“Yeah. Later.”
Once he has gone, I flop back on the bed and groan when I see the clock reads six am. I’m tired as hell but there is no way I can go back to sleep now. As much as I want nothing more than to curl up in a ball and forget the world for a while longer, I know I need to apologize to Holden for puking on his floor.
I find Wren asleep on the living room floor behind the couch.
The dining room table is littered with beer cans and liquor bottles. It smells like smoke in here also.
I can’t help but wonder if Reese stayed with Holden last night and if she is here for him? Did she come back for him? I can’t believe he’s married. Married as in he has a wife. A beautiful wife at that. But Ezra also said she left him. I want to be angry that Holden never told me he was married, but why would he have. It isn’t like we were close friends who talked and shared our deepest secrets with one another.
We slept together. He confessed his supposed feelings for me then I told him I needed space. Now look where we are.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee attracts me to the kitchen. Reese is leaning against the counter drinking a cup out of my favorite mug. I want to rip it from her hands and shatter it against the wall, but I don’t. I pretend she’s not staring a hole through me and grab Holden’s mug out of spite. I shouldn’t be so petty I suppose. I don’t know their history. I don’t know why she’s here but won’t ask her that very question either even though I want to.
“You’re up early,” she muses over the brim of my GOT mug that says, Winter is coming.
I offer a very weak smile.
“I guess you are wondering why I’m here? You’re Ezra’s girlfriend?” Her brow arches like that of an evil villain in a Disney cartoon.
“Nope.” I pop the p and take a glorious sip of caffeinated heaven.
“Not very talkative, are you?”
“Nope,” my reply is short, and I turn away to go get in the shower, taking my coffee with me. I’m afraid of what I will give away if I say anything else to her.
“What happened to your face? You smack the floor or something?”
“I tripped,” I call over my shoulder and remind myself to wear makeup today.
————
After taking an Uber to university and meeting with my advisor and deciding to take a deferment I find myself back at The Grill to open with Waylon. When I walk in there is a baby on the bar in a carrier. “Well, hello there, little one,” I coo, but not getting too close. I know some people are weird about strangers and newborns. “Who’s this?”
“This is my daughter, Taitlyn.” Pride seeps from him as he smiles down at his baby girl.
“How old is she?” I take a seat at the bar a stool away from her.
“Five and a half weeks. My wife, Missy had a doctor’s appointment, but she’ll be back to pick her up in an hour,” he explains.
“She’s beautiful,” I tell him, although truthfully, she is making a weird face and making a bit of a grunting sound.
Glancing around, I search for signs of Cheryl. “Is it just us?”
“Missy will be returning to work once Tait is two months old. Cheryl is off today but chicken George will be in about noon to man the kitchen. I’m sure Holden will make an appearance at some point.”
I nod unable to suppress my smile at Cheryl’s confirmed absence.
Then the god-awful smell of death assaults my nose and I now know why the baby was making that face along with the noises.
“I don’t suppose you do diapers?” Waylon asks, hopeful.
“Wishful thinking, buddy, but no.”
“Right.” He grabs a bag from under the counter and proceeds to carry his daughter to one of the tables.
My nose crinkles as he gets down to his fatherly duty.
“Is there anything I should be doing?”