Chapter 4

Autumn

I had just gotten off the phone with a client when Jonathan Blackwell came into the room with a big smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes for me.

“Good afternoon, Jonathan.” I hadn’t expected him to sit down, but then, he always made himself at home around me, especially since my divorce.

“Good afternoon, Autumn. I hope you don’t mind the intrusion, but I wanted to share the good news in person.”

“I appreciate that. What’s the good news?” I waited for him to tell me that the good news was that he’d made dinner reservations or gotten tickets to a play, which was his usual attempt at getting me to go out with him.

“Look for yourself.” He opened his briefcase and pulled out a short stack of papers which he slid across my desk.

I studied the numbers on the page and realized that the company was doing better than ever. Our numbers had increased in all the right places, while lowering where it mattered. “This is amazing! Has my father seen this?”

“Yeah, I just left his office. He’s very proud of you and your work, and I must say, I can’t blame him. You’ve done a fine job here, Autumn. You and your father together are a powerhouse team. You’re going to take this company to new heights.”

“I won’t tell him you said so. He seems to think that since he spent my childhood developing this company, he’s the master.”

“How about we go out and celebrate? I could make reservations at that little Italian place you love so much across town.”

“I appreciate it, but no, I can’t. I have to go and get Penelope from school.”

He leaned in closer to my desk. “I meant later tonight, of course. I mean, I think we’d have fun, and I’m sure you could find a sitter for your daughter.”

“It’s the weekend, Jonathan. I appreciate your offer, but I spend my Friday nights with my daughter.”

“Don’t you think its time you moved on? I mean, I know your husband was unfaithful, but you’ve been divorced for eight months now.” I thought it was funny that he kept count of the months.

“Has it been eight?” I pretended not to have noticed. “I thought I’ve been turning you down much longer than that.” I gave him a smile to let him know that I was teasing, yet not too big of one because I also needed him to know that I meant business.

“Princess, come on. I think it would be fun, and we’d have an amazing time.”

The fact that he called me Princess like my father had since I was born was not doing him any favors. “I’m sorry. I never mix business and pleasure. Besides, I’m not ready to date yet, and it has nothing to do with me not wanting to move on. Believe me. I have moved on, Jonathan.”

He got to his feet and gathered the papers which I had left lying on the desk in their stack. After slapping the ends on the desk, he put them back into his file. His lips pulled into a tight line, and for a moment, I thought he might actually have the nerve to say something to me.

Before he could walk away, my father opened the door and came into the room. “How’d you like that report?”

“I’m pretty proud, Father.”

“As am I. Thank you so much, Jonathan.”

“Sir.” Jonathan nodded and, with a stiff posture, left the room.

“What’s his problem?” Father watched as the accountant disappeared down the hall that wasn’t visible through the glass-front office.

“I shot him down for a celebratory dinner.”

“You should have taken him up on the offer. He’s a good man, makes a lot of money.”

“And he handles ours, which is why I’m not about to get involved with him.”

“It’s just dinner, Princess.”

“And that’s another thing. Would you please only call me that in private? You have called me that since I joined the company, and that fool just called me that.”

“I’ll try and remember, but I think you’re missing my point. It’s about time you get back out there and try to find a companion. Someone who would be good to Penelope and be a great asset to the company.”

“Are you suggesting I date someone based solely on what they can do for the company? Because I don’t think so. I’d like my future husband to be someone who is not tied to this company. No offense, but I’m not going to start bringing work home with me. It wouldn’t be fair to Pen, and it’s not good business.”

My father’s smile spread across his face, causing his cheeks to apple. “I’m glad that you’re thinking with your business brain. You’re probably right about Jonathan.”

“I know I’m right.”

“Well, I didn’t come in here to talk about your social standings anyway. I came to tell you I need you to work this weekend.”

“This weekend? I can’t. I have to take care of Penelope. Jason’s not helping, and he hasn’t been getting her on his scheduled visits or even asking about her for nearly a month now. My days of working weekends are over. I’m going to be there to show her at least one of her parents care.”

“She’s a very understanding child. But it wouldn’t hurt to hire someone to help out.” He folded his arms.

“The company will be fine until Monday. I’m not having someone else raise my child. I know you were content to miss out on everything I ever did in life, but I will not be that parent to my child.”

“You act as though I was never around, and look at us now. We see each other every day. I had to go out and work to make this happen. It didn’t just happen easily, either. I busted my ass for years and provided well for you and your mother.”

“You never provided yourself or your time. You stayed away to escape. You didn’t want a family. You didn’t come to my wedding or the hospital when Pen was born.”

“I’m not going to sit and listen to this. I’ll get someone else to do it. Send my love to Penelope.”

I wanted to tell him to tell her himself, but I laughed and shook my head instead. I didn’t want to fight. As he turned around, I grabbed my handbag from the bottom drawer and my briefcase.

“Where are you going?” he asked from the door.

“It’s Friday. I have to pick Penelope up from school.”

With a huff, he turned and stormed out, and I closed my window blinds before locking the door and pulling it closed.

As I walked out to my car, I couldn’t help but think about Jason and how he seemed to drop off the face of the earth. It could only mean one thing: he probably had a new girlfriend.

Our marriage had ended ugly, and even though I’d tried many times to give him chances, he continued to be unfaithful. I even blamed myself in the early years and thought he would change, but time and time again, he’d go out with his friends while I was busy studying. He’d even stayed out all night, and once, when my father had me go away with him on a business trip, he’d brought another woman home with him. I learned about it when I’d gotten a terrible case of food poisoning and arrived home early only to find her in my bed.

My pregnancy was stressful, and even though he’d appeared to be there for me, I wasn’t sure he had remained faithful during that time, either, or if he’d just changed his patterns. He had stopped being so blatant with his infidelity after Penelope was born, and I’d been a fool enough to try and stay to make a better home for my daughter.

While I was making that better life on my own, he was having an affair with another woman that had been ongoing for nearly a year.

I got in my car, and after leaving the garage, I made my way to the school where the pick-up line was horrendous. I thought of how many more years I had to do it and realized Penelope was only in the first grade.

The only thing that made me feel better was knowing the end of the school year was nearing daily. It had been a long one already.

As I slowly made my way around the loop, I tried to pick her out from the crowd, and sure enough, she was laughing with her best friend, Paisley. It was sweet seeing her with friends, and those two had been a match since the moment they met. I’d already arranged playdates, and Paisley’s parents were good people.

When I drove close enough for Penelope to see the car, she and Paisley waved and appeared to giggle, and then her teacher took her hand and helped her up, gathering her little backpack in the process.

Pulling around, I unlocked the car as they walked over. Mrs. Segura opened the door, and Penelope climbed into the car. “Here you go, honey.” She placed the backpack in the car and wished us a good day, just like every other day.

As she buckled in, she flashed me a smile. “It’s Friday, Mama!”

“Yes, it is. So, we better start thinking about how we want to spend our weekend.”

Her eyebrows rose, giving me a look of suspicion. “You don’t have to work?”

“Nope, not at all.” I smiled, trying to reassure her, but she turned her head and gave me another look that said she wasn’t buying it.

“Not even on the phone?” She folded her arms and pursed her lips, which made her look like my mother.

“Not even on the phone. I told your grandfather that I’m unavailable to him and that I am done with weekends.” I never wanted her to feel like I used to, and with her disbelief being so strong, it hurt that it was taking so much to convince her.

“Yay!” she cheered, raising her tiny fist into the air. “Can we go for ice cream?”

“Right now?”

“Now and later?”

“I think one trip to the ice cream shop per weekend is enough. We can do that, or we can go to the store, buy a big tub of ice cream—any kind you want—and then all the fixings for sundaes.”

“Can we make banana splits?” She clapped her hands and bounced in her seat.

“Sure, we can.”

“Can we watch a movie?”

“Any movie you want.” I thought a second as her eyes widened, but then I knew I needed to amend my words. “As long as it’s age appropriate.” She’d wanted to watch Suicide Squad for months, but I felt she was way too young.

“Aww, man. Okay.” The pouty face she made reminded me of her father, even though she was a tiny duplicate of me.

“We’ll have fun. And maybe we can go shopping tomorrow.”

“Can we go to the Sparkly Spa?” She was obsessed with the girl’s spa that I had taken her to for her birthday nearly a year before. I’d taken her at least six times since.

“I’ll have to think about that. You never want to leave.”

“We could see if Paisley can go.” She gave me that pleading look again, and I couldn’t help but laugh when she waggled her brows and made a silly face.

“Her parents might already have plans. But we’ll see. I’m not making any promises to you.” As much as I wanted to have the best weekend of our lives, I was also coming off of a long work week and hoped that I’d have a little time to myself as well.

“Do you think Daddy will call?”

The question caught me off guard. Jason hadn’t been calling regularly, and even though she’d called him every time he hadn’t shown up, he didn’t answer every time.

My heart hurt for her. I knew exactly what it felt like to have a father who didn’t want to be around. “We’ll see about that too, baby.”

She settled back into her seat and stared out the window. It was hard to watch her, knowing that Jason had let her down. As I had many times before, I vowed to myself that I never would.