I’m on my feet without realizing it. “Vince, no. He wouldn’t—”
“You don’t know that,” he cuts in. The pain in his voice knocks the air from my lungs. “Declan has every right to let me go. I’ve been unreliable lately.”
“What? How can you even say that? You’ve been there for every shift, no matter how shitty you feel. And you never go home early.”
“But I’m slow. Off my game.” He shakes his head again, glaring out the window. “Declan can’t have that. He still has a business to run. He must think he can’t rely on me if he’s forcing me to take time off. Especially on the weekend. Plus, he asked Jordan and River to step up last night too. Told them to watch the crowd instead of me. He knows that’s my job.”
Vince looks more defeated than I’ve ever seen him. Like the idea of losing his job is the final blow.
And it’s all my fault.
“I asked for it, okay?” I blurt. “It’s my fault, not his.”
Vince snaps his head toward me, expression hardening like glass. “What?”
“I asked him to give you the weekend off because I wanted—” I hesitate as Vince’s eyes narrow. “I thought you could use some time away. You know, get out of your head. Especially before your appointment. So I made plans for us to go somewhere.”
The silence that follows is thick. Heavy.
“You went behind my back to my boss?” he says.
“No. Not like that. I didn’t even mention the appointment.”
“He seemed to know about it!”
“Not by me, then. I swear. I just told him I wanted to take you somewhere this weekend and asked if it was possible.”
He doesn’t reply.
“I was trying to help, Vince.”
“By deciding things for me?”
“That’s not—”
“It is, though! You thought I couldn’t handle the stress, so you did something about it. Exactly like Declan.”
“No.”
Vince clenches his hands. “You know what? Just stop. Stop trying to do everything for me. I’m not an invalid.”
The words cut deep. I flinch. Vince has never shied away from my help before, and he’s never once acted like he thought I was judging him. Just the opposite.So, where is this even coming from?
“I know that,” I say, grabbing his arm as he walks by. “That’s not how I see you.”
He laughs without humor. “Don’t you, though? You must think I’m weak if I can’t even handle a job.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. This is not how I thought this would go. I’m stunned by his anger.
“Forget it.” Vince turns away, jaw tight. “I have things to do.”
“Vince!”
But he’s gone, closing the sliding glass door before I can stop it.
I stare after him, too stunned to even know what to do. I replay every second, every word, wondering how my surprise for him turned into something ugly.
Tears blur my vision. I thought he would be happy about this. Excited, even, to have some time away since we’ve never had a full weekend together. He’s had a rare Sunday off here or there, but never the entire weekend.
