Unbroken SHIFTER'S HEART: EDITING IN PROGRESS

*16-The Moment we've all been waiting for...

I hanged up the phone and stared blindly at the wall across from my desk. Dumb founded, what the hell was going on?

 I had just gotten off the phone with my father’s bank manager. I looked down at the paper across my desk and frowned. How was this possible, how could my parents owe the bank money?

I kept up on my parent’s finances and I know my dad wouldn’t lie to me, so what was going on?

I stood up and walked around, thinking, I opened the window, it was extremely hot today and I wore a simple white dress that ended at mid thigh and was crisscrossed at my neck. It made me look young cute but that wasn’t why I wore it, I wore it because it was the first thing I saw and because Luke had informed me that Derek and Garret we coming and I threw this on and flew out the back door.

I cringed at the thought again. I have been avoiding both them and Colin since that day at my office. On the other hand, Chase and I had gotten closer. So close in fact that he asked me out on a date like a gentlemen.

I smiled at this thought, I was so excited, I hadn’t been out on a date in god knows how long, even when I was dating Colin; he was always too busy doing something, or rather someone. But I didn’t care anymore. I was determined to have a great time with Chase and hopefully bring him home after.

I gasped at that thought. I knew it was so unlike me to have one night stands but I didn’t care anymore, I was a single beautiful women who wasn’t tied down to anyone, and if my past relationships or rather lack of had taught me anything, it was to have fun at the moment, and not worry about anything else.

Aside from my father’s condition and me myself getting attacked and this Garret, Derek and now Colin situation, coming back home wasn’t so bad after all. And it was definitely looking up with Chase being around.

Everything was good until today, this morning when the bank called asking if I was making the payment now that my dad was no longer in charge. I was in a state of complete disbelief when the guy told me how much money my dad owed the bank and how they were behind on the payment. How could this be? Dad told me the restaurant was doing so well. Why would dad lie, he had no reason to. Maybe he was ashamed, but I know my own father, he wouldn’t do this.

A further look into my parent’s finances told me this had been going for far longer than I thought. Payments to the bank were not only late but missing, something fishy and funky was going on here.

I looked again at the employee record of Victor, he was in charge of the finances, yet when I called him no one answered. Where was he? It has been three weeks since my dad got attacked and I come back yet this guy, who my dad apparently trusted, was nowhere to be found. I stared into the slightly old scrounged up face and the cold looking blue eyes. There was something about this guy that just set me off. He looked just like any other middle aged man but I felt something when I looked into his eyes.

The presence of someone at the door jerked me out of my thoughts.  Garret stood there. I looked away and out the window, I really didn’t want to do this. Arguing with Derek and him was taking too much of my energy.

“You don’t have to look at me like that, I just came to apologize”. He said stepping into the room more. He wore a pair of low rising jeans that looked really good on him and a simple white shirt.

Startled I looked back at him, apologize?  Well this one was new. He flinched at my startled look, as if he was hurt that I was surprised by his news.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted that day in your office, in fact I’m really sorry for the way I have been acting ever since you came back. I know I been an overbearing jerk who kept coming onto you strong but I couldn’t help it I know you think I only care about who has you and you think I see you as a contest to win but I don’t,  Gracie, I can’t help my natural reaction to you. And I know you’re mad about what happened five years ago, trust me if I could change that, if I could go back and take it all back I would. But I can’t and there hasn’t been a day I haven’t regretted it, I know what I did was wrong, I know I could have done better ah… um.. I’m not really good at this kind of stuff but all I’m asking for is a chance Gracie.”