25. Flynn
Chapter Twenty-Five
FLYNN
“Which street?” I asked.
“That one,” Elias replied, pointing ahead.
We were in Anchorage for an unexpected trip to fetch a plane part that had arrived. We’d just picked it up and then stopped to grab lunch at what Elias claimed was the best burger place in Anchorage.
Not much later, we were enjoying our lunch when I felt a presence beside our table. Glancing up, I looked into the cool eyes of Daphne’s mother. I could feel Elias’s eyes on me before his gaze shifted back to Daphne’s mother and then to his plate. He remained silent, taking a bite of his burger and chewing.
I repeated the same question I’d asked Daphne’s mother when she appeared a few days earlier at the resort. “Can I help you?”
I figured that was really polite of me under the circumstances. Nothing I knew about Daphne’s mother led me to consider her anything other than a cold bitch. In the days that passed since she’d shown up, Daphne had been unsettled and tense, kicking my protective instincts into high gear.
“I think you can,” she said in that haughty voice of hers. “I’d like you to leave my daughter alone. It appears she’s working for you, so I’d appreciate it if you would fire her.”
Elias finished chewing and took a sip of his water. Cold anger slithered down my spine.
“No,” was my only reply.
Her nostrils flared, and she narrowed her eyes at me. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
“I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with,” I returned. “I don’t really care either. What kind of mother would expect their daughter to work with a man who screwed around on her while her son was dying? Because that’s the kind of mother you are.”
Daphne’s mother looked as if I slapped her hard across the face. For a split second, the facade cracked, and her pain flashed in her eyes. I didn’t care if I hurt her feelings.
I wondered if this woman actually breathed. But then she took a slightly ragged breath. It was so out of character for her that I felt a twinge of guilt for being so blunt.
“Why do you care?” she finally returned.
“It doesn’t matter why I care. I doubt you care all that much about how Daphne’s doing. Seems to me you just care about how it looks. If you want her to come home, maybe you should try to actually give a shit.”
My words were harsh, and the anger spinning inside me was so intense I wanted to punch something. Not Daphne’s mother. Maybe a wall would do. I just wanted her to stop and think about what Daphne had been through.
Her mother simply stared at me. For whatever reason, I think she realized she wasn’t going to get what she wanted from me. She gave me a long look. “Lord knows why you want to protect my daughter. She’s been nothing but a disappointment.”
At that, the woman I was having a hard time considering a mother turned and left, the heels of her boots clicking on the floor.
I hadn’t even realized one of my fists was balled into a tight grip until I looked over at Elias.
“You can calm down now,” he said dryly.
Uncurling my fist, I laid my palm flat on the table before I reached for my water to take a sip.
“You really like Daphne,” Elias offered. There was no hint of a question in his words.
“Obviously. I don’t like her mother, though.”
Elias chuckled. “No? I didn’t notice.”
At that moment, someone spoke. “Hey, guys.” Glancing over, we saw Trey Holden approaching. “Shopping trip?” he asked when he stopped beside our table.
I nodded. “Parts run. You?”
“Errands and more errands. I’m actually picking up lumber because we’re gonna do a small addition to the house. The new baby will make three kids, so we can use the space,” he explained. “You had a chance to think about whether you want to buy my business?”
“I didn’t need to think about it,” I replied dryly. “I just need to follow up with the bank. I think I can make it work. Give me a few weeks?”
“Dude, you’ve got months. My plane’s idle through the winter anyway. As long as you decide before, say, next March, we should be fine. You doing okay?” he asked.
I felt more than saw Elias’s teasing grin. It said something that my brief encounter with Daphne’s mother had unsettled me, so Trey might notice I was off. I shrugged. “Just dealing with some stuff.”
Elias helpfully offered, “We have bets on Flynn falling in love.”
“What the hell would you know about love?” I muttered as I stuffed a fry in my mouth.
A slow smile stretched across Trey’s face as he glanced back and forth between Elias and me. “Is that so?”
I sighed. “Fuck my life. I don’t enjoy being the subject of gossip.”
Elias waggled his brows. “It’s not gossip when you’re sitting right here.”
Trey clapped me on the shoulder. “I’ll say this. Love is the best thing that ever happened to me. No need to be afraid of it.”