Chapter Twenty-Two
1237 Words
Chapter Twenty-Two
Adalia pushed the Sunday night roast beef around on her plate, but didn’t spear it and pop it into her mouth. She and her father had made the gravy together, but she couldn’t recall much of the process. Seconds and minutes melded into one another, became a blur of wasted time.
“Adalia?”
“Pardon?” She snapped her attention off the plate and to her father’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“That’s exactly what I asked you, five times. Are you all right?”
“Not really,” she replied, dropping her fork. She massaged her eyes with the heels of her palms, but there weren’t tears to chase away. She was fresh out of tears. They’d been replaced by constant numbness.
“This isn’t about the bakery,” he observed, scratching at his chin. “I’ve seen you disappointed before, but not like this.”
“It’s complicated, Dad,” she replied, but didn’t go into more detail. The less he knew about Trent Dawson, the better. He’d probably freak out at her if he found out she had feelings for him.
“Is this about the billionaire?”
“When did you become a mind reader?” She pushed her plate away, totally out of reach and he raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes, Dad, it’s about him.”
“Break it down for me. What’s happened?”
Adalia glanced out the front window of the living room to the street outside. There were no cars, and the sunset had cast an orange glow over the neighborhood. Children’s laughter rang out and the soft thump of music.
It wasn’t unpleasant, but the familiarity gave her the chills.
“I fell in love with him.”
“I thought so, but what’s the problem? What happened between you two that’s got you moping around here like your cat died?”
She snorted a laugh and he wriggled his eyebrows in the cheeky way he’d done when they were kids. It’d always gotten a laugh out of them and relieved the tension when there was too much.
Too much homework and the eyebrows wriggled. Too few friends, and they wriggled again.
“It’s a long story, Dad.”
“I’ve got time,” he replied, spreading his arms wide and pushing his plate away too, though it was empty of food.
“He played me. I thought he loved me, or felt the way I did, but it turns out he was sleeping with his assistant all along. What a damn cliché.”
“You actually saw them together?”
“Well, no,” she said, scratching at her forehead, “but there were some nasty messages on his phone.”
“Why were you snooping through his phone?” he asked, eyebrows drawn down instead of wriggling in amusement.
“It was an accident,” she replied.
“If you say so.”
“Are my ears deceiving me? Are you actually taking his side?” Adalia poked her chin forward and glared at him.
“I’ve never been one to take sides, and I sure can’t make a judgment just on what you’re telling me, but sounds to me like you jumped to conclusions.”
“He didn’t even deny –” She cut herself off. Yeah, he had denied it, but she hadn’t given him a chance to explain. Oh God, had she screwed this one up, too?
“What else is there to this? Just the assumed infidelity?”
“He bought my bakery.”
“What?” Her father slapped his palms on the worn wood of the table, and launched himself forward. “He bought you out?”
“No, no, calm down,” she replied, waving him back into his seat. “I lost the bakery to the bank. They took it away from me because I couldn’t pay off my loan.”
“What’s that got to do with him?”
“He bought it and offered it to me. Said I could run it and he’d be a silent partner, no strings attached.” Adalia shook her head and waited for her father to freak out again.
But he didn’t. Instead, he sat back and folded his arms, frowning at her over the table.
“What?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder and into the kitchen, then back at him. “What is it?”
“You lost your mind?”
“People ask me that a lot lately.”
“Maybe that’s because you’ve lost your damn mind, girl,” he said, raising his voice an iota.
“Uh, Dad? Why are you freaking out?”
“Because you’re acting crazy, that’s why. The man you’re in love with offers to help you achieve your only dream, the dream you’ve been talking about for the past fifteen years, and you tell him no?”
“I had to, he just wanted to work with me so that we’d get close and he’d have a chance to get back with me.” Adalia gripped the table, and the setting sun finally disappeared, leaving a purple haze in the room, a dusky effect that soothed them in lilacs.
“And so?”
“How can I trust him after what he did?”
“This has nothing to do with trust and you know it, Adalia Montclair.”
Oh s**t, he’d double named her. She’d really screwed up then, but she didn’t see it. “What are you talking about, Dad?”
“You have no real proof that this billionaire dude did anything wrong.”
“Yeah, okay, maybe,” she said in rapid succession, and he rose and came around to her side of the table, then took the seat beside her.
“My girl, open your eyes. This man is obviously crazy about you or he wouldn’t go to the trouble of trying to make your damn dream come true. You really think he’d do that if he wasn’t serious? I hate to break it to you, but men don’t do anything for women unless they’re crazy about them.”
“I don’t know.” She blinked and bit her bottom lip. “I don’t know if I trust him.”
“Bullshit,” he replied, and she started. Her father hardly ever swore. “You’re not worried about whether you can trust him or not. You’re being stubborn about this because you don’t want to admit defeat.”
“That’s not true,” she grumbled, but it was.
“You’re definitely your mother’s child. She was a stubborn woman if ever there was one. Beautiful as the sun, just like you, but so stubborn she could’ve given a mule a run for its damn money.”
Adalia sighed. “I know, but I’m not like that, I’m just the kind of person who doesn’t take handouts. You’re the one who taught me that.”
“Oh no you don’t,” he said with a chuckle, “don’t you blame this on me. I taught you to seek independence, not to deny any and all help. You’re too prideful. You need to learn to let go before there’s nothing to let go of and you end up alone.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s okay. It’s not me you have to talk to, my girl,” he said, patting her on the arm.
“What do I do, Dad?”
“I think you know what you have to do.”
Adalia rose from the chair and gulped. This wouldn’t be easy, but her father was right. She’d been too stubborn, she should’ve heard him out, but it was so much easier to assume the worst, to believe that he’d never wanted her in the first place.
At least, not as a lover.
He pulled her into a bear hug then stroked her hair for comfort. “You’d better hurry. Opportunities like this one don’t come around too often, you can believe that.” He pushed her away with a grin.
Adalia hurried for the door then paused to check her reflection in the mirror above the entrance hall table. She looked good. Sad, but good.
“Thanks, Dad,” she called back over her shoulder.
“Hurry up.”
She rushed out the door and down the stairs, heart pounding against her rib cage, trying to smash right out and flop onto the concrete. It was on the line now, her heart, future, body, and soul.
This was it.
- Writer
