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“Those are nice memories.”
She nodded. “I was angry when she died that they hadn’t told me. But in hindsight, it might have been for the best. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have been able to relax and enjoy that time with her. I would’ve been scared.”
“Makes sense.”
“Anyway.” She shrugged. “I’ll make Bud some meals to freeze and drop them off after he gets home from the hospital, if you think that’s okay.”
“I’ll let him know.” We’d never really spoken about what had happened at the barbecue, or after, so I wondered what the state of her relationship with Blake was. I figured this might be as good a time as any to poke around. “Will it be interrupting plans you have for Friday night?”
She smiled. “No.”
I tapped the steering wheel, debating whether I should keep asking questions I might not want the answers to. Eventually, curiosity won. “What about the rest of the weekend? Any interesting plans?”
“Just Sunday night. My friend Skye is coming over. We were supposed to get caught up on The Bachelor last time we hung out, but we only got through two episodes and both conked out.”
“Shocker,” I said. “Since the show is so riveting.”
“It was the wine, not the show being boring.”
“Uh-huh.”
“How about you? Any plans this weekend?”
“Work. Bud. Dinner service. That’ll pretty much occupy it all.”
“I can also help with dinner service. Maybe we can take turns so you don’t have to do it every night until Bud is well enough to handle things.”
Like hell I’d be letting her drive to an abandoned building to serve people who were too down on their luck to afford a meal. But I knew if I said that, I’d wind up in some sort of an equal-rights argument. So instead, I used the opportunity to poke around some more.
“No date Saturday night?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I might ask you the same thing. Why don’t you have a hot date Saturday night?”
“I’m not the one dating someone.”
Autumn’s mouth spread to a grim line. She looked out the window and spoke softly. “Neither am I.”
“Come again?” I leaned toward her. Could I have heard that wrong?
She sighed. “I’m not seeing Blake anymore.”
“When did that happen?”
“The day after the barbecue.”
A smile spread across my face. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, you look really sorry.”
“What happened?”
Autumn’s head whipped in my direction, and I glanced over at her and back to the road. “What?”
“You don’t know what happened?”
I stopped at the light at the corner of her street. “Well, obviously I know what happened at the barbecue, but I meant what made you decide to call it quits.”
“That, Donovan. Blake was very nice to me, and I wasn’t being very nice to him.”
The light changed, so I turned the corner and started to look for a spot. Luckily, there was too much for her to carry inside by herself. As we passed her building, Autumn turned her head, studying a car double-parked outside.
“Shoot.” She groaned.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s my father’s car.”
“The yellow Porsche?”
“It’s one of his many midlife-crisis purchases.”
“Why would he be here?”
“He’s done this on occasion when I don’t answer his calls.”
“You want me to drive around the block a few times to see if he leaves?”
She frowned. “While I would love that, I probably should just deal with it and get it over with.”
There was an open spot a few buildings down, so I parked. “Do you want me to wait here while you talk to him? Then I’ll carry up the coolers?”
“No.” She shook her head. “If you don’t mind, it might make it easier if I have a buffer.”
I shrugged. “No problem.”
I piled the empty coolers one on top of another and carried them, while Autumn brought the bag of containers and serving utensils. As we neared the double-parked Porsche, the driver’s side door opened, and a man I assumed was her father got out. He looked between us.
“It’s about time. I’ve been waiting for almost three hours.”
“You wouldn’t have had to wait if you’d called me to tell me you were coming. I could’ve told you I wasn’t going to be home.”
Her father looked like he was still dressed from work, sans the suit jacket. Did that mean he sat in the car for three hours and never thought to take his damn tie off?
“Well, I need to speak to you.” He glanced at me again and then his daughter. “Preferably alone.”
I looked at Autumn, and she shook her head. When I turned back to her father, he was looking at me expectantly. “Sorry, sir. If Autumn doesn’t want me to leave, I’m staying.” I set the coolers on the ground, figuring it best to make peace. I extended my hand, stepping forward. “Donovan Decker. Nice to meet you.”
Her father looked at my hand like he was considering not shaking it. But eventually he clasped it and grumbled something.
