He stepped out the front door with a smile on his face that made her hate the things she’d thought about him earlier. She loved him. He’d done the best he could as a single father. She’d never wanted for care or attention when growing up, between the Smiths and her father.
He opened her car door for her. “Hi, sweetheart.” He offered her a hand as she stepped out.
“Hi, Daddy.”
He wouldn’t let her get her bags and the cooler with her medicine in it from the trunk. He insisted on doing all the loading. Resigned to spending a weekend as Daddy’s little girl, she let him without further complaint.
When they finally got on the road and headed south, Harper comfortably settled in the passenger seat with her iPhone plugged into the charger. She surreptitiously checked her e-mail when her father wasn’t looking. She couldn’t be out of contact all weekend.
By the time they hit the Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, she could tell her father was in a fine mood. He sang along with the radio and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the music.
“Should we stop for dinner somewhere on the way?” He cast a glance her way.
She knew what he was really asking. “If you want, Dad.”
“I can pull over at that exit in Ellenton. It’s just a few minutes away.”
“I’m not going to drop dead in the next few hours,” she said with a smirk. “Anywhere’s fine. I’m okay.” She knew what the conversation had really been about. His unspoken questions were, When was the last time you checked your blood sugar, and are you due for your medication? And do you need to eat?
No matter how busy he was, or how much he had on his plate, from the time her diabetes was diagnosed when she was ten, he’d rarely missed a doctor appointment until she reached her teens and she insisted he not come because it was just too embarrassing. He’d practically made himself an expert on type 1 diabetes.
He laughed. “I’m sorry. You’ll always be my little girl. You know that, right?”
She tried not to roll her eyes. “Yes, Daddy.”
It’s going to be a loooong weekend.
Chapter Seven
Friday afternoon, Tate was about to leave for the day when Jenny stopped him. “Boss wants to see us in the office.”
“Crap,” he grumbled. “This can’t be good.” He’d felt unsettled all day. Maybe he was overreacting, but it was totally out of character for Doug not to try harder to get in touch with him when visiting his parents.
Then again, he was usually with Doug when he visited his parents.
She smacked him on the shoulder. “Why do you always have to assume the worst? Come on, it could be good news.”
“On a Friday afternoon? Not likely.” They walked to Albert Holder’s office. The president of the company didn’t usually call people into his office for a fat-chewing session.
Holder smiled at them when he spotted them in the doorway. He waved them in. “Go ahead and close the door behind you,” he said.
“See?” Tate whispered in Jenny’s ear. She quietly shushed him as they both took seats in front of his desk.
“Well, I guess you’re wondering why I asked you in here.” He smiled. “I won’t keep you hanging any longer. I’m promoting both of you.”
Jenny grinned as she smacked Tate on the arm again. “See? Told you it wasn’t bad.”
“I received two weeks’ notice from Barbara Davis a little bit ago. Her husband is being transferred. The next logical person for her job is you, Jenny.” He looked at Tate. “And the only person I want taking Jenny’s place is you. You haven’t been here very long, I know, but you’ve proven yourself, and you’ve become one of my best workers. You’ll both be getting raises, obviously. The reason I brought you both in here at the same time was because I didn’t want to drag it out. Jenny, you’ll need to help train Tate while Barbara is training you to take her position. I’d like as smooth a transition as possible.”
“Um, how much of a raise are we talking?” Tate asked. “Not that I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth. I don’t care if Jenny knows. I’ll be telling her anyway.”
“Well, okay. You’ll be making what Jenny’s making now, forty thousand a year.”
Tate thought he misheard him. “Forty grand? Four-zero?”
Mr. Holder smiled. “Yes.” He looked at Jenny.
“Ditto,” she said. “Might as well tell me now. We’ll compare notes later.”
“You’re getting a bump to Barbara’s pay scale, which is forty-eight thousand.”
She let out a happy whistle. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that.”
“Well, I want to keep both of you happy and working for me.”
Tate started to say something, then kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to do anything to blow this in case Doug’s job fell through.
Holder sent them down to human resources before they left for the day. On the way, Jenny grinned. “Want to go out to celebrate?”
“Sure.” He hadn’t told her about Doug’s new job or the problems his parents were going through, not that he knew all the details anyway. Doug’s family was very private when it came to financial matters, and he wanted to respect their privacy.
Ironic, I get a promotion and a great raise, and I’ll probably be leaving in a few weeks anyway.
When he finally got out of the building at five thirty, he saw the missed call from Doug. He called him back and reached Doug’s voice mail. “Hey, babe. Sorry I’m playing phone tag with you,” he said. “Guess what? Holder just gave me and Jenny promotions and kick-ass raises. Wait’ll you hear, it’s nearly double my pay. Give me a call when you can. Jenny wants us to go out and celebrate, so I’ll try to catch you later. Love you.” He hung up and looked at his phone.
Neither one of them had ever been clingy, mopey men. And not jealous ones, either. They enjoyed doing things together, but had friends and interests outside their relationship as well. Both of them agreed that was healthy.
He just wished in this case it didn’t feel quite so lonely. It was the longest stretch he’d been without Doug for months, and he was really missing him and wishing he could celebrate with him tonight instead of Jenny.
Doug felt like a real shit when he played Tate’s voice mail. His first thought wasn’t for how fantastic the opportunity was for Tate, but how it gave him a potential opening to suggest Tate not move down right now.
I should grow a set and just tell him.
He didn’t want to let go, though. He loved Tate.
Telling Tate about the details of his job tempted Doug nearly beyond reason. But every time he thought about doing it, the nondisclosure contract flashed through his mind, followed by the sound of his father’s choked sob over the possibility of losing their house.
He closed his eyes. Eileen deserved stability. His mom had been through enough healthwise. Moving was an additional stress she did not need. His father…
Well, now his father could finally look at retiring in a couple of years instead of having to work until he dropped to pay their mounting medical bills.
He took a deep, pained breath. He wasn’t sure how to break it to Tate, but he knew he’d have to.
His parents didn’t want to go out to dinner, but his sisters did. Another chickenshit move on his part, he suggested they hit a movie, too. While getting ready, he called Tate and reached his voice mail. Taking a deep breath, he left a message. “Hey, that’s great news about your promotion. I’m taking the girls out to a movie tonight to give Mom and Dad some breathing room. If I don’t talk to you tonight, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.” He hung up before he could start crying.