The hostess greeted him by name with a friendly smile.
Wait. He comes here frequently? I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. I thought there were house rules about carbs or something. Or was it junk food? God, I needed a copy of those rules.
The hostess showed us to a booth and asked if he’d like his usual. He ordered two.
I couldn’t help it. I just stared at him as she walked away.
“This is one of my favorite places,” my dad said.
“But it’s…” my voice trailed off. “It’s not very much like your apartment.”
“I know, it’s refreshing right? I used to come here with your mom all the time.”
I pressed my lips together. First the hidden apartment that had belonged to my mom. Now a diner they used to go to together? There were forgotten pieces of my mom scattered all over the city. And I was pretty sure my dad was the only one who remembered where they all were. “You kept coming here after she left?”
“Actually, I bought it,” he said as he leaned back in the booth.
“You bought it?”
“It was a good investment opportunity.” He straightened the salt shaker so that it was perfectly in line with the pepper shaker, as if that was more interesting than our conversation.
“That’s the only reason?”
He stopped fidgeting with the seasonings. “I didn’t want them to change anything.”
I shook my head. “I don’t get it. If you loved my mom that much, why did you let her leave?”
“My business is dangerous, Brooklyn. It was better…”
“I know. You’ve said that before. But you have enough money and resources to do whatever you want.” I gestured to the literal diner he bought to preserve his memories of my mom. “You said you can protect me. You could have protected her.” You could have protected us. If he’d stayed in my life, my mom might still be alive. There might have been something he could have done. Some procedure or…something. We’d needed him.
“She wanted to go. I had to respect her decision.”
I didn’t press him. I could tell that it had killed him to let her go. It may have killed my mom too. “I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about that. Why did you want to have lunch?”
“I wanted to give you an update on the new security system. Everything is already in place. But…”
“Coffee for you too, hon?” a waitress asked. The smell of fresh coffee swirled through the air as she poured a cup for my dad.
I’d always liked the smell. But never the taste. “No, thanks,” I said.
She hurried off as quickly as she’d come.
My dad wrapped his hand around his mug. “Your mom never liked coffee either. Just the smell of it.” He smiled at me.
I didn’t know if he knew how hard these conversations were for me. The things I knew about my mom mixed with his memories. I wanted to hear everything but at the same time none of it because it made me miss her so much that it hurt.
“You look so much like her,” he said.
I looked down at the table. I didn’t want to cry anymore today.
“Brooklyn, I know I let your mom down. I’ve spent half my life missing her. I’ve been given a second chance to do this right. And I’m not going to make the same mistake twice. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”
When I’d first met him, I thought he hated me. But now I was pretty sure I was his only family member he even got along with. He loved my mom. And he loved me too.
I knew I didn’t know him that well. But I did know that I needed him. Who else would keep me safe from Isabella?
Chapter 18
Tuesday
I bit the inside of my lips until the tears that were threatening to spill went away. “You mentioned that the new security system is in place?”
“I was hoping to give you the good news that you could come home,” said my dad. “But with Isabella…I don’t…I’m not sure it’s for the best.”
“You mean you’re scared she’ll hurt me if I come back?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
I swallowed hard. He was always so certain. How was he not confident in his ability to control Isabella?
“And then there’s the issue of your health. If Isabella really is setting off your panic attacks…it would be best to eliminate her from your life as much as possible. She’ll be going off to college next fall. Then you’ll be perfectly happy and healthy coming back home. But until then, we need to discuss some more suitable alternatives. My second apartment…”