Free Crossing Hathaway by Jocelyn Adams

over tonight, Evangeline. We’ll sit down and have a family talk so he can tell you himself.”
    “Not gonna happen, Mom. Look, I’m sorry you’re stuck in the middle of this, but I’m done letting him hurt me. He’s never been a father to me, you know that, but please know I don’t blame you for anything.” I massaged my temple, though the sudden ache grew closer to my heart. “I have to stay away for a while. If you’d like to come to my place, or meet me somewhere for supper some night, I’d love to see you.”
    Silence. Hiccupping sobs.
    When I realized why, a thorny ball of dread thudded to the bottom of my empty stomach. “He won’t let you see me unless I come to the house, will he?”
    “He’s a stubborn man, sweetheart. I’ve tried to talk to him, but he won’t listen.”
    I wiped away my tears. “So he’s using you to blackmail me, is that it? I can’t see my own mom without enduring him?”
    “I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately.”
    “This has been going on my entire life, Mom. You have to know that.”
    “Will you at least think about it, coming to see me some night?”
    “Yeah, I’ll think about it. ’Bye, Mom.”
    “I love you, sweetheart. He does too, even if he can’t say it.”
    I ended the call and pounded my palm on the desk. No, he didn’t love me and he never would. Fucking bastard! How dare he put Mom through this?
    “You okay?” Jeremy’s voice came in a whisper behind me.
    I scrubbed tears from my face, willed myself into something resembling composed, and nodded. “Yeah.” Head held high, I stood and picked up my toolkit. “What’s on the work list for this afternoon?”

    * * * *

    Tuesday morning I arrived at work early in case Mr. Hathaway intended to call me up to his office. Although apprehension coiled around my bones at seeing him again, nervous butterflies had a party in my abdomen about it too. Tossing away the ridiculous notion that I was attracted to the arrogant wonder, I hung up my coat and fired up my laptop.
    “Is that you, Eva?” Cameron shouted from his office.
    I had a moment of brain freeze before I stood and walked to his door. “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t back until tomorrow?” My heart fell, but I held my reaction inside. It was stupid, anyway, wanting to see Mr. Hathaway again.
    Cam grinned, one full of contented joy. “I thought I’d let you off the hook early.”
    I hesitated a moment before withdrawing Mr. Hathaway’s iPhone from my pocket and setting it on Cam’s desk. “That was nice of you, but I was doing okay. I’ll tell you everything once you’re settled in and caught up. How’s the baby?”
    “An eating, crying, poop factory, but wonderful.” Cam beamed and flashed a picture of the little guy in a frame on his desk. “Oh, before I forget.” He handed me a red iPhone. “Mr. Hathaway said you left this in his office yesterday.”
    I turned the phone over in my hand. “This isn’t mine.” After I said it, I wondered if I should have. Did Mr. Hathaway mean for me to have it? My heart did a little skip-to-my-Lou as I considered the implications of that. No, even if he did want me to keep working for him, it was wrong. I needed to go back to my job and forget I’d ever met him. “No worries. I’ll return it to him right now.”

    Chapter 7

    I approached Mr. Hathaway’s office and caught Brent unloading a Grindhouse bag at his desk. “Hey, Brent.”
    He peered at me through a fringe of blond hair. His face lit up with a grin, and he raced toward me in his white linen pants and red silk shirt. I braced myself when he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed. “Girl, I don’t care what you’re doing in there with Mr. H., but please, for the love of God, don’t stop.”
    My forehead wrinkled. I pushed him away, not the touchy feely sort at the best of times. “I’m not doing anything with Mr. Hathaway other than working.”
    Brent dismissed me with a flick of his