Yours Completely(72)

I almost smiled. “Chad.”

“Done. He's a dead man,” Dad announced. When I didn't respond, he leaned forward, his glasses catching the last of the day's light. “What happened? You two have a fight?”

“I caught him cheating.” The words were fire in my mouth. Each one burned just a little bit more.

Dad stayed silent for a moment before leaving the chair to join me on the floor. “I'm sorry, Ava. I really am.” I could tell he was fighting the impulse to go bury Chad.

“It was with Charity.”

“The waitress?” He frowned, tightening his fists and looking dangerous. Then he just looked tired. “That explains why he always insisted we eat there. I hate that restaurant. They never put enough salt on the fries.”

“I can't believe I was so stupid...”

“No, no, Ava,” Dad scolded me gently. He put his arm around me. I felt a little bit better. At least I had one man in my life I could depend on. “He's the stupid one. I can't say that I ever particularly liked him, but I knew how you felt about him. I'll fire him first thing in the morning.”

“You can't, Dad,” I informed him. I wished to heaven he could. I wanted that son-of-a-bitch as far away from me as possible. I groaned. I was going to have to see him at work. “He hasn't done anything wrong as far as his job goes.”

“I'll ask your aunt. Heaven knows she can find fault in anything,” Dad offered. He gave me a squeeze.

“She won't do it,” I told him, wishing he could just squeeze the ache out of me. “He's her best auctioneer. Especially with the job coming up, she won't do it.”

Dad sighed. He knew I was right. Up until now, Chad and I had been the perfect couple to take over the business when Dad and Aunt Jenny retired. Not any more. Everything I had planned on was now gone. I had no idea what was going to happen next.

“So, I'm not allowed to commit murder, and you won't let me fire him...” Dad mused, trying to make me smile. “Can I at least demote him to a crappy desk?”

I gave my best approximation of a laugh. “The smallest one. Away from the window.”

“Done,” Dad promised. I sniffled and he wrapped his other arm around me. “I wish I could make you feel better. I hate seeing you upset.”

“I'm still tempted on letting you murder him,” I replied. He chuckled and I rested my head against his big chest. “It's not fair, Dad. I had such good news and now it's all ruined.”

“You can tell me the good news,” he offered.

I fiddled with a strand of hair, playing with the dark red tress like a toy. Dad had once claimed the same shade, but now his was a distinguished silver. I sighed. Maybe telling Dad the good news would make me feel better, or at least distract me from the soul crushing betrayal that had me pinned to the floor.

“I got a phone call at the office today,” I started. Dad nodded. He and his sister were the proud owners of Fairchild Auctions and Appraisals. Dad and I did all the appraisals while my aunt handled the auction side. “It was from Sebastian Belrose's assistant.”

“Sebastian Belrose? One of the guys who run the Kindling Romance dating website?” Dad asked, sounding a little awestruck.

“Yeah,” I answered. “How do you know who he is?”

“Just because I deal in antiques doesn't mean I don't know what is going on in the modern world,” he justified. “I actually saw his name in the financial section of the paper this morning. What did he want?”

I wiped at my nose. This was good news, not news that I should cry about. “He wants to hire us.”

Dad's eyes went wide with excitement. “That's fantastic!” Then he remembered why I was sitting on the floor crying and tamped his enthusiasm down a little. “And you went to go tell Chad?”

I nodded, a fresh wave of tears rolling down my face. “I was going to tell him that Mr. Belrose hired us to appraise his mansion in the Caribbean and to put it up for auction. It's the biggest job we've ever gotten,” I said, still sobbing.

“Oh, sweetie, that's great” Dad whispered, hugging me close. “When does he want us to go?”

“Dad!” I wailed.

“Sorry, sorry,” he quickly apologized. “You breaking up with your boyfriend takes precedence. Sorry.”

He let me sob for awhile, just holding me and letting me get it out of my system. I knew he hated it when I cried, but I couldn't stop. I hadn't been enough for Chad and it made even my bones hurt.

“You going to be okay?” Dad asked when I finally stopped gasping for air. He brushed the hair out of my face and looked me over, checking my face for cracks like I was a valuable vase someone had dropped.