Page 64 of Once Upon a Beast

Nicodemus

After I left my father, I got in my car and just drove for a couple of hours. I had needed to clear my head, I needed to think about what he had said, and to decide what if anything I was going to do about it. It was only as the sun was setting that I broke from my thoughts and started to head back to the city.

Originally, I thought about just going home. I wanted to be alone, I wanted to have a stiff drink, I wanted to look at the name and number of the guy my father wanted me to talk to and see who he was. I needed to do something, anything. I wasn’t going to sit on the information my father gave me. It didn’t mean that I believed him but I needed answers.

I was still trying to comprehend that the man that I had seen was my father. He had aged so much, he had turned into a sad old man, but there were still some glimmers of who he had been. I could still see that his mind was there and that he hadn’t lost hope. It was the hope in his eyes that made me want to check out what he was saying. I wanted to believe that he wasn’t conning me but I couldn’t be completely sure.

This could be just another one of his cons. I had been duped by him once, I didn’t want it to happen again. But what if he was innocent? What if what he said was true about James? I didn’t want to believe that James would do that to my father or to me, but what if he had? He had been cagey the last couple of months. He had been pushing for us to do a project I thought was too risky. He had been worried about making sure our current project was complete as soon as possible. What if this was his way of trying to do to me what he did to my father.

I had to find out. For me, for Layla, for my father. My mind vacillated between him being guilty and I should have nothing to do with him, to thinking he was innocent and I needed to help him. The only way to know for sure was to talk to Garrett and look into this myself. It was too late to call him that night plus I needed to get my mind off it for a little while. I needed some normalcy and the only person who could give me that was Layla. When she had texted me that she was with her friends I knew I was going to join them.

It was sweet that she asked if I just wanted to go home. I liked that she called our place home. She had made it seem more like a home than it ever had before. I felt guilty I hadn’t told her about going to meet my father, but I was glad I didn’t. I wasn’t sure what I was going to tell her, but until I had anything concrete, I wasn’t going to worry her.

I walked into Henry’s and immediately spotted Layla and her friends off to one side. It was like my body and soul were searching for Layla and knew where she was even if I couldn’t see her. She turned as soon as I walked in as if she could sense my presence. Just seeing her made me feel better.

“Nice to see,” Ara said as I approached.

I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. I didn’t get a chance to contemplate it before Ella came over and pulled me into a hug. “Glad you could make it,” she said.

“Thanks for inviting me.” I nodded at Dax who reached out and shook my hand.

Layla waited patiently until I was done greeting everyone and stood in front of me. I opened my arms and she walked into them. I wrapped my arms tightly around her, holding her close. I inhaled her scent, I took her strength, and the moment to feel her next to me. She wrapped her arms tightly around me and lifted her head and whispered in my ear. “Are you okay?”

“I’m better now,” I replied. I didn’t know how she knew I was having a bad day. I didn’t care. It only reminded me of what an incredible woman she was and how much I loved her.

“We don’t have to stay. We can go,” she replied.

“No. I’m good. I want to stay.”

Layla leaned back and nodded at me. She moved so she was standing next to me and I put an affectionate arm around her shoulder. She leaned into me and put her hand on my chest. The server came by and we ordered a round of drinks. While we waited for them to arrive, I got filled in on Ella and Dax’s catering issues.

“Have you looked into talking to some restaurants? It sounds like you’re looking for something a bit traditional and yet unique. They might be able to give you more of what you’re looking for,” I said.

“That isn’t a bad idea,” Ella said and looked over at Dax.

“We do have some restaurants that we like going to,” Dax added.

“You don’t have to go to the restaurant for your reception but I’m sure they could cater it for you,” I said.

“I like it. I’ll make some calls,” Ella said

“And like that it will be taken care of,” Dax said.

Ella, Ara, and Layla bent their heads together to talk about restaurants.

“I hear your Riverwalk project is about to get started,” Dax said.

“Everything looks good. We hope to have the groundbreaking ceremony next week,” I said. I didn’t let the dread of James and the project come to the surface. I was with Layla and her friends and we were going to have a good time.

“I did some looking into you. You do good work. I wouldn’t mind picking your brain if you’d let me. I would be interested in seeing what other projects you have coming up. Maybe see if we could do something together,” Dax said.

“That would be wonderful. I’m always eager to work with new people. I’d be glad to meet you for lunch sometime. How does next week sound?” I asked.

Dax laughed and looked over at Ella. “For that you would have to check with Ella. I only look at my schedule the day of. She’s in charge of how it’s run.”

“From what I understand she does one hell of a job.”

“I have no idea how I lived my life without her and I don’t want to think about what it would be if she wasn’t.”