7. Stephen
STEPHEN
“I have a little something for you.”
Remy had a hand behind his back. Maybe it was tickets to a hockey game that he thought would lift my spirits. I’d have to pretend I was excited with whatever the surprise was.
He handed me an envelope in handwriting I didn’t recognize. “An alpha delivered this this morning, saying it was for Stephen.” He was wearing another wicked grin. “Said when you drove past the other day, he noted the sticker on your car.”
Oh, I had the company name and QR code on my bumper.
“He told me you helped his daughter last week.”
“What?” My heart, which had been beating solemnly, reminding me of a funeral march, sped up, and I grabbed the envelope and almost tore it.
I opened it carefully. Okay, I took a breath.
It was a card in a child’s handwriting. Not her dad, so he hadn’t decided that I was the one and I hadn’t broken up his family.
“This is good.” I kissed the drawing on the card that showed a little girl on the phone and a man on his device. They were facing one another, but there was a wall between them.
With trembling hands, I opened it and read the two words. “Thank you.”
But as I pressed it to my chest, a piece of paper slipped out in an adult’s handwriting.
Posy would like to see you again. Can we meet up? This is my number.
I grabbed Remy and hugged him. We waltzed around the room, though my boss didn’t know the details.
“He wants to see me.” I sang the words to the tune of my favorite song.
“That’s so, so great.” Remy sang along with me.
Your mate? The alpha? Posy’s dad wants to mark you? My beast was leaping ahead.
Calm down. It’s just a meet-up, I told him.
“Take a breath.” Remy was panting after our dance, and he patted my shoulder. “Think about what you’re going to say before you call him.”
“Right. I’ll do that.” I’d be calm and methodical, thinking it through before I got on the phone.
My boss eyed me. “But you’re going to call him now, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.” To heck with being organized. This was my heart we were talking about.
But as I was racing outside, I recalled why I hadn’t stopped the car instead of driving past. And it wasn’t just that the guy didn’t seem to like me. It was his omega mate. That put a damper on my mood because this get-together was just about Posy saying thank you.
Okay. It was still good. I’d see Posy and make sure she was all right, and perhaps her dad wouldn’t be so hostile toward me.
After punching in the number, I counted the seconds, wondering how long he’d take to answer.
“Hello.” A loud confident voice answered, which was what I used to have until the night Posy called and I met her father.
“Hello. This is Stephen, who your daughter called last week.”
“Yes.” His voice had lowered by a few decibels. “Posy would like to invite you for pancakes. Says you love them like she does.”
“I do.”
Warning bells were ringing in my head because either his mate would be joining us or he’d be waiting at home. But this was for Posy, and how could I say no to her?
We agreed to meet at a place known for its pancakes, and though I understood nothing could come of us meeting up other than Posy having a good time—we’d wouldn’t stare at one another over the chocolate syrup and mark one another—I counted the minutes and hours until Sunday.
But should I drive there early and wait for them or park in a side street and wait until they arrived? If they ghosted me, I didn’t want to be the loser holding a menu and checking out everyone who walked into the place.
I decided to arrive right on time, and to do that, I’d get there early, park, and check my watch every minute. Strolling in on the dot showed I was punctual and respected them by not turning up late.
That sounded easy, but I had three shirts in the car along with deodorant and cologne in case I was sweating profusely. I couldn’t sit still and scanned the street for Posy and her dad. I hadn’t seen them, but it was just before eleven and I had to get inside.
As I reached the entrance, a voice behind me yelled, “Stephen.”
I swung around. Posy was holding her father’s hand and waving. She had a huge grin on her face. She ran toward me, and I wanted to hug her but wasn’t sure if that was appropriate so I kneeled and took her hands.
“I’m so happy to see you smiling, Posy.”
“You’re happy too.” She swung the hand clutching her dad, the same man who hadn’t spoken yet.
But he stuck out his hand. “I didn’t introduce myself the first time we met. I’m Clyde.”
It was then I realized he hadn’t told me his name on the phone either.
“Stephen, but you know that.”
We sat at a table by the window and studied the menu. “I think I’ll order pancakes.” It was a joke, but both Posy and her dad stared at me.
“This is a pancake restaurant, Stephen.” Posy leaned forward. “Is that okay?”
I nodded. “It’s fine, great even.” This was awkward because Clyde’s eyes were focused on me even as Posy talked of school, summer camp, and how she wanted to get a dog as we waited for our food.
Thank goodness she was filling the silence and didn’t appear to notice the tension between her father and me. I was pleased when the food arrived because it gave me something to do with my hands and a topic of conversation.
“That looks so yummy.” I nodded at Posy’s banana-and-strawberry-topped pancake with a dollop of cream.
Posy asked what mine was, and I told her it was cookies and cream. We both looked at Clyde’s plate, and he didn’t say anything at first, making the situation more awkward than it had been before the food came.
“Mine is red velvet with a cream cheese drizzle.”
“Ewww.” Posy made a face.
But I was mesmerized by his voice. It was different than before somehow, more velvety, just like the dish he’d described.
“Sounds amazing.” I was practically drooling, but it was more because of his voice and the face that went with it than the dish itself.
“Oh, I almost forgot, I have a present for you, Stephen.” Posy unzipped her little pink backpack. She pulled out a tiny blue button with a rabbit emblazoned on it.
“You told me you collected buttons, and this is one from an old costume. I don’t need it anymore.” She placed it in her palm and held it out.
I gulped because not only had she remembered about my collection, but she was showing it reverence as though it were valuable, which to her it probably was.
“Thank you, Posy. I’ll treasure that.” I told her I’d add it to my collection and send her a photo.
Clyde put down his fork and cleared his throat. “I didn’t thank you properly for how you helped Posy, and I probably came across as a—” He put his hand over his daughter's ears. “An A-hole.”
“Daddy.” His daughter laughed. “You said a bad word, but I didn’t hear it.”
“Good you didn’t.” He kissed the top of her head.
“It’s okay. I understand how upset you were.” It didn’t change anything because I wasn’t breaking up a family and we couldn’t be friends. If we met, his mate would pick up on my tortured expression and ban Clyde from seeing me.
And where was his omega other half? Maybe he was working.
“Posy, you’ve got cream from here to here.” Clyde made an exaggerated gesture with both hands.
She giggled. “I do not, Daddy.”
We’d run out of napkins, and I was about to get up, but Clyde put out a hand and said he’d do it. He could have said he was flying to Mars later tonight and I wouldn’t have heard a word because his fingers brushed over mine.
My skin sizzled, and my fox was bouncing up and down saying he knew it wasn’t hopeless.
“You have a very good dad.”
Posy nodded as she finished the last bite of her pancake. “He’s my only daddy. My friends have two, but I only have one.”
What? There was no omega in the family? But Posy could mean her other dad was working away and only came home occasionally. I couldn’t get my hopes up, and it was kinda ick that I might be pleased Clyde was a single dad because that meant something had happened to his mate.
I refused to celebrate Posy losing a father, assuming that was what happened.
“Well, you're very lucky to have the daddy you do.”