Chapter Fourteen #2
“Berrett.” London’s mother turns on him. “You can’t be serious.”
“He can’t be trusted, Pat,” Berrett hisses. “You don’t know the kind of man he is.”
“I’m a man of my word, Mr. Callahan. You’re free to ask anyone here.”
“Berrett.”
“Damn it, Pat. I don’t think he’s going to keep his word,” Berrett replies. “You’ve seen the kind of man he is.”
London’s mother shoves him, and he loses his footing and stumbles back. She pushes him again.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“This is your fault. I told you to let the diner go years ago, but even when you knew I was going to walk away, you wouldn’t do it. And now that we have a way to get our daughter back, you still won’t do the right thing.”
“You don’t understand—”
“You’re a selfish, miserable man, Berrett.” Pat continues advancing on him. “But I always thought you were a good father. I told myself that at least you loved London and would do right by her.”
“I did. I mean, I am. Pat, please—”
She holds a hand up to silence him. “This is your mess to clean up. The only reason London did any of this is for you. Yes, she got in over her head, and yes, she should’ve trusted that we would find a way to fix this together, but it doesn’t change why she did it.”
This is not how I pictured everything unfolding, but maybe London’s mother can talk some sense into her ex.
For London’s sake, I hope this turns out well.
“She’s our baby.” Pat’s voice drops to a whisper. “You’ve seen this place. Can you imagine what she’s had to do, what she’s had to put up with, to save you and the diner?”
“I didn’t ask her to.”
“You know perfectly well you didn’t need to,” Pat snaps. “We raised her better than that. You need to do the right thing. Give him the damn diner and move on with your life.”
“I…”
She places her hands on his arms. “For once in your life, know when it’s time to give up and walk away. You already lost me, so unless you’re willing to lose London too, you need to do the right thing.”
Berrett raises his head and looks his ex in the eye. A quiet look passes between them, full of pain and heartache, and I look away.
They’ve been here too long.
“Your display is touching, but you’ve wasted enough of my time,” I begin. “Since you’re willing to negotiate, why don’t we discuss this later, when you’re both on the same page?”
Preferably somewhere far, far away, where my enemies won’t get wind of any of this.
Pat turns to face me. “I want to see my daughter.”
“She’s indisposed.”
“For fuck’s sake, if we’re going to give up the diner, the least you can do is let us see her. Consider it a gesture of good faith.”
I am debating whether to have them thrown out the back door when there’s a commotion in the hallway. Without warning, the door to the office flies open to reveal London. Her hands are wrung together, and there are dark circles under her eyes.
She steps into the office and does a double-take when she sees her parents.
“Mom? Dad?”
“London.” Pat rushes over and crushes London to her. “Oh, thank God you’re okay.”
London looks over at her father. “I’ve sent you a bunch of messages, and I called…”
Pat draws back to look at her. “None of that is important, sweetheart. What matters is that you’re here.”
London pries herself away, and some of the color drains from her face. “You shouldn’t be here. What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
London shakes her head. “Neither of you can be here. You don’t understand what you’re signing up for. I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course, you need our help. You poor baby.” Pat tucks her hair behind her ears and pats her hands. “Don’t you worry. Your father and I will make things right. We’ve already offered our services to Mr. Payne.”
London looks at me and frowns. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
“Not yet,” I tell her. “But I might be tempted to consider it.”
London wrenches her arm away and crosses over to me. “They’re my parents. You can’t.”
I give her a pointed look. “They showed up here hoping to cause enough of a ruckus to get me to talk to them. They’ve seen too much, London. You know what happens to people who can’t keep secrets.”
London swallows and glances back at her parents. “They won’t say anything. I’ll make sure of it.”
“And the diner?”
London glances back sharply. “What about it?”
“Your dad was going to offer it,” Pat adds hastily. “Mr. Payne was kind enough to wait while we sorted out some details.”
“This is ridiculous,” London says. “You two won’t even take my calls, and now you show up and do this?”
“We were upset,” Pat replies. “We couldn’t understand, but when I asked your father to tell me about the men he made a deal with… we had to come.”
“You still shouldn’t have come,” London says. “I told you not to. Do you have any idea how much danger you’re in? Coming here just made it worse.”
“London—” Pat reaches for her, but London steps out of her reach. “You’re not even going to let us try?”
London looks at me and then back at them. “Did you tell her what happened when you found out?”
Berrett remains silent.
London looks back at her mother, and the look on her face makes me regret my earlier decision not to give her dad a special welcome.
“I told Dad that I was working abroad to spare his feelings, and I had to tell Noah the same lie because I knew neither of them could handle it. One of Noah’s friends found out I was working here, and the first thing they did was rip me a new one for lying. ”
Berrett winces. “I didn’t handle that well, but under the circumstances, there wasn’t much else I could do.”
“Not much else you could do? You could’ve listened. You could’ve believed me when I said I didn’t have a choice!”
“London, sweetheart, there’s always a choice,” her mother begins. “This… I don’t know why you think there was no other way—”
“Since when do you take his side? All you’ve done since you left him is point out all the ways he’s failed and how he’d drag me down with him.”
“This is different.”
“It’s not,” London argues. “You wouldn’t hear me out, either. I tried to tell you, but all you cared about was the fact that I wasn’t following the plan.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.” The words pour from London in a rush. “You cared more about Noah’s feelings than you did about how any of this was affecting me. Do you have any idea what it was like for me? Do you even care?”
“Of course we care, but you don’t have to do any of this anymore.”
London stiffens and takes a step away from them. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You still don’t. No one made me do this. I entered into this willingly, and I gave him my word, but that’s not what this is about.”
“Come home, London,” Berrett says softly. “I know there’s a lot we need to work on, but we can do that now. We’re ready to forgive you.”
“Ready to forgive me?” London takes a few more steps away from them until she’s standing next to me.
She stares at them and blinks rapidly. “What if I’m not ready to forgive you?
You said you’d disown me if I didn’t come home.
I think your exact words were that if I didn’t come back right then, I shouldn’t come home at all. ”
Berrett releases a harsh breath. “I was angry. We all said things we didn’t mean.”
London’s voice drops again, and there’s a hint of sadness. “You can’t take any of it back. Neither of you can.”
Berrett reaches for her, and I step in front of him. “You heard what she said. I’d consider my next move carefully.”
“You’re choosing him over us? After everything he’s done to rip our family apart?”
In one quick move, Berrett reaches into his waistband and pulls out a knife. A slight tremor races through him as he points it at me and scowls. “I won’t let you continue to poison my daughter against me. We’re going to walk out of here, whether you like it or not.”