When Wishes Collide (23 page)

"Thanks, Josephine," Adrianna said. "I promise to visit more often."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

When Josephine had left, Adrianna looked over at Wyatt, noting the tense expression in his eyes. "Are you all right?"

"It's weird that such a small thing like tomato soup …" he couldn't finish the sentence.
 
"Never mind."

"Do you want to skip the food and go to the apartment building now?"

"It looks like the burgers are on their way," he said, tipping his head to the waitress moving in their direction. Let's eat first."

"Okay. You're going to love these burgers. Trust me."

"I do trust you. And not just about the burgers."

His warm, caring gaze wrapped around her heart. "I'm glad," she said softly as the waitress set down their food.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, they left the diner and walked three blocks to the Graceland Apartments, an aging apartment building of twenty-some units. "This looks like a dump," Wyatt muttered. "How could a rich girl like Jen want to live in a place like this?"

"I wonder why she didn't find a way to get money from her parents," Adrianna asked, as she stared up at the peeling paint and the metal sign dangling by one bolt.

He'd wondered about that, too. He'd always believed they'd found a way to help her. But maybe the money had run out. Or Jen had blown her parents' cash on drugs. "I've been watching their accounts for the last two years," he said to Adrianna. "It would have been difficult for them to move money without me being able to follow it."

As he finished speaking, it occurred to him that by keeping such a close eye on her parents, he might have forced Jen to live in places like this, not that he cared about her, but he'd put his daughter in the same position.

"It was probably because of my intense scrutiny that Jen and Stephanie had to live like this. I cut off the money supply."

"She had a choice. She could have surrendered. She could have put her child first. You didn't do any of this, Wyatt. It's all on Jennifer. But let's just see if she's here or has been here. If she's not, then we move on."

He liked Adrianna's take-charge attitude. He usually had an endless supply of energy when it came to searching for his daughter, but time was taking its toll, and some days it was more difficult to be optimistic than others.

Adrianna led the way into the office, a small room with a desk, some filing cabinets, and a TV hanging off the wall. It reminded him very much of the office at the Fantasy Inn. A skinny, pimply-faced male about twenty gave him a bored look.

"Yeah?" the kid asked.
 

"I'm looking for a woman named Carly," he said. "She has two little girls with her." He flashed his badge and pulled out the photos.

"They don't look familiar," the kid said vaguely.

A blast of fury ran through him. He wanted to reach across the desk and squeeze some better answers out of this kid. He was so damn tired of being given the run around. Adrianna must have sensed his frustration, because her hand was suddenly on his arm, her fingers digging into his skin.

"Where's the manager?" she asked.

"Kyle will be back in an hour."

"Then we'll wait," Wyatt said. "Or you can look on your computer and give me a list of tenants."

"I can't do that. It's private."

"I can get a search warrant," he threatened.

"Then get one," the kid said, obviously not unfamiliar with cops wanting information about tenants. "You'll have to wait outside. I'm locking up for a while."

The kid got to his feet, and they had no choice but to leave. The door was locked behind them.

He paced back and forth on the sidewalk as he considered his options.

"Can you really get a search warrant?" Adrianna asked.

"Probably not," he admitted.

"Maybe the manager will give you more information when he gets back."

"Maybe, but doubtful," he said, wishing he could recapture the feeling of hope he'd had earlier. "Every time I turn around I hit a brick wall. I have no idea if Jen is here now, or if she's ever been here. I could waste another hour waiting for someone who's going to tell me nothing."

"That's the risk, but you still have other clues, too," she pointed out. "We're much further ahead than we were yesterday."

"Are we?" he asked, thrusting a hand through his hair. "Sometimes I feel like I'm just running around in circles."

"Eventually Jen will make a mistake."
 

"I've been telling myself that for two years. She was smarter than I gave her credit for. I underestimated her." He took a breath. "I have to admit that part of me doesn't want to find them here, because I don't want to think my daughter has been living in this shithole."

"Don't think about that. Just focus on the reunion you're going to have."

Adrianna glanced down at her watch, and he suddenly realized the time.

"You're supposed to be at Vincenzo's now, aren't you?" he asked.

"This is more important," she said. "That can wait."

"No, you need to go to your meeting."

"I can do it tomorrow."

"You need to do it today." As much as he liked having her by his side, he didn't want to be the reason she lost her opportunity at a great job. "Take my car. I can cab it back."

"I'll take the bus. It's a quick ride from here. And who knows where your next clue will lead you?"

He couldn't argue with that, but he still wasn't going to put her on the bus. "Hang on a second," he said, taking out his phone. "I'll get you a cab."

"That wasn't necessary," she said, when he ended the call.

"The bus takes forever. A cab will be here in a few minutes."

"All right." She shifted her feet somewhat nervously. "I hope I can actually do this. Go inside Vincenzo's."

"When you walk in the door, don't look away from the spot where you saw Will," he advised. "Fear is like a bully. When you run, it likes to chase. When you look it in the eye, it backs down."

"I'll try to remember that. But I'm not sure I can do it."

"You can. I have faith in you." A moment later a cab pulled up, and he opened the door for her. "Good luck."

"Thanks. I'll call you later."

Adrianna felt like she had weights around her ankles as she got out of the cab and walked toward the front door of Vincenzo's. She kept reminding herself that she'd been inside the restaurant two days earlier, that she'd spent time in the office, and nothing bad had happened. But she hadn't looked at the floor. She'd been very careful not to do that. Did she have the courage to face her biggest fear today?

She hoped so. She felt stronger, more like herself again. Watching Wyatt search for his daughter, had given her new perspective. There was a whole world happening around her, and she needed to get back in it. She couldn't change the past. The men who had killed Will had already stolen enough from her; they weren't going to get the rest of her life.

Putting a firm hand on the handle, she opened the door and stepped across the threshold. It was that in between time where the restaurant emptied after lunch and the staff regrouped for dinner. The podium where the hostesses worked was empty. The bartender was at the far end of the bar, in discussion with one of the waitresses. There was no one around, no one to distract her from looking where she needed to look.

It was incredibly difficult to lower her gaze. Somehow she managed to do it. The floor had been redone, the carpet ripped up, the wood beneath sanded to a fine sheen. But she could still see Will lying there, the blood pooling under his head and running through the strands of his blond hair. There had been so much blood.

Her stomach rolled over as Will's image flashed through her head. He'd been on his back, his eyes wide open and shocked.

She drew in a shaky breath, trying not to run away from the memory. She needed to confront it. She could feel her blood rushing through her veins, her heart thudding against her chest. A montage of images passed in front of her eyes.

"Will," she whispered, seeing his face again, but this time his eyes weren't lifeless. They were smiling at her. That's the way she wanted to remember him – not as that quiet, still, shocked figure but as the man who had made her laugh, who had forced her to take life less seriously, who had loved her … even when she hadn't loved him back.

As she stared at the floor, Will's body faded away and all she saw was the wood – beautiful, shiny, dark wood. She'd chased away the bully.

When she lifted her gaze, she could finally see the rest of the room for what it was – a warm, welcoming dining room, where people came to share a meal, to converse, to enjoy themselves.

Her feet moved without conscious thought. She was vaguely aware of some of the servers saying hello, but her gaze was now fixed on the kitchen door.

She moved through the door, trying not to think about what she was doing. The quiet of the dining room was sharply contrasted with the bustling prep of dinner service. She saw Lindsay first, then Roberto, Cameron, and Jeannie. They were doing what they always did, chopping, slicing, broiling, sautéing … One after the other looked up, until they were all staring at her, and a hush descended on the room.

Her gaze caught on a spill on the counter. She frowned. "That needs to be cleaned up," she said.

Jeannie, one of the salad chefs, rushed to do her bidding. "Sorry, Chef," she said.

The title resonated down deep. She'd worked long and hard to become a chef. She'd earned it. And she wasn't giving it up.

"Welcome back, Chef," Lindsay said with a broad smile and eyes that looked suspiciously moist.

The others followed suit with welcoming greetings. These people were her family, and this was her home. Why the hell had she ever been scared to come back to the place where she belonged?
 

"Adrianna?" Stephan said from behind her.

She whirled around to see the question and hope in his eyes. "I'd like to accept your job offer," she said.
 
 

Pleasure filled his gaze. "I am so happy to hear that. Are you starting now?"

She laughed. "No, I'll start Monday. I need to wrap up a few things. But I am coming back. I've missed this place."

"And we have missed you. Monday is good." He stepped forward to hug her. "I'm very happy with your decision. And our customers will be excited, too."

"I'm sorry I took so long, Stephan."

He grabbed hold of her hands and squeezed. "You suffered a loss. We all did. But together we move forward. We're family."

"Yes, we are family."
 
She drew in a deep breath and then turned to the kitchen staff. "Before I leave, I have some ideas to share with you regarding the dishes I tasted the other night. So gather around."

Two hours later with new sauces underway and dinner prep almost finished, Adrianna said her goodbyes. Instead of leaving through the back door as many of the staff did, she made her way through the front of the restaurant one more time. The dining room was filling up now. There were families, and singles, and couples in love. Everyone was looking forward to a lovely dinner, an evening out, a break from their lives, and that's the way it was supposed to be.
 

Lindsay followed her out the door and onto the sidewalk. "I'm incredibly thrilled you're coming back to work. The food tonight is already going to be ten times better. I don't know how we got so far off track."

"I'm not sure Roberto will be happy that I'm taking over his position."

"Roberto was drowning in a job he wasn't qualified for. He might not admit it, but he knew it. We all did. So what changed your mind – or should I say who?"

"It was just time," Adrianna said.

"And the hot cop had nothing to do with it?"

"He did give me some good advice."

"Where is he anyway? You two have been attached at the hip the last few days."

"He's taking care of some business. I actually didn't realize I'd stayed so long," she said, realizing it was almost six. She pulled out her cell phone. There were no messages.

"Something wrong?" Lindsay asked.

"Just wondering why Wyatt hasn't called me. I thought he might have more news by now."

"Any more sightings of his daughter?"

"No, and Ben took off earlier, so I don't know where he is either."

"You're getting really involved with this guy and his problems."

"He needs my help."

"And what do you need?"

"To help him," she said, deliberately avoiding the question in Lindsay's eyes.

"Come on, Adrianna. Wyatt is a very attractive man, and I can totally see why you're hot for him, but he seems to have a lot on the line with his daughter and his ex-wife, and I don't want you to get caught up in his problems. You've had enough darkness in your life, and you're just coming out of it. I don't want to see you dragged down. You should have some fun, so maybe a guy who isn't so intense is a better choice right now."