Page 5

Chapter 4

Dawn

“Are we going to talk about this?” Chloe asked after we’d ushered the last customer out of the restaurant.

I looked up from where I was cleaning up the bar and gave her a quizzical look.

“It’s not like we’ve had time to take a break tonight,” I reminded her.

She slid onto a stool and gestured at the shelves behind me.

“How about you pour us both a drink and we talk?”

I opened my mouth to protest, but she added, “The kitchen crew left. It’s just us now.”

I sighed. My daughter was practical and stubborn, but she was right. We had to talk about this. I mixed us up a pitcher of margaritas and slid it towards her, along with two glasses. She took it to a nearby high top. I grabbed a bag of pretzels and joined her.

“How are you feeling about all this, honey?” I asked.

Chloe gave me a long look. She’d always been a thoughtful girl, one who considered her words before speaking, unlike me. She took after Griff that way. Or at least, that’s how he used to be.

“I’m conflicted, obviously,” she began. “I always wondered about him, how he was doing, if he had remarried, that kind of thing. Every time he’d send a birthday card or Christmas card with no return address, I couldn’t decide if I was grateful he was at least thinking of me, or angry that he thought just sending a card and a check was enough to make up for abandoning us.”

I nodded. Chloe had been six when she finally clued into the fact that most kids had a father around somewhere, but she didn’t. I’d considered telling her that Griffin had died, but that didn’t feel right, especially when he at least remembered her birthday. I’d decided to tell her that Griff had to go away and explained about divorce. It wasn’t until she was a teenager that she’d put the pieces together. This was a small town, and it was probably inevitable that someday she’d overhear some adult talking about how “that useless Griffin abandoned that poor baby”.

I never trashed him though. As angry as I was with him, as angry as I still was with Griff, he was still her father, and the man I used to love. I never wanted her to hate him like I’d done for so many years.

“What do you think he wants to tell us?” she asked. “Do you think he’s dying or something?”

I felt a stab of pain. God, was Griff sick? As much as I used to wish that some terribly painful disease would befall him, preferably one that made his dick fall off, over the years I’d worked through a lot of the pain from his betrayal. My friends Evie and Emma had been instrumental in helping me be okay without him. I eventually accepted that Griff leaving was about him, not about me or Chloe.

“I don’t know honey,” I responded, taking a long drink of my margarita. “He seemed healthy enough.”

Boy did he seem healthy. He was bigger and stronger and better looking than he’d been at twenty, that’s for sure. That skinny nerdy guy I married had blossomed into a person who was all man. A wide-shouldered, muscular man who rode a motorcycle. I’d never thought bikers were hot until I saw him straddle that bike and zoom away earlier.

“Mom, I know it’s probably a lot to ask but it would mean a lot to me if you’d come with me to brunch tomorrow.”

Her voice cracked. “I don’t know if I can face him alone. I feel so confused. And if he tells me he’s dying or something...”

I sighed. I’d known this was coming, of course. And I couldn’t blame Chloe. If our situations were reversed, I’d want support too.

“Yeah, I’ll come.”

***

The next day Chloe picked me up at my house and drove me the short distance to the diner where we were meeting. My restaurant was closed on Sundays and Mondays, so we were both off work today. After discussing this to death on a video call with Emma and Evie last night, I’d decided that if nothing else, hearing Griff’s story would give me an opportunity for closure.

Chloe and I had agreed that if at any point in the conversation one of us wanted to leave, we would leave together, no questions asked. My daughter and I were a good team. It’s why we were able to work together at the restaurant.

I’d purposely wore yoga pants and an oversize tee shirt that dwarfed my frame and pulled my hair up into a messy bun. I didn’t want my ex-husband to think I’d dressed up for him. Chloe, on the other hand, had obviously taken pains with her appearance. She was wearing a cute sundress and sandals and had curled her hair and put on make-up.

Griffin was already seated at a booth in the far corner when we arrived. Chloe and I slid onto the bench across from him. The second we sat down, the waitress came by with coffee and menus.

“What’s good here?” Griff asked.

“Anything,” Chloe and I answered at the same time. We laughed, and it helped break a bit of the tension at the table.

By unspoken agreement we waited until we’d placed our food orders to talk. As we waited, I looked at my ex-husband more carefully. I couldn’t believe how much he’d filled out since we were together. The navy blue tee shirt he wore hugged his pecs and biceps, and his stomach was still flat. He hadn’t had the gray in his hair back then – or the scruff – but I liked them. If he wasn’t my ex I’d totally be attracted to him. Griffin gave us a smile, and I saw he still had that dimple in his left cheek that I used to love to dip my tongue into.