The Best Goodbye (7 page)

“Hey,” he said, before focusing on the dish he was plating.

“Seven is up,” Henry, one of the other cooks, called out to me.

“Great. Thanks,” I replied, turning to one of the food servers waiting to the side. “Take it to seven. Left to right. I’ll follow behind.”

One of the things Captain insisted on was that the main server of the table shouldn’t bring the food. They were to follow behind, ready to address anything that was wrong or get the guests anything they requested.

I had turned to leave when Brad called out, “Hey, friend.”

Unsure if that greeting was meant for me, I stopped and looked back at him.

He winked and shook his head. “I need to step up my game.” Then he went back to work, still grinning.

Was he talking about what I had said to Patricia? Had she told him?

“Flirt on your own time. You have people to serve, and he has food to cook. No distractions, Rose.” Captain’s hard voice startled me, and I jerked my gaze up to see him glowering at me from the doorway of the kitchen.

I’d been working to be beyond good tonight, but to be excellent and get this treatment from him?
I haven’t been flirting, thank you very much—I’ve been working!
Why wasn’t he correcting Brad? Biting my tongue, I met his angry glare with one of my own before walking out past him without a word.

“Rose,” Captain called out, in a clipped voice.

I wanted to keep walking and ignore him, but I’d draw attention from the others in the hallway who were watching us. I sucked it up and stopped to look back at my boss. “Yes, sir?” I bit out.

His eyes flared a moment, and I wondered what I’d done to make him so pissed. “Acknowledge me when I give you instructions.” His voice was low, and the warning tone in it only made me angrier.

“You should direct your instructions to those who need them. I did nothing wrong.” I tried to keep the acid out of my voice, but it was difficult.

“Told you Brad is the best. Don’t want his head anywhere but on the food.”

“I’m not distracting him. I was getting my table’s food sent out,” I shot back in defense.

“Then why was his focus on you when he should have been busting his ass on the shit in front of him? Don’t play dumb with me, Rose. I know women, sugar. I know them too damn well.”

That was it. Captain had pushed me too far. “I’ll finish the evening, and then I’m gone. That’s what you want, after all. I’m not going to work here just to be accused of stuff I didn’t do.” I was louder than I should have been, but I didn’t care. I spun on my heel and stalked away from the infuriating man I’d made the mistake of uprooting my life for.

Shit. I stood staring at Rose as she walked through the door and into the dining room. She was right. It was
Brad
who had been flirting with
her
. I’d been watching them all night, and I could tell that when Patricia told him that Rose had said they were just friends, he hadn’t liked it. Figured he couldn’t wait to discuss it with her until after closing.

The fire in her eyes, even behind those glasses, reminded me of Addy. When pushed, Addy had that same fire. That same determination. My chest ached. It always ached when I remembered her, and Rose made me remember all the damn time. The memories were only getting worse. There was no gun in my hand and no revenge in my plans now. I’d left that life behind.

And my mind was once again open to the good parts of my life. The best part. Even though we’d been living through hell in that house with my parents, Addy had made it perfect. She had made everything worth it. I had thought I was saving her, but she’d saved me. She’d given me a purpose. She’d shown me what real love felt like.

Then, after all she’d given me, I’d failed her in the end. I hadn’t saved her after all. Loving me was what had killed her. Finding Addy and me in bed together had sent my insane mother over the edge. It hadn’t been our first time—Addy had given me her innocence months before, and it had been the most beautiful moment of my life. Our time together had brought us closer and forged a bond that I thought could never be broken. In a way, I’d been right; Addy’s hold on me was still there. Still strong.

“Shit, looks ace out there. No need for you to be in here scowling.” Major’s voice brought me out of my thoughts.

I focused on the man in front of me and shoved my memories and my issues with Rose aside. “I’m ready to move on. This ain’t my thing,” I said simply. Because it wasn’t. I needed more solitude.

Major cocked his head and studied me. “You saying you want to come back? DeCarlo would shit a brick, he’d be so happy.”

“No. Said I was finished, and I am.”

Major shrugged. “Got it. But it’s exciting. That thrill you get. The hunt. You don’t miss that?”

He might have looked like a pretty-boy player who was always ready for a good laugh, but Major Colt was a fucked-up dude. Maybe not as fucked-up as Cope, who I wasn’t sure even had a soul, but at least you knew what you were getting with Cope. Major could fool anyone. Even his own family. Which he did, brilliantly.

I glanced around, making sure we were still alone, before replying. “I did it to survive, not because I enjoyed it. I was seeking something I never truly found.”

Major smirked. “So you’re saying I’m a sick fuck.”

“Yeah,” I said.

Major chuckled. “Naw, just like the game.”

Life wasn’t a game. It was a gift. And choosing to take that gift from another person wasn’t easy. What we did—what he did—would never be right. Didn’t mean I’d change it. Every time I pulled a trigger, I knew the costs. I knew what it meant. And although I wasn’t God, and choosing who got to live or die wasn’t my job, I chose anyway. I corrected the wrong shit in the world, hoping each time that I was saving someone’s Addy.

“Why are you still here? Job should be done,” I said, moving past Major and toward the door.

“It’s complicated. This one ain’t cut and dry. DeCarlo wants some answers first. Lucky me, I get to fuck around with a smoking-hot babe to get those answers. God, I love this job.”

I stopped at the door. “I’m leaving here soon. But I want you out and DeCarlo’s job done before I go. Don’t want this shit near my sister and her family. Forget about the pussy, and focus on the task.”

I didn’t wait for his response before I opened the door to go back out into the dining room.

“You think Mase told Reese about what DeCarlo did?” Major asked in a low voice.

I paused. I’d wondered that myself. She was one of the reasons I had been in Texas before I came to Rosemary Beach. I didn’t talk to Reese now that my job for her was done, but Mase and I touched base every once in a while. Killing the man who had molested and raped Reese when she was a child had been one of my greatest moments of success. He’d ruined a young woman’s life with his sickness. I would have done anything to make sure he never touched another girl. DeCarlo was her real father, and he had wanted that man’s death more than anyone. His daughter had been a fighter. She had made it through hell, then walked right into the arms of Mase Colt Manning. A guy who would cherish and love her for the rest of her life. She’d been one of the lucky ones.

“No. I think if he’d told her, DeCarlo would know.”

Major nodded. “Yeah.”

I didn’t wait for more. I went to check on the dining room. I needed tonight to be a success so I could leave and figure out the rest of my life.

•  •  •

Arthur was happy. Customers were happy. And I was fucking glad it was over. Soon this place would be handed over to Arthur’s friend’s son, Jamieson Tynes. All I had to do was train him over the next few weeks and then let him have it.

It was well after midnight before I locked up my office and headed toward the back exit. The thought of my bed had never seemed so damn good. Today had started before dawn and hadn’t slowed down once.

“Captain,” Elle called out, and I jerked my gaze over to see her standing just outside the dining room. I’d been doing my best to stay the hell away from her.

“Yeah,” I replied in a no-nonsense tone. I didn’t want any drama with her. Especially not tonight.

“Can we talk?”

“No.”

“Seriously, this is how you’re going to be? We slept together for weeks. We were in a relationship. You can’t just turn off those emotions like that.”

I stopped and made myself acknowledge her with an irritated glance. “I have no emotions, Elle. I told you that in the beginning, just like I told you I was just in it for the fucking. Nothing more.”

“Who are you in love with, then? Huh? Where is she?” Elle raised her voice and took a step toward me. “If she’s so damn wonderful, why isn’t she here fighting for you? Because I’m here. I
do
love you. She doesn’t, or she would be here.”

The emotion I didn’t feel for Elle was surpassed by the emotion that always came with any mention of the girl I loved. The one who owned my heart in a way no one else ever would. “She was nothing like you. She was pure and kind. She was selfless, and when she smiled, the world lit up. She was my best friend. My reason for getting up in the morning. That is who the fuck she was. No one will compete with that. Ever.”

Elle threw up her hands like I was a madman. “Do you hear yourself? You’re talking about her in the past tense. She’s gone. You even know it. Move on! She obviously has.”

I hated her in that moment. I hated her voice. I hated the way she looked. I hated the air she breathed. I wanted her to shut the fuck up. My body tensed with fury, and I had to fight the urge to bury my fist in the wall. And I couldn’t roar in rage at her to get out of my sight. I couldn’t lose my cool here. Not now.

All of the disgust and hate I felt toward her was contained in the glare I leveled on her. She would see it, and if she was as smart as I thought she was, she’d never come near me again.

“She’s dead.”

Saying those words was never easy. I wanted to throw shit. Anything but admit it out loud.

I didn’t wait for her response, but the pale color of her face told me she got it. I left her behind and went to my only safe haven: my boat.

Eleven years ago

My mother was singing in the kitchen. That was never a good sign. I stopped at the door and put my hand protectively in front of Addy. It was a reflex. As if my mother would hear us and come running like a crazy person and attack her. I knew that wouldn’t happen, but I was also bracing both of us for what this could mean. My mother singing meant she was happy, and that usually meant she thought my dad would be home early for dinner.

My dad never came home for dinner. He hadn’t in more than four years, ever since he started sleeping with his secretary. Even now that he had a child with this other woman and spent most of his nights with his other family, my mother still pretended that wasn’t the case.

I spotted the empty bottle of tequila on the coffee table and looked at Addy, who was staring at it, too. This was definitely another bad sign. My mother acting crazy was one thing. My mother crazy drunk was another.

“Go to your room, and lock the door,” I whispered to her.

She looked up at me with those big eyes of hers. There was fear there, but there was also determination. She shook her head. “I won’t leave you alone with her. If I lock myself in, you know she’ll come after me, and you’ll fight her, and she’ll hit you.”

I was taller than my mother now and stronger. Her hitting me didn’t hurt. But her hitting Addy could break her. I wasn’t letting that happen ever again. When I had made the mistake of staying after school to try out for the basketball team, Addy had come home to my drunk mother and ended up with a broken wrist. I still hadn’t forgiven myself.

“It doesn’t hurt me when she hits me. But I won’t let her hurt you,” I said quietly. I didn’t want her to hear us. I wanted Addy safely locked in first.

She finally sighed in defeat and nodded. “OK. But if she starts to attack you, I’m coming out.”

“No, Addy. Please. For me, stay in there. I’ll hurt her if I have to.” I didn’t want to hurt my mother. I hated her for how she treated Addy. I hated her because she couldn’t be normal and be a mother. But I didn’t want to physically hurt her. I just wanted to get us the hell away from her. I also knew that if I hurt her, she’d make me pay by sending Addy away. Without me, Addy had no one to protect her the next time. I had to keep her safe.

“I love you,” she whispered to me, her eyes full of unshed tears.

We had been saying that for a while now, although I thought it meant something different to her. I was in love with Addy, but she didn’t look at me the same way. She never flirted or tried to get my attention the way other girls did. I couldn’t help it, though. Somewhere along the way, she went from my best friend to the person I wanted to be with forever. We were young, but the shit I’d dealt with had made me grow up fast. It had done that for both of us. I knew what I felt. Addy owned me. She just didn’t realize it.

“Love you, too,” I replied, then nodded my head toward the steps leading up to our rooms. “Now, go. I’ll handle her. You stay locked in there.”

Addy gave me one last pleading look, but I pointed to the stairs, firm in my decision. Finally, she turned and quietly made her way to the bedroom that had once been a small office for my father. We had another guest bedroom that Addy could have been given, but my mother had moved her into the smallest room in the house. I often wondered if it was because it was the farthest room from mine.

With her door closed and locked behind her, I made my way to the kitchen to face my drunk and insane mother.

My mother’s hair was washed and freshly rolled. She was wearing a sundress and a pair of heels while she stirred something on the stove. There was another bottle of tequila sitting on the bar to her left, and a wineglass beside it full of the liquor. She was singing some old song she called her and Dad’s song. I knew tonight was going to be a bad one.