Just this once, I let my anger and emotion come in to play. “Tell Mr. Easton,” I say, putting emphasis on the Mr. Easton, “that clearly he has something more important than attending the celebratory dinner he planned for his wife, and she will see him when he gets home.”
I don’t wait for her to respond. Instead, I disconnect the phone and throw it back in my purse. I pick Jaime up and head toward my car. “Come on, kiddos… let’s go eat some burgers.”
Fuck Zach and his need to work. I’m heading out with at least two loves of my life who seem to like hanging with me. We’ll celebrate my new job. I’ll watch Jaime pick daintily at her fries while Cannon wolfs down his meal. We’ll talk about silly things, and I’ll try to forget for a moment how much I feel like a single mom much of the time.
Chapter 2
Zach
I pull the door shut to Jaime’s room, having done nothing more than stolen a quick peek at my little angel. She’s like me in so many ways, especially in the way she sleeps. Always on hyper alert, awakening to the slightest disruption in the atmosphere around her. It’s why when I get home late at night, I never risk stroking her hair or trying to slide a soft kiss on her head. She’ll come out of a dead sleep and won’t go back down until she’s had proper daddy time. And while this is generally not something I’m averse too, babies need their sleep, so I leave her alone.
Not so with Cannon. I just came out of his room where I sat on the edge of his little bed, put my hand on his chest, and felt the rise and fall of his breath. I then pulled the covers up and because he sleeps like the dead, I even tucked them under his chin. Even after I cracked my shin on the edge of his bed, which jarred his sleepy body, he didn’t even stir a bit.
Which is good, seeing as how my favorite curse word, “Fuck” slipped out.
I know I’m stalling as I make my way slowly to my room. I expect Moira’s going to be awake and waiting for me, pissed as all get out. Which is fine, because I’m pissed too, and while I hate fighting with my wife, I feel like this has been brewing for a while, so it might even be necessary.
This was not how I envisioned this evening ending when Lila knocked on my office door and told me that Moira wouldn’t be meeting me for dinner.
“She canceled?” I asked in astonishment as I tried to process what Lila was saying as she stood in the doorway to my office. I was trying to review a prospectus our attorneys had put together to give to potential investors. It was an absolute emergency because one of our financial gurus caught a major mistake in it, and it was due to be presented the following day to the Board. I had to look over the changes and give my seal of approval. Randall brought me on as the Vice President of Operations, but that was just one of my roles as I learned everything about Cannon’s from my godfather. Randall has my fingers in as many pies as I can muster, as he’s chomping at the bit to step into retirement and have me take the helm.
Lila nodded and added on, “She had me contact Mr. Cannon and advise him of the cancellation.”
Well, fuck. Just because I was going to be late didn’t mean she couldn’t have had dinner with Randall. She loves him as much as I do, and the kids totally adore their “Uncle” Randall. For fuck’s sake, we named Cannon after him and, as it is, Randall always gripes he never gets to spend enough time with the kids. It wouldn’t have killed Moira just to go.
“Did she say why she canceled?” I asked Lila hesitantly, even though I knew the answer. I guess I just wanted to know what she might have had the gall to tell my secretary.
Lila glanced down at the carpet, her hands clasped primly in front of her. When she looked back up at me, there was censure in her eyes. At first, I thought it was directed at me, but then I knew it wasn’t based on the cool sniff in her tone. “She felt your work was more important than your family. I tried to assure her, Zach, that this was an emergency.”
I leaned back in my chair and rubbed the bridge of my nose in frustration. Why in the hell would Moira even think that about me? We’ve talked about this time and time again—about my need to bust ass and pay my dues at Cannon’s. She’s been in support of this, and so I’m late to dinner once… okay, a few times… well, fuck… a lot of the time, still… she knows it’s not intentional. It’s for the greater good of our entire family.
And yet, there was a small fissure of guilt that seemed to be burning through me. I could have easily reviewed this prospectus after dinner, I suppose. It was well within my means to put this off for just a bit, but then I got caught up in the need to outshine everyone and figured Moira would understand.
Abruptly standing up from my desk, I grabbed the prospectus in one hand and my suit jacket from the back of my chair with the other. “Call Randall back. Tell him dinner’s back on; I’ll finish this up later tonight.”
“But,” Lila said softly. “I took the liberty of ordering you some dinner. It should be here soon.”