That had gone easier than I’d imagined.
“Brody,” he called when I was about to step out after all the guys. “You have some paperwork you need to fill in.” He tapped the folder in front of him.
“What paperwork?” I asked as I ambled back over to him. I picked the folder up and opened it. “What the—”
“I’m retiring,” Aaron said, finally looking at me. “And you’re going to take over.”
“I...what?” He hadn’t talked about retiring. In fact, he’d worked just as hard as we had to bring Hut down.
?
??I’ve watched you come up in the ranks. I’ve trained you to be at the top of your game, and now it’s time you do what I taught you to.”
“But...you’re retiring?”
“Yep.” He leaned back in his seat and locked his fingers together. “Reckon I’ve earned one of them long-ass cruises.” He raised a brow. “And I reckon you’re gonna wanna be home more now that you have another baby on the way.”
He wasn’t wrong, but not having him in the office didn’t feel right. “Are you sure about this?” I asked, holding the folder in the air.
“More sure than anything.” He pointed at the folder. “Sign your name, and you can take over in a month.”
“I—”
“Don’t think about it too hard, Brody.” His lips quirked at the corner. “Your brain will start hurting.”
I dropped the folder on his desk, opened it up, and signed my name. It was the first good thing of the day, and I was about to go and do a second.
Chapter Fifteen
LOLA
Normal life didn’t seem so normal anymore, but I had to try and keep living the way I’d planned. No matter what had happened, nothing could change the past.
I was a combination of sad and angry. Sad that Hut was no longer on this earth and breathing, angry that he’d put me in that situation. Angry that I’d had to choose, but sad that I’d had to choose. I shouldn’t have had to do what I did, but it was him or me, and I didn’t hesitate to choose me. It should have devastated me that he was gone, but instead, all I felt was relief.
Relief that I wouldn’t see him again.
Relief that he couldn’t hurt me.
Relief that he was gone.
Added to that, there was not knowing how Brody felt about the baby. He’d sat with me while I fell asleep last night, but when I woke up this morning, he was gone. Coupled with the pregnancy hormones, and I was all over the place, so it only made sense I go in to work and do what I did best: distract myself.
The early morning shift was always my favorite. Not only did you have an influx of truckers who were about to go on day-long journeys, but you had a combination of parents, kids, and teenagers. It was an eclectic crowd of a morning, with enough customers to distract me for at least four hours.
Until the door opened and Brody stepped inside.
He was donned in his dress pants and a shirt, his badge on his belt and gun attached to the other side. Everyone could see he was an officer of the law, as well as the three guys who followed him in.
My heart beat faster, my pulse thrumming like a drum at a carnival. They’d come to take me away. I just knew it. Yesterday had just been too good to be true. Brody couldn’t just walk me out of his office, and that would be it. I’d killed someone, and now I was going to have to pay the price.
“Why do you look like you’re about to puke everywhere, Lola-Girl?” Sal asked from the pass. If I turned around and tried to see my reflection in the shiny surface under the warming lights, I’d probably be able to see how pale I felt, but as it stood, all I could do was stare at the four guys as they chose a booth toward the back and away from a window.
“I…” I cleared my throat and shook my head. I could have told Sal what happened yesterday, but I was doing my best to distract myself, and distracting didn’t entail spilling your guts to your boss who had become a surrogate father in the time you’d known him. “I’m good,” I finally said.
I plucked my notebook from the pocket in the front of my dress, pushed my shoulders back, and headed to their table. I’d act as normal as I could, and maybe they’d realize I was just an ordinary girl who had been in an impossible situation.
“Hi.” I pushed some hair behind my ear that had fallen out of my ponytail. “What can I get you?”