he went back he usually returned to his childhood home so he could spend time with his parents, whom he missed dearly. Since Jalissa’s accident, he’d found himself spending more and more time in Montreal until it eventually made sense to buy the house and put down some roots here.
“Have you called Finn?”
“I have. He’s not happy about it. He wants to know how something like that could have happened.”
“Is he coming over?”
“He says he and Tyler are neck-deep in a new deal, and he can’t spare the time.”
Figures,Justin thought. He loved his brother, but Finn had very little interest in the restaurant business, which of course left everything up to Justin. He tried not to feel resentful of the fact that even though he was the son who was sure to respond to this crisis, his parents had still phoned Finn first. It was a situation he didn’t like, but one he’d grown accustomed to.
He threw off the covers and got out of bed, not even bothering to cover his nudity. “I’ll start packing and see what I can do about getting a flight over.”
“You don’t have to,” his father hedged, but Justin knew he was simply not trying to burden him too much. He could still hear the hope in his voice.
“I do have to,” he insisted.
“Are you sure?” his father asked. “I mean, with all you have going on with Jalissa and Sebastian?”
This gave him just a moment’s pause. He’d been going into the office almost every day, often for as much as twelve hours, leaving Jalissa to care for Sebastian—along with Lorena, of course. But this time, he would be away for days.
The incident with the open door still sat uneasily on his mind. He wanted to believe that Jalissa hadn’t left the door open, but head trauma was a strange thing and it was clear that her memory had been affected. And maybe Lorena did have a tiny crush on him, but to suggest that the young woman would deliberately put Sebastian in harm’s way—or, at least, lie about him being in harm’s way—was ludicrous.
“She’s got Lorena to help,” he promised his dad. “It’ll only be for a few days. Everything will be fine. You know I’d never leave you guys to deal with this alone.”
The relief in his father’s voice was palpable. “Thank you, Son.” On a brighter note, he added, “Violet will be happy to see you.”
“Of course she will,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood. “Girls are always happy to see their big brother.”
“Only by seven minutes,” his mother announced in the background.
“That’s good enough for me,” he said, smiling into the phone, even though it wasn’t a video call. He was always glad to see his parents and twin sister. “See you soon.”
By the time the sun was up, he was already packed and booked on a flight to Ottawa. He knocked on Jalissa’s bedroom door, but found it empty. On instinct, he went to Seb’s room, where he found her standing at the crib, staring down at the small, sleeping form.
“Morning.”
She jumped at the sound of his voice. He knew she was still mad at him over the open-door incident, but as much as he hated that, Sebastian’s safety always came first, and he’d rather err on the side of caution than on the side of tragedy.
The smile she offered him was weak, but he appreciated the effort. “Good morning.”
Justin came to stand next to her. “Was he fussy?”
