Standing By: A Knight's Tale #2

by Burgoa, Claudia Y.

  “Poor baby,” I release a tight breath yet my chest is still tight. I finally step inside the room and make my way next to him. I brush some of the hair strands from his face, bend down and kiss him on the forehead. “This is more than a scratch, Muffin Man,” I whisper making sure not one tear peeks out of my eyes. “We’ll have to review the consequences, mister. Stabbing… shot, that’s too many things at the same time.”

  He doesn’t answer, but his steady, slow breath continues. I look over my shoulder and glare at Jake.

  “Are you sure he’s fine?” I insist.

  “Yes,” Jake’s nostrils flare. “He came out of surgery a couple of hours ago and they drugged him.”

  I close my eyes for one second, give Mitch another kiss and walk to where his brothers are.

  “Where are your parents?”

  “On their way, with Emma,” Liam answers. “Mom’s ready to fuss over her boy and we’re already deciding how we’re going to help him while he recovers. The doctor said that he shouldn’t work for at least the next eight weeks. Want to help?”

  “Yes, put me down for overseeing the restaurants, I’ve been helping him with that for the past three months and Parker is in town,” I remind them. “We can both take over while Mitch recovers.”

  The brothers high five each other as if they just scored on an important game or sealed the best deal of their lives. Knights… they are a strange species.

  *

  “I have a farm,” Parker tells me while we sit in the hospital cafeteria having lunch. That’s a perfect opening for me to hum the “Old MacDonald” song. “Really, Hayley? At the farm it’s somewhat amusing, more when Ben joins in. However, here it loses the cute effect. As I was saying, I have things to do; I can’t stay here for eight weeks to help Mitch with the restaurants. I have even less time and patience when he has a freaking mess at Alexander’s.”

  “It’s not that messy,” I scratch my head. “Mitch was getting ready to hire a new group of chefs.”

  “Yeah, I saw that,” Parker and I visited each restaurant yesterday and made sure everyone knew that until the doctor cleared Mitch, we would be the ones running the show. “I’ll talk to his brothers; I want a Knight to be there during the interviews. Thirty-six and I’m back living with my father.”

  “For two months,” I remind him. However, it does sound bad mostly because I’ll be doing the same. “If it’s any consolation, I’ll be living there too.”

  “What about your plans?” I shrug one shoulder.

  “It’ll happen. Liam and I agreed to work on a business plan, Emma’s in charge of the image… granted she’ll include what I already had: colors, logo and Heavenly Wear.” I gift Parker a stern glare as he begins to laugh. “That’s what we call it, t-shirts, aprons and all the gear Liam designed.”

  “Have you decided on a location yet, Hayley?”

  “That’s simple,” I grin. “Wherever is most convenient… I’ll ask Liam to consider both states, Washington and New York.”

  We both continue talking about the pros and cons of setting up in either state, the possibilities of branching out within a year to the other state and end up agreeing that no matter what, we’ll visit each other often if I stay here. At that moment, I spot Dad and it’s strange to see him wearing a pair of jeans on a weekday. He’s on vacation, and so far keeping his word of staying away from the office.

  “I came to check on Mitchel,” Dad says. “Do you know he’s awake?” I ignore the question and finish my sandwich. “He asked for you, I mentioned you were downstairs and he realized that not only have you been here for the past three days but you’ve also been avoiding him.”

  “How did he realize that, Daddy?”

  “Perhaps I did say, ‘She hasn’t left the hospital since they admitted you, Mitch. I’m not sure why you haven’t seen her yet. Maybe she’s avoiding you.’”

  That makes sense; anyone could decipher that sentence and come to a fast conclusion… Daddy dear, threw me into the shark tank… merciless man.

  “What’s the story?” Parker asks. “I noticed you leave as soon as he starts moving… I just didn’t connect the dots. Why are you avoiding him?”

  “It’s stupid,” I confess. “He first reminded me we’re only friends, then started the annulment process and made sure that I understood we’d never be a thing. I’m in love with him, Parker, I need to forget the guy. However, during my second night in Seattle, he drunk called me saying there was a plan but he couldn’t do anything until Jake tied up the loose ends of his terrorist problem. It kind of messed with my head, and now he’s all injured and fragile; add his charming personality and … I’ll fall like an idiot again… my heart can take only so many rejections.”

  “There is a plan, Hayley,” Parker sighs and scrubs his hand through his hair—it reminds me of Mitch’s messy hair. “Dad can attest to it.” I side-glance Dad.

  “I can… but I won’t say anything; you should check on him. Stop being stubborn and give him a chance.” Dad lectures me; pushing my plate, I stand up, take a deep breath and head to the elevator without saying a word.

  “Stupid plan,” I mumble. “Selfish bitch.” I call myself for not wanting to see him. Coward, that’s the word. I can’t fight his charming powers or his melting grins. I know myself, once he gives me that hurt puppy look I’m going to want to fuss around him then… what?

  As the elevator opens its doors, I take a step toward his room a route I know by heart after three days of living in this hospital. Jake’s goons are gone, the entire operation had been a success—everyone is dead. Excuse me if it doesn’t cheer me up. It’s a little out of my comfort zone to be happy after people die. The door of his room is open, and the frequent voices of his family are absent today; that’s how I usually know if he’s awake or not. Perhaps he’s asleep; I heave a sigh of relief. This time I can say I tried, but he was, in fact, fast asleep.

  “I know you’re there, Hayes, I can smell that soft peach-vanilla scent of yours,” I hear his voice, then I peek inside the room to find him siting up in bed, his back against the headboard. “You look like shit, Hayes. I’m supposed to be the one looking tired and all sick, not you. What’s going on? Why are you avoiding me?”

  I suck in a shaky breath and remain where I stand.

  “You’re scared.” I refuse to answer; then again, it’s a statement. “How so?”

  “I can’t be mad at you,” he smiles… no, it’s that cocky smirk. Ugh. “Then there’s that charming factor, you unleash it and I’m going to succumb to your charms—you’ll let me fall again, and I’m still trying to pick up my splattered body from the pavement you left outside the tattoo parlor.”

  “That wasn’t my intention, Hayes,” he gets serious, then pats the side of his bed with his good arm. The left is inside a sling. “I traced this plan in my head while they tortured me in the tattoo parlor with needles, creating that.” He points at the dragon on his foot, and I look at mine, which is perfectly visible since I’m wearing sandals. “That’s when I realized that you deserved better than a casino wedding in front of Elvis with a drunken guy who had no idea what love is… until he fell flat on his face for this beautiful, smart, list-maker girl. If you remember, I promised that once you find the right guy, I’ll make sure you had that dream wedding. Coincidentally, you said it that night… that you were ready. That’s huge, Hayl, that means you’re in love. You don’t take those steps lightly… you never took that step. You handed me your heart; I had to do the same.”

  I hate his curl your toes with my cheesy words speeches, because it’s impossible to hate him when he does that.

  “You deserve a bend-on-one-knee-with-flowers-because-I-love-you declaration and a beach wedding.” He pats the bed again, and I’m all wobbly ready to succumb to his charm—again. “Want me to tell you a secret… I never loved them.”

  I raise an eyebrow as I walk over to him.

  “Chloe or Jordan, I cared about them, and proposing to Jordan felt like the n
ext step to take…” he extends his hand when I reach him and I take it. Mitch kisses the back of it and then my palm. “Nothing compared to you though, baby, I love you. You are my world.”

  I’m speechless, but that’s Mitch, you never know what’s going to come out of that mouth of his and it never ceases to amaze me that it will be right on the target. How can I walk away or… anything?

  “However,” he squeezes my hand. “I don’t want you to acknowledge what I just said.”

  “Say what?” Now I want to punch him on the face. No, on his wounds so I can do some real damage.

  “Once I’m back on my feet, matured and knowing my shit—or was it getting my shit together… yes, that was it. Once that happens, I’ll sweep you off your feet and make you fall all over again.”

  “You’re crazy.” I stare at him trying to give him a stern look that’s not working well because he’s giving me those puppy dog eyes of his.

  “Stay around, and you’ll see, beautiful,” he smirks. “Hugs are welcome, you know I was injured in battle.”

  I hug him as I wonder what he plans to do and of course, I hold my tongue because being shot by his brother isn’t a real battle—Knights.

  Chapter 36

  Mitch

  Ten weeks after what I like to call the Jake incident I finally start taking my life back; yesterday I received a clean bill of health. Today, instead of heading to my office which I have visited a couple of times a week for the past three weeks, I head to the new café.

  Pieces of Heaven Café is located in upper Manhattan, close to Fifth Avenue and Central Park. Hayes found a great spot, close to one of my exclusive restaurants. She moved back to her old apartment the one she lived in before finding Kevin and Paige having sex in it and ran away. That same place that’s only blocks from her father’s penthouse and her mother’s home.

  Right as I walk onto the street of her shop, I spot it. The sign on top of the door is covered, but a smaller one says, Coming soon, Pieces of Heaven Café. She’s three weeks from the grand opening—the second week of November. The woman is crazy to open a bakery and café restaurant right when the city is filled with tourists, and shoppers are out and about shopping for whatever winter holiday they celebrate. With the cold, they crave coffee, hot cocoa, tea and certainly the pastries. Even with her old staff and the new associates she hired, this is going to be a zoo.

  I push on the door; it’s unlocked and the first thing I spot are the stacked boxes of books. She plans to have a small indie library on the second story. The sofas, chairs and other comfortable spaces for everyone to stay and enjoy books with their drinks, sandwiches, soups and pastries are scheduled to arrive next week. Hayley is madly insane and crazily perfect. My only fear is that we won’t have time for each other until next year—if I’m lucky.

  We have taken our relationship back to basics, for now we talk daily on the phone and see each other during the weekends. Between my rehabilitation and Jake breathing down my neck, so I recover quickly, I have almost no time to be with her. Then there’s Hayley, who along with Parker have been managing my restaurants and to top it all off she’s been working hard to set up the café.

  I scan the place; there are a few landscape pieces of art, courtesy of Emma and pictures from different parts of the world. The bases for the menu screens are set above the back counter, where I guess the espresso machines will stand. The tables range between a modern, yet homelike atmosphere. There are displays, the future home of Pieces of Heaven shirts, mugs, aprons and other Heavenly Wear accessories.

  I pull out my phone and check the time, eleven. We agreed to meet at this time, but I don’t see her anywhere.

  “Anybody home, Muffin girl?”

  That’s when the swinging doors move, and she appears.

  “Oh, you’re here,” she dusts her face and clothes which have a coat of white powder—flour?

  “With that enthusiasm you make me want to visit more often,” I tell her setting my computer bag on top of a table. “What’s going on back there?”

  “I’m having crazy sex with a hot guy.” She winks at me; I groan. “What do you think I’m doing, Mitchel? The café’s kitchen is now fully functional. I’m finally baking at a decent place… not Dad’s old kitchen or at my apartment. If he hadn’t sold the place, I’d make him update that antiquity. Not that it matters, the new ovens here are my new love…” She smiles. “Ready to work, Mr. Knight?”

  “You only want to use me, slave driver,” I tell her. I’m here to decide the menus and details about the operation. She handles the sweet part; I’m in charge of the other side of the café—soups, salads and sandwiches. “Any ideas yet on what you want for the menu, other than… food.”

  She rolls her eyes, takes off her apron, picks up her satchel bag that’s on top of the counter and walks to where I stand.

  “Hi,” she says, scrunching her nose while standing on her tiptoes. “I missed you.”

  “Hi, Hay-Bear,” I give her a deeper kiss. “I can’t believe I see your brothers more often than I see you, what is wrong with that picture?”

  “You five have these nightly play dates and I’m not invited… because I count cards,” she arches an eyebrow. Parker and Ben join my brothers and I most nights for a game of poker, dominoes or just to hang out depending on the night. Sometimes my dad and Augustine join too. It’s like the families meshed already, except, Hay and I aren’t as involved, yet. We agreed to wait for the next step until the doctor hands me the clean bill of health. “Heard you won a few hands yesterday… until Jake caught you… marking cards. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You, my friend, are a cheater.”

  “Says the girl who counts cards.” I pick her up from the floor and as I’m about to take her to the kitchen for a little foreplay, she moves her head to the side and waves.

  “Hi, Daddy.”

  We need a bell.

  “Hello, Pumpkin, Mitchel,” his clear voice is loud and somehow there’s a warning interlaced with those words, I set her back on the floor and turn around. The guy glares at me. “How are you this morning, Hay-Bear? Mitchel… you’re too close to my child.”

  “Yes, sir,” I stare at Hayley who laughs at me.

  “Your mother called the office,” Augustine clears his throat. “She wants us to visit her tomorrow, for dinner.”

  “I’m working tomorrow,” she protests, crossing her arms. “No, I can’t, sorry. She refuses to go to counseling with me—claiming she’s not crazy, like me. If only she knew why I go to counseling…” Hayley sighs. “That’s not the point; I gave her my schedule, clearly she refuses to compromise and I bet she’ll eat a greasy burger while she serves me salad because a person of my complexion shouldn’t eat any other kind of food. Then she’ll talk about my single status and finally remind me that I’ll die alone because I didn’t get knocked up by Mitchel when I had the chance. No thank you.”

  The honest tone, relaxed posture and easy smile tell me she’s dealing with her mother’s strange attitude with a positive approach.

  “Are you going, Daddy?”

  “If you don’t go, no, I won’t,” his candid voice matches his soft eyes, ones he only has for his daughter. “We both know she’s inviting me to convince me to increase her alimony which I won’t. I should stop paying her; it’s not like I have a legal obligation.”

  “That’s up to you, Daddy,” she shrugs and I perceive that as a washing her hands position towards her parent’s relationship. “I’ll call her later to see if she’ll change the time or her mind about our relationship. Now let’s set aside Mom and talk food… I vote for my favorite, mac-n-cheese.”

  “Of course, you do, my mac-n-cheese monster,” I pull a chair for her to sit on it and then take a seat too. “So if I ask you on a date tomorrow is that a no?”

  “Find someone to cover my shift at Alexander’s, you’re the boss,” her eyes crinkle. “Then again, you’re scheduled to work at Frida’s; I gave the night off to your chef, and you were the only available person to take
over.”

  “You are off today, we can squeeze in something.” I had a plan for tomorrow, damn it.

  “Of course, after we finish in here…” the jesting tone reminds me that we won’t be able to do anything today, we have too many things to figure out. Damn it. Not only that, her father sits at the table and starts sharing his thoughts about the cafe.

  Great, we have a chaperone—her father.

  *

  “When you said that you had no idea what’s in your kitchen, did you mean the stuff growing inside those containers? The health department will shut your apartment down—no, the entire building—if they see these. What happened to my clean freak?” I want to grab a bag and throw everything away.

  “You have me working from dawn to dusk,” Hayley throws her head back and places her arm on top of her forehead. “No worker’s comp, salary or love.”

  “Oh, I love you, never doubt that part about me, nice drama—I might give you an Oscar for it,” I shake my head while wondering what we’re going to eat. “About the salary… We offered to pay you and Parker, and the two of you refused.”

  “Feed me,” her distraught tone follows a fake ill face, changing the compensation subject. “It’s been an eternity without the best food ever.”

  “Now you’re mocking me, that’s my job—to mock people,” I check the expiration date of the eggs, look at the cheddar cheese green at the edges and then the milk. “The milk expired two weeks ago… you need to call someone to dispose of your biological weapons.” When I open her cupboards, I notice that she only has cups, plates and some useless cans—what can I do with artichokes. “You don’t have any food staples, I mean you don’t cook but at least you used to have the basics.”

  Hayley shrugs.

  “Do you want Mexican or should I order a couple of meat cuts with some mashed and mac-n-cheese?”

  “The latter, I’m going to change into something more comfortable,” she forces out while yawning. I look at her and realize she’s wearing a long skirt, boots and a dressy sweater—cute. Not that it matters, I think she looks pretty any way she dresses. “On second thought, make one of my sides a salad… no potatoes.”