by Linda Verji
Greyson frowned and concern glinted in his eyes. “If the gossiping is that bad, maybe we should have a staff meeting to discuss it.”
“No. No. No.” Snow pressed a hand to his thigh. “They’ll know that I tattled to you. Besides, it’s not any worse than the gossiping that goes on in other workplaces. I’m just a little sensitive right now. It will pass.”
He considered her for quite a long while before asking, “Did you talk to your father?”
“No.” Surprised at the question, she asked, “Why do you ask?”
“He was trying to reach you last night.”
“I know.” She sighed. “But I can’t talk to him right now. Do you know how upsetting it was to see him at the restaurant last night? I still can’t believe that he was willing to sell me to Charlie for the sake of his precious hospital.”
“What are you talking about?” Greyson’s brow furrowed. “Your dad didn’t sell you to Charlie. If anything he was mad as hell that Charlie and his mother thought they could use him to keep you in line.”
Now it was her turn to ask, “What are you talking about?”
“Okay, so as soon as you left last night, Marlene…” Greyson briefed her on everything that had happened after she’d left the restaurant – Marlene coming at him, James coming to his rescue, the argument between the two… He finished with, “Your dad didn’t know that he was coming for an engagement party. He was caught off-guard, just like you.”
It took a while for Greyson’s words to sink in. If anyone else had told Snow that her father had come to her defense last night and told Marlene off at the risk of harming his hospital, she would’ve laughed in their face. It was that unbelievable. But Greyson had no reason to lie to her.
Still awestruck, she mumbled, “I thought he was on Team Charlie.”
“I can confirm that he wasn’t. At least not last night,” Greyson assured her.
So James wasn’t all about himself and what he wanted? Sometimes, he could actually be the kind of father who accepted and supported the decisions his children made. Incredible! Now Snow wished she hadn’t left the restaurant so soon. She wished she’d been there to see her father tear Marlene a new one. It must have been glorious. Just imagining the scene was enough to make her smile.
“Are you that happy?” Greyson teased.
Grinning, she nodded and cuddled up against him. “I didn’t think that he’d ever come to my defense.”
“He’s your father. Of course, he’d come to your defense,” Greyson said as he stroked his fingers over her arm. After a brief pause, he said, “Speaking of parents… my mother dropped by the restaurant
The news was shocking enough to make Snow sit up. She turned surprised eyes to Greyson. “She’s back in town?”
“She’s back.” He nodded. “Not that she told anyone.”
“How did it go?”
“Better than last time. We talked a little…” He briefed her on the conversation he’d had with his mother then finished with, “… I told her to visit again if she had time.”
Honestly, Snow was surprised that they’d aired so many of their issues. It was so unlike Greyson that she leaned forward and hugged him. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I didn’t do anything,” he murmured into her hair.
“You did everything.” She turned her head and kissed his cheek. “Now you both know where you stand and you can move on.”
As much as some of Lana’s actions were reprehensible, Snow could understand them. The woman had been a young widow with two young children and no financial security. Sure, she’d made mistakes, but she was under a lot of pressure. And she was just human. Either way, Snow was just glad that she and Greyson were talking again.
Greyson stared at the floor thoughtfully for a while before he chuckled. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” His eyes met hers. “Me with my mommy issues, and you with your daddy issues.”
“Tell me about it.” Snow grinned. “I’m surprised neither of us turned to the pole to work them out.”
“Actually, I once part-timed as a stripper.” He dropped the news like he was telling her a normal, everyday story.
“Nooo.” Her jaw dropped as shock shuttled through her. She gasped. “Greyson Teller.”
“I was young and broke,” he explained with a shrug. With his Nordic looks and athletic body, he was physically attractive enough for the pole... but still. No.
Snow covered her mouth with her hand as she stared at him goggle-eyed. “Lies! Lies! Lies!”
“Truth,” he countered with a grin.
She blinked. Then blinked again. Then stared at him to make sure he wasn’t messing with her. His eyes said that he was telling the truth. Oh. My. God. Straight-laced, stoic Greyson had once shaken his goodies for the ladies – or was it men? Ooh! This was too juicy. She pushed her food aside and scooted closer to him. “I want the details. All of them. Don’t leave a single thing out.”
CHAPTER 26
The next day, Snow waited until Oscar was alone in the pantry before she ambushed him.
“Hello, Oscar.” Her frosty greeting rang ominously in the small space.
The tall man spun around to face her. When his eyes met hers, panic streaked through his gaze. “S-Snow, what are you doing in here?”
“You didn’t think you could run away forever, did you?” She paced towards him in slow, deliberate steps.
“I’m not trying to run away.” He took a frightened step backwards and immediately bumped into a sack of sugar. “Why would I run away? I – I haven’t done anything.”
His gaze did a quick sweep of the pantry, like a trapped rabbit searching for an escape route, but there was no escape for him and no one to help him. With Greyson having taken his day off, the only other chefs in the kitchen were Vina and Ed. Neither of them was likely to come to his rescue. It was just him and Snow. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“You haven’t done anything?” Snow closed the gap between them until she was standing toe-to-toe with him. Though he was much taller than her, her anger gave her the advantage. “Tell me, Stretch, how is it that you’re the one who booked the restaurant for Charlie?”
“Uh.. uh.. uh..” He stumbled over his words. “It just happened.”
“It didn’t just happen.” She eyed him coldly. “When did you and Charlie start communicating?”
“That… that morning,” Oscar tried, but she could tell that he was lying. At her narrowed eyes, he confessed, “Okay, before then.” He rushed to add desperately, “I’m so sorry, Snow. Please don’t tell everyone that I’m gay.”
She had no intention of outing Oscar, but he didn’t need to know that. Pressing her fists to her hips, she said, “Then tell me the truth. When did you and Charlie start communicating?”
In a small voice, Oscar confessed, “Last year.”
Snow’s jaw dropped and she stared at him goggle-eyed. “Last year?”
Oscar nodded. “He needed someone to keep an eye on you after your previous breakup, so he offered me money to keep him informed-”
“And you took it?” Her voice rose with her shock.
“I’m sorry.” Oscar gave her a sheepish look. “But he was paying well. Five hundred dollars for anything new.”
Good God! When Vina and April had posited that Charlie was stalking her, Snow had thought that it was ridiculous. Charlie was above such things! Apparently, she was wrong – and even weirder was how long it had been going on. Seriously! A whole year of being stalked? She supposed she should be flattered. Five hundred dollars was nothing to sniff at.
“I was going to stop after you found out about-” Oscar paused as if afraid to voice the fact that she’d caught him out of the closet. “– after you found out about you know what, but Charlie offered me a thousand dollars to book the restaurant in my name. If I’d know that he wanted me to book it because of the engagement, I never would’ve done it.”
“Yeah, right!” Snow snorted. It was so like Oscar to
develop morals after the fact.
“I’m serious.” Oscar raised his hands to chest level as if to emphasize his innocence. “I like Greyson.”
More like he was afraid of getting fired.
Still reeling in shock, Snow shook her head. “I can’t believe you were the spy.”
Now she felt guilty for suspecting April. Sure, the woman had always been a member of Team Charlie and had been instrumental in getting he and Snow back together a time or two, but she’d never once done anything that could be counted as betrayal. April wasn’t disloyal – she was just a misguided romantic. Snow had accused Greyson of mistrusting her without reason when she was doing the same thing to April. Thank goodness she hadn’t confronted April with her suspicions otherwise she would’ve ended up ruining a good friendship over baseless suspicions.
“You know I’m sorry, right?” Oscar butted into her thoughts. Wringing his hands nervously, he asked, “You won’t out me, right?”
“I’ll think about it.” She turned on her heels and moved towards the door.
“What do you mean you’ll think about it?” Oscar yelled after her. “Snow. Snow. Snow.”
Grinning, she exited the pantry and headed straight for the dining-room. Her gaze searched the room until it landed on April who was overseeing the setting of tables for dinner service. Snow made a beeline for her friend and when she got there slipped her arms around her waist for a back-hug.
“Hey!” Startled, April turned her head. On seeing that it was Snow, she sagged in relief. “Snow, what are you doing?”
Snow pressed her cheek to her friend’s back. “Sorry.”
“For what?” April asked.
“For being a bad friend.”
“What?” Curiosity and surprise rang clear in April’s voice.
Snow embraced her tighter. “Just let me hug you.”
April shot her another curious look but didn’t shake her off. Instead, she chuckled. “You’re weird.”
Snow didn’t answer, she merely smiled against her friend’s back. She held the embrace for a minute or so before pulling back.
April turned to face her. “What was that about?”
“Nothing.” Snow gave a dismissive wave. “Just ignore me.”
Her friend studied for a long moment before saying, “Give me a couple of minutes here then we can head out to the spot.”
“Actually, I can’t go with you guys today,” Snow said. “I need to stop by somewhere for a couple of minutes.”
With a brief goodbye to April, she headed up to the break-room. After depositing her chef-coat in her locker, she bounded down the stairs and out of the restaurant. It took her barely fifteen minutes to walk from Tellers to Third Rise Memorial.
Doctors, nurses and patients milled around the hospital but no one made any effort to stop Snow. She got on the elevator at the ground floor and got off on the fourth floor where most of the administrators had their offices. With quick determined steps, she made her way to her father’s office.
“As I live and breathe.” The heavy-set, middle-aged white woman who sat at the reception gaped at her. “Is that Snow Harrison?”
“Hi, Eleanor,” Snow greeted her father’s long-time assistant. “How are you?”
“Fine. Fine. Fine.” Eleanor rose from her seat to circle her desk. “Come here.”
Snow found herself engulfed in a tight, warm bear-hug. The older woman smelt delicious – like freshly baked cookies. Patting her back, Snow said, “I missed you.”
“No you didn’t otherwise you would’ve visited me sooner.” Eleanor pulled back but kept her hands on Snow’s shoulders. “How long has it been?”
“Nine years, I think.”
“Nine years. Way too long.” The older lady clucked and shook her head. “Let me look at you. Wow! You’re all grown up now.”
The two women spent a couple more minutes catching up before Snow asked, “Is my father in?”
“Of course. Let me just let him know that you’re here.” Eleanor circled back to her desk and sat down to dial his extension. A couple of seconds later, James picked up and she let him know that Snow was around. After a brief pause to listen to him, Eleanor ended the call and smiled at Snow. “He says to go right in.”
James was seated behind his desk and watching the door expectantly when Snow walked into his office. At her entrance, he offered her a slight smile. “What a surprise! I wasn’t expecting you.”
Now that she was here, she felt nervous. Worrying her bottom lip, she asked, “Can I sit down?”
“Be my guest.” He gestured to one of the seats opposite his desk. Once she was seated, he confronted her, “You haven’t been taking my calls.”
“I’m sorry.” She lowered her eyes to her lap. “I was angry at you.”
“Angry at me? Why?”
“For no reason as it turns out.” She lifted her gaze to meet his as she confessed, “I thought you were in on the whole Charlie-Marlene-engagement thing.”
She expected her father to explode in anger but all he did was sigh. “I would never be in on something like that or put you in such an awkward position. I was as surprised as you to find out that I was attending your engagement party.”
“Yeah, Charlie is pretty good at surprising people.” Snow chuckled but there was no humor to the chuckle.
“I know we don’t agree on some of your choices but I’ve always only wanted what’s best for you.” James’ gaze was somber as he added, “I would never ever make you spend your life with someone just because his parents are my friends or because I owe someone something. And I certainly would never use you as a ransom payment just so I can get funding for this place.”
His words and the emphatic way he said them left Snow feeling happy and grateful. She and her father had been at logger-heads for so long that she’d stopped expecting them to agree on anything or for him to go to such lengths to protect her. She wasn’t sure when she started moving but suddenly she was beside him and bending down for a hug. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Surprised by the hug, James stiffened, but a few seconds later, he patted the arm she had around his neck and laughed. “There’s nothing to thank me for.”
“There is.” Snow placed his a wet kiss on his cheek before straightening back to her full height. “Thank you for being my dad.”
James smiled. “You know, this is the first time in nine years that you’ve hugged me.”
“Well get ready to be hugged a lot more from now on,” Snow threatened teasingly as she made her way back to her seat. Once she was seated, she asked, “Do you think Marlene and Charles Senior will withdraw their support for the cardiology department?”
“They’ve already done it,” James said.
Shocked, Snow gaped. “They have?”
Looking calm as if it wasn’t a big deal, her father explained, “I got a letter this morning informing me that they’ve frozen funding. Apparently, they aren’t confident in the authenticity of our accounting. They say they want a formal audit but it’s just an excuse so they can official withdraw.”
“That’s ridiculous!” She’d known that Marlene was petty, but this was on another level. Didn’t the woman know that her petty decision had the potential to affect thousands of lives? Concerned, Snow frowned. “This is trouble, right? What will you do?”
“Don’t worry about it. The Dumas family aren’t the only people with money in America,” James dismissed. “And our cardiology department’s been doing good work. We’ll soon have other donors knocking at our door.”
Even though her father was dismissive about the side-effects of Charlie’s parents withdrawing their support, Snow couldn’t help but worry. She didn’t want her father’s career derailed because of her actions. His career, and the hospital, were the most important things to him.
Well, that’s not exactly true, she corrected herself. He’d proved beyond any doubts that she was more important to him than any hospital or career. And she couldn’t be more grateful.
> * * * * *
“OSCAR WAS CHARLIE’S spy?” Greyson paused with his toothbrush inches from his mouth. “No way.”
Snow, who stood beside him dressed in just a t-shirt and short shorts, gurgled water then spat it into the sink before nodding. “Yes way.”
“-And apparently he’s been doing it for a year,” she added. He’d picked her up from Tellers after closing and they’d dropped by her apartment to pick fresh clothes and toiletries for her before heading to his place.
“No way!” Greyson gaped at her. People spying, money changing hands, restaurants being booked on the sly… Snow’s life seemed to have been plucked straight from a thriller. He said, “I thought Oscar was a little dodgy, but this is just… wow!”
“Tell me about it.” Her gaze swept over the counter as if in search of something. When she couldn’t find it, she frowned. “Where’s the toiletry bag I came with?”
“I think you left in the bedroom.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She waved her toothbrush. “I should go store this. I don’t want to forget it when I leave tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you leave it here along with some of your clothes,” he suggested. “It’s a hustle to keep packing and transporting them from you place to mine.”
Snow’s mouth fell open and she inhaled sharply. “Greyson Teller, did you just ask me to move in with you?”
“What?” He stiffened in surprise. That was not what he’d said or even meant to say.
She watched him reeling in shock for a while before she burst into laughter. “Got you, didn’t I? You should see your face.”
“Damn.” His hand flew to his chest as he stared at her. “You almost gave me a heart-attack.”
“Don’t worry, buddy.” She chuckled as she patted his arm. “I won’t pull a sneak-move-in on you.”
Still laughing, she exited the en-suite leaving him to finish brushing his teeth. It took a while for him to recover from the shock she’d just given him but that shock eventually subsided. In its place came contemplation.
Now that he thought about it, having her move in wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. In fact, there were several advantages to it. One – it would cut their commute short by several minutes since they wouldn’t have to stop by her place. Two – he could have her to himself every night. Three – his house would be much less lonely. Snow’s presence had injected a warmth to it that he wasn’t used to but now loved and couldn’t bear to live without.