“Hey,” an amused voice protested behind me, prompting me to turn with Nemi held against my chest still, her tiny feet dangling in the air.
“Okay,” Nemi huffed, ignoring Heidi. “But next time, we have to come, too.”
Carefully placing her on the ground, I gave in. I was a soft touch when it came to both of them, and they knew it. “Fine by me. Have a good day at school and stay away from that punk kid.”
Heidi grinned as she walked toward me. “I doubt Ren Townsend would appreciate you calling his son a ‘punk kid.’”
I couldn’t care less. “He is one, and I don’t like the way he looks at Nemi.”
“They’re not even four yet, Bond. He’s not—” Whatever else she was about to say was cut off with a shriek as I grabbed her and leaned her over my arm dramatically for a kiss.
“I don’t care,” I mumbled against her lips, slowly straightening up and not removing my arms until I was sure she had her balance back. “Now, you stay away from punk kids, too, Mrs. Klein, and I’ll see you when I get back later as well.”
Rolling onto her tiptoes, Heidi gave me a quick peck goodbye. “Have a safe journey, and I hope the meeting’s a good one.”
As I drove away, I tried to bury down the guilt eating away at me. I never lied to her or Nemi, never even needed to, but today, it was one giant lie.
I’d told them I was going to meet with a possible partner for another Kleins and that we were meeting at a town two hours away. The other restaurant was being planned for New Orleans, and Heidi knew that, but we already had the funding for it—that she didn’t know.
I doubted she’d be happy or be able to rest at all if she knew what I was really doing today, and I didn’t want to stress her out any more than necessary. She’d had sporadic anxiety attacks since we’d come back from Jamaica, and what’d happened hit her, and she was still having nightmares. The reaction was delayed, but our brains don’t always work how we’d expect them to. With the help of a therapist, they were already beginning to settle down, and she was getting her strength back instead of keeping a fragile hold on the lid, keeping everything from all boiling over.
I wasn’t going to be the reason that hold slipped, and this meeting needed to happen.
He wasn’t what I expected. When I’d pictured Joel Garner, it’d been a guy of a slight build, with over gelled hair that fell over his forehead and glasses. Yes, his photo and clips of him were regularly in the news, but I just hadn’t been able to attach that image to the man Heidi had told me about.
The man in front of me was wearing a shirt he’d kept open at the neck, and he looked like he’d break a person’s hand with one shake.
Standing up smoothly, he held his hand out to me. “Mr. Klein. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise, Mr. Garner. Please, call me Bond.”
Gesturing to the chair opposite him for me to take a seat, he sat back down, his face impassive as he watched me do the same thing.
“Call me Joel. I expect you’re wondering why I called you here today.”
Nodding and smiling at the waiter who appeared with a French press of coffee, I waited until he’d placed it down and walked away before replying.
“Nemi.” I said it bluntly, no question necessary, but then added, “And Heidi.”
Steepling his fingers in front of himself as I poured some coffee into my cup, his eyes didn’t miss anything as they constantly tracked every mood I made. “Yes. Both of them matter to me a great deal, and I’ve made it a point to have someone watching over them.” This was news to me, and I almost spilled the creamer I was pouring. “You didn’t know. I’m glad about that because I pay them enough not to tip anyone off.”
I wondered if he meant his mom when he referred to ‘anyone.’
Still, his words pissed me off. He had a right to know if Nemi was okay, absolutely, but that’s it. “If you’re going to warn me off, you’re a bit—"
“You misunderstand me,” he cut in sharply. “I only want to know that they’re safe and well, and that the woman who gave birth to me hasn’t found them. Imagine my surprise when I got an alert that a news piece was online mentioning both of them and what’d happened in the parking lot of your restaurant. My men were occupied with something on the day it happened, so I had no prior knowledge of it.”
“There was no way we could have foreseen that happening,” I clipped, the muscle in my cheek clenched tightly. “At night, there’s security watching the place, but during the day, we incorrectly assumed that people would be safe. I wish I could turn back time and stop it from ever touching Heidi.”