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“See me?” she questioned.
“Yes. You still owe me a coffee,” I replied. I heard her giggle before ending the call.
And I plan on collecting in person.
CHAPTER15
MaKayla
I felt the tray tipping, and before I could stop it, another dish crashed to the floor.Damn it.I was totally off my game today. Not only was I tired, but totally distracted. I got down on my knees and began cleaning up my mess. Jenny, a waitress came over and offered to help, but I waved her away, frustrated at myself.
It wasn’t her fault that I was a clumsy oaf today. Jenny was just trying to be her normal sweet and helpful self. Unfortunately, her rushing to my aid got my mother’s attention. She walked over to me as I continued to kneel, getting every piece of glass, and morsel of food, off the floor.
“MaKayla, why don’t you go home and let me handle the restaurant tonight.”
It was an odd statement. Mom knew I never missed a day unless I was deathly ill. Lack of concentration because I had Damien on my mind wasn’t a valid sickness. And the fact that I was letting thoughts of him affect my performance was something I’d expect from a teenager. Not from me.
I shook my head. “I’ve already been away for a week. I’m not taking any more time off.”No matter how mentally exhausted I am.It took a lot of energy to keep track of what was the truth and what were the lies. I had no idea how people did it all the time. It’d only been a week and my nerves were shot.
“If you keep breaking dishes, you might as well keep the place closed. The customers won’t have anything to eat off or even eat.”
“That’s a little bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think. I’ve only broken two.” With all of the broken pieces of glass collected on my tray, I stood up and carried it to the trash.
Mom followed me and said, “Three, but who is counting. Let’s go to the office and talk.”
“We still have a few customers, and I don’t want to leave Jenny up front all alone. We can talk after,” I stated.
“Jenny could run this place without either of us. And as far as the customers are concerned, they have everything they need. Jenny will take care of that if their needs change.”
She stood there and waited for me. At this moment, we weren’t partners in the restaurant. I was her daughter and I’d rather whatever she had to say to me be stayed behind closed doors.
“Fine.” I walked to the office in the back of the restaurant and took a seat, leaving her the one behind the desk. If she was going to lecture me, she might as well sit in the right seat. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“I’m worried about you.”
That was obvious. She had also said the same thing earlier this week, several times. “Mom, I just dropped a dish. Nothing that I haven’t done before,” I said honestly.
“I’m not talking about the dish or the restaurant. I’m...I’m talking about something entirely different.”
“Care to share with me what that is?” I asked.
She looked nervous, her fingers tapping lightly on the desk. Now I was the one worried. Before I could demand she quit stalling and tell me, she reached for the company laptop and opened it. My heart was racing with anticipation of what had her so upset. When she spun it around and I saw the screen, my jaw dropped. I thought I had been more careful and cleared my search history, but I missed one. A very important one. Draven’s PI website.
It was all over. She knew what I’d been up to. I thought she’d be angrier than this, but I was glad she wasn’t yelling at me for lying to her. Maybe this was what she wanted all along. She wanted me to search for my family on my own, not for her to tell me. I had no idea why she would put me through this for no reason. It’d been painful not knowing all these years.
“I wouldn’t have needed to do this if you had just talked to me,” I said.
“You’re blaming me for this?” she asked. I just looked at her, not sure how to answer. She shook her head. “I don’t know what else I could’ve said. I told you that I didn’t think Damien was right for you. that he’d hurt you. You wouldn’t listen to me. Or maybe you were, and I didn’t listen to you. But finding this only confirms what I thought originally. Damien isnotfor you.”
“Mom, why do you keep saying that?” I asked, absolutely puzzled why she’s talking about Damien instead of my father. “He might not be perfect, but who is? And what does that have to do with me dropping dishes today?”
She huffed in frustration as though I was totally missing the point. I had to admit, I wasn’t faking my confusion.
“If you think he’s cheating on you at this stage of your relationship, then you need to end it immediately. It’s only going to get worse.”
Wait. What am I missing? This conversation had nothing to do with my father? I looked back at the computer screen baffled. She thinks I hired a PI to follow Damien? Oh, goodness. This is great. And then again, this is awful. Damien was a nice man, and it appeared as though I believed him to be a...cheating dog. That never crossed my mind. How do I correct this without divulging why I really reached out to a PI?
I needed time to think about this. She was going to see through anything I said to defend Damien. “Mom, can we please talk about this later. It’s not the place to have such a discussion.”
