Page 50 of Capture My Heart

Chapter 11

Amy’s morning was straight out of an apocalypse movie, with her being the walking dead. Two cups of extra tall coffee only had her eyes blinking a little faster.

When she put in her acquisition for another laptop, the clerk glared. Yup, daggers would have nailed her in the eyes if looks could kill. Amy had never seen RaeAnne anything but friendly. That wasn’t the case today. Amy could see why the other woman’s kids were straight A students. Momma didn’t take no crap.

After twenty minutes and a lot of red tape, RaeAnne handed her a shiny new computer. “Try not to lose this one.”

Amy started to say they were stolen not lost but… daggers. “Yes, ma’am.”

The rest of the morning passed with paperwork. When her reminder alarm rung at 11:30, Amy startled.

Shit, she’d forgotten about her meeting with Henrietta.

Two minutes to noon, Amy walked into the restaurant, a deli style place. She ordered her food and took her pager, then went to find Henrietta.

The twenty-three-year-old sat in the corner with a coffee and yummy looking Mac and Cheese. Damn it, she should have ordered that.

She got her beverage and crossed to the girl.

“Miss West?” Even if she hadn’t looked her up on Facebook, she would have known she was Gus’ daughter. They had the same long limbs and dark almond shaped eyes.

“Call me, Henri.” She rose and extended her hand. “Please, have a seat. Can I buy you lunch?”

Amy waved the pager. “I’m good, but thanks.”

She was dying to know what Henri wanted to talk about. Ideas run laps in her mind, but until the younger woman spoke, she wouldn’t know. Pace yourself. Don’t interrogate her.

“Thank you for coming. I’m sure you want to know why I asked you to meet me.”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” On a loop since Amy had read the other woman’s email.

“It’s simple. You were the last person to talk to my father before he died.”

“Yes, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Have they found the person who hit him yet?”

“Detective Daniels is the lead investigator, but as far as I know, they have no new leads.”

All hope deflated from the other woman. She nodded. “My father wasn’t a perfect dad, but he tried his best.”

“I can tell you, one of the last things he said to me was that he loved his family and would do anything for them.”

A sad smile crossed Henri’s beautiful face. “That’s true. The only reason my sister and I were able to afford college was because he applied for a scholarship for us. My mother didn’t even know he did that.”

Amy made a mental note to look into Henri and her sister’s scholarships.

A pensive look crossed Henri’s face. “I believe prison was one of the best things to happen to my father. He got clean and really set his life on the right path. Too bad my mother couldn’t see that. I’d always hoped they would get back together.”

A wry laugh escaped the younger woman’s lips. Tears washed over her lashes. “I know, it’s a silly childish wish.”

Amy reached out and gripped her hand. “We don’t get to choose when our loved ones leave, but if he was changing his life, maybe they would have.”

“Maybe.” Henri gave a light squeeze of Amy’s fingers then pulled back. “Listen to me, blubbering on about all this to you. I’m sure you must hate my father.”

“No, I did for a short time, but then realized he didn’t have a choice.” She wouldn’t say to the other woman that it wasn’t only the drugs and alcohol. Gus fell in with the wrong people. Amy was sure of that, now she needed to prove it.

Amy’s pager buzzed. Her food was ready. She excused herself and grabbed her tray. When she came back to the table, they changed subjects since neither of them had the answers the other was looking for. By the end of the lunch, Amy knew all about Henri’s graduate school and more than she ever wanted to know about Microbiology. But she was glad she’d met with Henri.