Chapter 33
“Sure, let’s add a meltdown to my to-do list.” ~ Harper
Harper
“Y ou got everything you need, Dad?”
He scowls at me. “Go. Leave me alone.”
I wring my hands. I can’t leave Dad alone. He can barely pick up a glass of water by himself, let alone use the toilet.
Carl is sick today and Kai volunteered to help out. But he’s not here yet. I check my watch. He’s already thirty minutes late. I try calling him again.
This is Kai. You know what to do.
I start to disconnect the call but decide I should probably leave a message instead.
“Where are you, Kai?” I hiss into the phone. “You were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. I’m late for work. I can’t leave Dad alone.”
I stab the button to disconnect the call but it doesn’t make me feel any better .
I pace in front of the window for a few minutes before picking up my phone again.
“Hey, boss lady,” Sloane answers on the first ring.
“I’m running late.”
“I kind of figured you were late when you didn’t show up thirty minutes ago for the beer delivery.”
Shoot a smuggler. I forgot all about the beer delivery.
“Did you check the delivery? Ensure we received everything we ordered?”
“Yes and yes. All good.”
“I don’t know when I’ll be in.”
“Everything okay?”
No, everything is most definitely not okay.
“Yep,” I lie. “Everything’s fine. I’ll work on the payroll from here and be in later.”
“We’ve got you covered, boss lady.”
I wish I could believe her – despite her recent improvements, Sloane isn’t the most reliable of workers – but I’m out of options.
I hang up and settle at the kitchen table with my laptop. Kai told me I should keep my laptop at the bar. That I should create a boundary between work and home.
Ha! Kai also told me he’d be here at 2 p.m. sharp this afternoon to care for my dad.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dad asks.
“Payroll.”
“Why? ”
Because I enjoy watching money disappear from the Rumrunner ’s bank accounts? I swallow those words. It’s not my employees’ fault that I paid too much for the bar and am now struggling.
The accounts are currently healthy after the summer season, but this money needs to last throughout the winter when there are fewer tourists visiting Smuggler’s Hideaway.
“Go to the bar, Harper,” Dad orders in his most grumpy tone.
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Kai will be here soon.”
He will? He’s already nearly an hour late. I decide to message him.
Where are you?
You’re nearly an hour late.
I can’t leave Dad alone.
All of my messages go unanswered.
I set my phone down and inhale a deep breath. It’s okay. I’m okay. The bar isn’t going to burn down because I’m an hour late. I was planning to do payroll in my office during the downtime anyway.
Payroll. Right.
I get back to work. But I can’t concentrate. I check the time at least once every five minutes. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m checking it every thirty seconds and getting madder by the minute.
Seventeen minutes and thirty-three seconds later – yes, I timed it – the door opens and Kai strolls into the house .
I jump to my feet. “Where have you been?”
“I…ah…” He drags his hand through his hair. “I overslept.”
“Overslept? Overslept? It’s past three in the afternoon. What did you do last night?”
Normally, Kai visits me at the bar when I’m working but he didn’t last night. He was probably out with his brothers, causing chaos. Silly me. I thought he’d grown up. I’m such an idiot. Such a fool.
“I never should have trusted you. I knew better. You’re way too young. You don’t take anything serious. You think life is a great big joke.”
“Be fair, Slugger.”
He starts toward me but I hold up a hand to stop him.
“Fair? What does fair even mean? Is it fair, my mom died when I was a teenager? Is it fair, Dad had a stroke a year later? Is it fair, I have to take care of every damn thing?”
“Hey!” Dad shouts. “Leave me out of this.”
My cheeks heat up with embarrassment. I’m having it out with my boyfriend in front of my dad. Can things get more humiliating?
“I never should have trusted you. You will never grow up.”
Kai growls. “I didn’t break your trust.”
I throw my arms in the air. “Didn’t break my trust? I trusted you to show up here to watch my dad so I can go to work.”
“I’m here now. Go on to work. Henry and I will be fine.”
I’m shaking my head before he finishes. “No way. I can’t trust you with Dad.”
His shoulders fall and hurt clouds his blue eyes. A pang of guilt hits me but I ignore it. I’m not the cause of his pain. He brought this on himself when he didn’t show up when he promised he would.
“Come on, Slugger. So, I’m a bit late. It’s not the end of the world.”
“Maybe not. But it is the end of us.”
“Hold on. You’re breaking up with me because I made one mistake?”
“One mistake?” I wince at how I’m screeching but I can’t seem to stop myself. “One. You didn’t show up on time. Two. You didn’t answer my phone calls. Three. You didn’t respond to my messages. Do you want me to go on?”
“My phone battery died. I didn’t receive your calls or messages.”
“Your phone battery died? Another stupid excuse.” I point to the door. “Just get out. I can’t look at you right now.”
“You’re kicking me out? What about your dad?”
“Now, you care? You didn’t care for the past two hours while I worried you were lying dead in a ditch. But you were totally fine sleeping off your hangover with a dead phone.”
“I didn’t—”
“No. I’m done with your excuses. Please leave.”
“But we’ll discuss this later?”
“No, Kai. We won’t. Whatever this is.” I motion between the two of us. “Is over. I have no time for little boys who can’t fulfill their promises.”
“I am not a little boy. ”
“I don’t have time to argue with you. I need to get Dad dressed to take with me to the bar since I don’t have anyone to watch him.”
“Can I drink beer and eat peanuts?” Dad asks.
“As if I could stop you.” Even if I could, my employees would ply him full of liquor and bar food he shouldn’t be eating.
Kai makes his way to the door but stops with his hand on the handle. “This isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is.”
He flinches but I ignore his pain. He caused this. There’s no reason for me to feel guilty. This is his fault. I never should have given in to him. Never got snared by those ocean blue eyes. Never fell for those sweet lines of his.
Lesson learned.
“Bye, Henry,” Kai says and Dad waves to him as he leaves.
Once the door is closed behind him, I fly into action. I get Dad changed in record time and am wheeling him out of the house within fifteen minutes.
I screech to a halt at the top of the steps. Because there are no steps. Where the steps were, there is now a ramp with a sturdy handrail.
“Where the hell did this come from?” Dad asks.
Screw the smuggler. Since it’s highly unlikely mermaids came ashore last night and performed a miracle, there’s only one place the ramp could come from. Kai’s been bugging me about getting a ramp since the first time he carried Dad up the stairs .
But how did he get this built and placed without me noticing? There wasn’t a ramp here when I arrived home last night at three in the morning.
“I think Kai built it,” I admit as I wheel Dad down the ramp to my car.
“You should have let him explain himself.”
“I was too mad to hear him out.”
“Told you your temper would get the best of you some day.”
I don’t bother to deny it. Dad’s right.
In part. My temper wasn’t the only reason I lost it on Kai. My fears about relationships and being left behind reared their ugly head and I pushed Kai away before he could leave me.
I thought I was over this. I thought I’d dealt with my fears.
I thought wrong.
And now I’ve lost everything.