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I frowned. I’d never felt so old before in my life. “Yes, there’s still a mall. Don’t you and your friends hang out there?”
She made a face. “No. We go to this coffee shop near our school.”
“Okay, well forget all about that. The twins and Milo are with their dads for the day and we get to go out. Out, Kendall. To the mall, which is totally cool and not a relic, at all.”
She shrugged. “Okay. Cool. We’re going to the mall. Can we take vintage pictures for my Insta?”
I nodded. “So many vintage Insta pics. Just meet me downstairs in the garage, okay? I’ve got to run to the bathroom before we go.”
“Is your stomach okay?” She frowned even as she stood up to grab her things. “You’ve been in the bathroom a lot this morning.”
I blushed and promised myself that I’d come up with a better lie if there ever was a next time. I had half of the Carrington family believing I had diarrhea. “I’m fine! See you down there!”
For my final trick, I was going to need a whole lot of luck. I ran down to the forbidden hall again and tried to barge into Joe’s office but it was locked. I bounced off the door and grunted.
“Jesus.” Rubbing my chest, I knocked with my other hand and pressed my face to the door. “Joe? Joey? I need your help. Joseph?”
The door swung open and an irritated looking Joe stood on the other side, already angry with me. Who even knew why. He gripped the door and tried to block me from slipping inside. “What do you want?”
I wedged myself between his body and the door and felt a flush of desire roll over me at the feel of his hard body. Ignoring it, I moved to the other side of the office so he couldn’t kick me out without it being an ordeal. “I have to tell you something that’s going to make you mad but I need you to just be quiet and listen. Okay?”
He slowly walked closer to me. “What?”
I swallowed my nerves and went for it. My final trick was telling the truth and hoping Joe didn’t ruin everything. There was no other way. “Kendall is waiting by the garage for me to drive her to the mall.”
“You’re not driving my daughter around in that piece-”
“I said to be quiet and listen, Joe.” I winced and gave him a weak smile before rushing on. “The thing is, Joe, Kendall misses you. She thinks you hate her. When she talks about you, she just sounds sad and it’s the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever seen. You need to go take your daughter to the mall. You need to spend some time with her and-”
“Are you fucking serious? You don’t know me or my daughter. You’ve been here a week and you think you’re-”
“I’m not going to fight with you. Your daughter is waiting to go to the mall and she’s going to be there waiting until you go to her. If it’s not you, it’s no one, Joe. I can’t take her to the mall because I locked your brother in a room with his twins and I left Milo with your other brother so I don’t feel great leaving. You know…in case of fires or something.”
Joe’s eyes bulged and he yanked his desk chair out of the way so he could slap away at his keyboard. We both saw the security footage pop up at the same time. First, it was Jud and Milo, aimlessly wandering around the second floor, probably looking for me and my bad shellfish. Next, it was Kendall standing by the door to the garage, her purse in her hands and an excited smile on her face. Finally, it was the game room, where Collin was still standing at the door and the twins were playing a board game while looking at their dad.
I smiled as Joe straightened and stared at me. It was a weak smile but I was trying my best. “The thing is, Joe, your daughter is sad. She needs you. Maybe this isn’t the traditional way someone would bring a dad together with his kid, but it’s all I’ve got. I had a really amazing dad and you’ve given these kids everything except that.”
“You think I’m a shitty parent? You have no clue what-”
“If it makes you feel any better, I think the same of your brothers.” I took a step away from him, in case he wanted to strangle me. “You can fire me later, Joe, but right now you need to go hang out with your daughter. Without your cell phone glued to your forehead.”
“Fuck you.” He spit the words at me so earnestly that I knew he truly meant them. “I’m going to take my daughter to the mall because you promised her something without any intention of delivering it. The moment I get back here, you’re done. I’d tell you to go pack your shit but instead, I need you to make sure you don’t kill my brothers and nephews. Watch the cameras. If anything goes wrong, you’re done, Ada.”
I looked down at my feet as his hatred brought tears to my eyes. I nodded and stepped out of his way, letting him pass by and leave me standing behind his desk while he slammed the door so hard it felt like the whole house shook. Blinking away those tears, I sank into his chair and flipped through the different cameras. I expected his anger and knew that my calling him a shitty dad deserved that anger. Still, it hurt. It was a good reminder of why I was there in the first place, though. The Carrington brothers weren’t great. They were the kinds of men who got waitresses fired and ruined lives without ever looking up from their phones.
I sat at Joe’s desk for hours, flipping through the cameras with my heart in my butt. I felt truly crappy until one time I flipped to the game room and saw Collin and the boys laughing at the game table together. I practically pressed my face to the computer screen and watched as the three of them played together. When I found Jud on the camera again he was holding Milo’s hand and carrying a bunch of paint supplies to Milo’s room. I stayed trained on them and watched as Jud set up paints and brushes on Milo’s floor. Milo climbed into his dad’s lap and together they started painting on the big piece of canvas Jud had laid down.
I watched the two men connect with their kids and felt myself bouncing back after the fight with Joe. Even if I was fired and he got to happily kick me out, I’d done something good. Maybe it was a fluke and wouldn’t last. Maybe it would. Either way, I’d give the kids a day with their dads.
Joe and Kendall didn’t get back until early evening and I could tell by Kendall’s tight-lipped expression that things hadn’t been as good for them. I watched on the camera as she hurried up to her room and Joe stared after her with a dark frown on his face. When he started walking my way, I felt my body go hot and cold all at once. I wondered what throwing up on him twice in two days would get me.
I flinched when he opened the door and got out of his seat right away. “Everyone is fine here. Now that you’re back I can go let Collin out.”
“You left them locked in that room all goddamn day? You didn’t think to feed them?!”
I felt fortified after seeing the other dads show up for their kids. Straightening my back and squaring my shoulders, I narrowed my eyes at Joe. “I left them with food and drinks in the room. I called David and had him take food to Jud and Milo. And I sat here all day long and watched to make sure they were all okay. They were, by the way. They had a great time with their kids.”
He stalked around the other side of his desk and flipped through the cameras. He saw the same thing I saw. His brothers were having a great time with their kids. He saw Kendall walking down the hallway to her room, wiping tears away.
