Chapter Two – Liam #2
I stared at Nathan. Not because what he said shocked me, but because what he said was spot on.
“I was drunk and upset. Winnie wasn’t asking for Hope, she was asking for Aurora and it fucked with my head.”
“Have you apologized to her? I certainly fucking hope so.”
“No,” I whispered.
“Your grief or guilt or whatever the fuck it is doesn’t give you an open invite to treat people like shit. Especially my sister. You should know that.”
“I do know that, Nathan. I’m actually surprised she didn’t tell you about that night.”
“She wouldn’t have,” he said with a sigh. “She knows how close we are and she would never want to ruin our friendship.”
I scrubbed my hands down my face before dropping them to my side. “Please tell her I said hi and that Winnie and I would love to see her if she wants to stop by and visit.”
Nathan stared at me, and I was waiting for him to tell me to go to hell. “Yeah, sure. I’ll tell her. And that’s when you can apologize if she’ll even see your stupid ass.”
He turned and went to leave, then stopped. Turning around, he looked at me. “You said this happened in March?”
I nodded, “Yeah.”
He looked away in thought.
“Why?”
Turning back to me, he said, “I was just wondering.”
He walked back into the house, leaving me standing there, wondering why he wanted to know exactly when I fucked up.
Two weeks had passed since Mary had returned to New York City, and I resumed working full time at The Muddled Moose.
I swung my legs out of bed and stood. Making my way to the bathroom, I took care of my business, splashed my face, and took a few breaths as I stared at myself in the mirror before heading to Winnie’s room.
The realization hit me that she no longer cried for Hope or asked about Mommy.
She had even stopped asking about Aurora.
I showed her Hope’s picture every single day and told her to say good morning to Mommy in heaven.
She would say, ‘Good morning,’ and tell Hope to have a good day, then grab Perry the Moose, her stuffed animal that was a gift from Aurora, and tell me she wanted pancakes for breakfast. Perry was the town’s mascot, and apparently my daughter’s favorite stuffed animal.
“You have to get your shit together.”
I’d now reached the point in this widower journey where I was talking to myself. Fucking fabulous.
“Daddyyyy!”
I smiled when I heard Winnie’s sweet voice coming from the baby monitor.
I walked out of the bathroom and glanced at the camera.
Winnie was sitting up in her bed, Perry tucked under her arm.
The stuffed animal was soft, and Winnie would tuck its antlers up under her chin when she fell asleep.
That kid dragged this moose almost everywhere.
“Daddyyy!”
I stepped into her room, and a wide smile broke out across her face. “Good morning, pumpkin!”
She stood and held her arms out for me. I picked her up and swung her around. “Are you ready to start your day?”
Jumping, she replied, “Pwease!”
I walked over to Hope’s picture. “Say good morning to Mommy.”
“Hi, Mommy!”
She smiled and clapped her hands, then cupped my face. “Daddy! Pancakes!”
My heart, I swore, grew tenfold. She was happy this morning. Kids are incredibly resilient without the trappings of adulthood and the emotions of grief and guilt to weigh them down. My daughter was moving on, and it was high time I did the same thing.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I smiled. “That sounds yummy!”
I brought her over to the changing table, changed her diaper, and then put on a pink and white jumper that Opal had bought for her. She was still a tiny little thing, and the changing table still worked, but I wasn’t sure how much longer she would fit on there.
“Let’s go make some pancakes.”
As we left her room and headed down the stairs, my cell phone rang. It was Jeremy, one of the managers at The Muddled Moose.
“Hey, Jer, what’s going on?”
“I really hate to do this to you, Liam, but we have an issue.”
Walking into the kitchen, I turned the lights on and set Winnie down. She ran to the refrigerator and waited for me to open it so she could get a juice out.
“What kind of issue? More importantly, why are you even at work at this time of day?”
“Jason, the hotel manager, called me. The health department is here for an inspection.”
I stared at the phone. “That’s the issue? Why would he call you and not me?”
“I can’t answer that one. He told me that they want the owner of The Muddled Moose there.”
I sighed. “Why, though?”
“Apparently, they have an issue with the rooftop bar.”
Groaning, I dropped my head. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. I need to find someone to watch Winnie.”
“I’ll let them know you’ll be there soon.”
“Another thing, tell them to call me and not you. If they want the owner, call the F. U. C. King owner!”
Jeremy laughed. “Will do.”
After hanging up with Jeremy, I pulled up Jake’s number.
“Morning, Liam.”
“Hi, Jake. I hate to ask you this, but is there any way you could come over and watch Winnie? Jeremy just called, and the health department is at the rooftop bar for some kind of inspection and wants to speak to me.
“I’m so sorry, Liam, Opal, and I aren’t in town. I thought you had the day off.”
“I do. I did. Um, it’s totally okay. Enjoy your day with Opal.”
“You’re sure? We’re about three-and-a-half hours away.”
Closing my eyes, I tried to make my voice sound unbothered. It wasn’t their fault that I hadn’t found anyone to watch Winnie for me yet.
“Honestly, it’s all good. Enjoy your day, Jake.”
After ending the call, I picked up Winnie. “How would you feel about getting pancakes at Daddy’s work?”
Her eyes lit up, and she nodded in agreement.
“Okay, let’s get your bag all packed up and we’ll get you those pancakes, pumpkin. Maybe Daddy can get Papa on the phone.”
My father was going to twist my balls off and shove them down my throat once I told him I still hadn’t found anyone to watch Winnie for me. That was one phone call I wasn’t looking forward to—but definitely one I was going to have to make.