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Obviously, I was going to have to choose my words a little more carefully now that I was out in the civilian world.
I’d become accustomed to communicating with a bunch of loud, crude football players, but I could tell that Joanne was neither loud nor crude. She definitely didn’t have a problem sticking up for herself, though. I just hated that I’d made Joanne feel like sheneededto be on the defensive.
“Whatwereyou expecting, anyway?” she asked after a minute, finally making eye contact again.
I hesitated. I wanted—needed—to do a better job of choosing my words. I might not know how to make things better with Joanne, but I damn sure didn’t want to make them worse.
“I don’t know. Someone who was older man, I guess. And more… I don’t know. More like…”
“More like your dad.”
Joanne said the words flatly, arms crossed over her chest. It wasn’t really a question, but I nodded anyway.
That was exactly the kind of person I would have thought Henry would’ve hired—someone who shared his beliefs, his opinions, someone who understood his gruff and grumpy demeanor. Not this cute, nice little wisp of a woman whose personality and smile lit up the whole shop and made it feel welcoming and bright.
I literally couldn’t picture the two of them working together and getting along. My brain just couldn’t fit those pieces together in any way that made sense.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I admitted. “But you seem about as different from him as a person could get.” I paused to give Joanne a tentative smile, a peace offering. “It’s at least one thing that we probably have in common.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged, clearly not convinced. “Maybe not so much. I got along with your dad really well, and I had—have—a tremendous amount of respect for him. He always had a way of knowing just what I needed to hear, even if I didn’t always like hearing it. He was like a fa—” She looked away, swallowing back the word she’d been about to say. After a moment, she looked back at me and continued, “Henry was like family. As much a friend as a boss. And I miss him.”
Now it was my turn to be surprised.
It seemed like Joanne had admired—and now evenmissed—some of the very qualities about Dad that I had never been able to tolerate.
I didn’t know how to respond to her full-throated defense of Henry. It was almost mind-boggling.
And maybe I was just biased by my own childhood experiences, but…how? How had this sharp, sexy, radiant woman managed to be friends with the sour old guy that I remembered from my childhood? Even if I discounted the huge age difference, what on earth could the two of them have possibly had in common? Just… flowers?
Really?
“Wearetalking about the same Henry Davis, right?” I asked, a weak attempt to make light of the subject. “The same guy who told me to walk it off when I fell out of a tree and broke my arm? When I wasseven years old? That’s the Henry who was your friend?”
Joanne snorted a little, and the corners of her mouth turned up like she might have more to say on the subject. However, much to my disappointment, she just turned to face the blank computer screen on the cluttered old desk with a small nod.
“Joanne?” I prompted.
“I can only speak about the man that I knew,” she said, quietly. “Maybe your dad mellowed a little as he got older.”
I was pretty sure my dad had never mellowed—at least, not based on our stiff and infrequent conversations over the years—but then again, Joanne was the one who’d actually seen the guy every day.
Actually, worked with him.
Who’d actuallyknownhim.
My throat tightened as I thought of the possibility—no, thecertainty—that this woman, this radiant, seemingly sweet, and perfectly honest stranger had known that other side of Henry, a side that I would’ve said had been buried for nearly twenty years.
Had Joanne’s smile brought it back out in the old man? Was it her open, friendly, welcoming personality that had made Henry feel close to her in a way that he’d forgotten how to feel with his ownson?
I blinked hard, determined not to get choked up. Joanne didn’t have the answers I was looking for.
Nobody did, really.
And anyway, neither of us was likely to change our opinion on Henry anytime soon.
Regardless of the pull I felt toward Joanne, there was really only one thing left for me to do. I needed to get the hell out of there before I could find a way to fit more of my foot into my mouth. Before all these unwelcome emotions that had blindsided me got the best of me.
“I guess anything is possible,” I said brusquely, straightening up from where I’d been leaning against the doorjamb. “Look, I should probably get going. I don’t want to be in your way. I just thought I’d introduce myself before I went up to my dad’s apartment. I’ll probably be up there for most of the day if you need anything.”
