“I was going to surprise you all,” Beck admitted. “I made reservations.”
The girls were excited to watch the horses through the window as they frolicked in the park with their riders.
“Can we go out on the balcony and see them?” Annie begged as the waitress came by to take our orders.
“Sure,” Beck said. “But tell me what you want to eat first.”
“I want all of it,” Annie replied, flipping through the menu.
“My sentiments exactly,” I said.
I’d had a hard morning, topped off with a dollop of confusion by Beck. I couldn’t process all the feelings without food.
“We’re definitely getting the peach-stuffed French toast,” I said, “and eggs Benedict because duh. Also crab cakes. And this giant cinnamon roll.”
I made a mental note to bake cinnamon buns later in the week.
“We also need an order of the smoked salmon and egg salad on a baguette. Also a giant pitcher of Bloody Marys and a pitcher of mimosas. Also hash browns. That should do it. Beck, what do you want?”
“I can’t have any of what you just listed?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no. That is my food. Girls, you want me to triple the order for you?”
They nodded then ran out to watch the horses.
Beck huffed a laugh.
“I just had a very stressful morning!” I protested.
“I’ll have an omelet.” He handed the waitress the menu.
“And he’s going to want the crab cakes,” I told the server. She gave me a thumbs-up and left to put in our order.
“I can just have some of the girls’ crab cakes. They aren’t going to eat that much.”
I snorted. “Two nights ago, Annie almost stabbed me with a fork when I tried to take one of the dumplings on her plate.”
Beck seemed suddenly sad. “Food was always scarce on the compound.” He ran a hand along the back of his neck. “My sisters were tasked with cooking, though they didn’t have much to work with. Our mothers were always pregnant or had just given birth. It was such a shit show. They were so young. My brothers and I would always try to help them, but then my father would find out and scream at us, and we’d all just scatter to avoid him and his violence.”
Beck looked so young then, the skin around his eyes tight with worry.
I reached out and ran two fingers over his brow. “But he’s in jail now, right?” I asked, trailing my fingers down to his jaw.
He turned his head slightly, his lips brushing my hand. “Thankfully. Hopefully he’ll be gone for a while.”
I slid his Bloody Mary over to him. “Drink that. It has bacon in it.”
He smiled softly then looked at me seriously. “I promised myself I’d do anything for them. I don’t want them to end up like Livy.”
“She didn’t come back with your other sisters?”
“No,” Beck said, mouth turned down. “Crawford thinks my father married her off.”
His face was anguished. I hugged him.
“We don’t know where she is. We can’t find her. She just disappeared.”
I rested his head against my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
