Page 18 of The New York Nighthawks, Vol. 2
AVA
As I was refilling coffee for one of my regular customers, my cell vibrated in my apron.
Scanning the restaurant for my boss, I slumped my shoulders in relief when I looked at the food pass-through window and saw him working at the grill.
We weren’t allowed to use our phones at work unless we were on a break, but I needed to keep mine with me this morning because I was expecting the most important call of my life.
I hurried over to the coffee machine and put the pot on the burner before heading toward the bathroom. I yanked my cell from my apron pocket, a knot forming in my stomach when I saw my lawyer’s number on the screen. Ducking into a stall, I accepted the call. “Hello?”
“Good morning, Miss Cromwell.”
My fingers trembled as I locked the door behind me. “Do you have news?”
“Mr. Ellis is willing to let you see Cassidy and Daisy.”
Tears filled my eyes as I whispered, “He really said I could come see the girls?”
It had been two long months since I’d seen my nieces.
The only thing I’d been able to find out back then was that the girls had gone to someone in Carrie’s family.
I had wanted to go after them the minute I heard about her death—which thanks to my jerk of a brother wasn’t until an entire week later—but one of my coworkers had convinced me it was better to wait until I had all of my ducks in a row.
She’d warned me about how ugly custody battles could get and that hiring a great lawyer was the only way to win if things got bad.
Since she was newly divorced and had managed to get full custody of her kids, I figured she knew best.
“Yes, and with less resistance than I expected.” There was a rustling of paper in the background. “I’m hopeful that his quick acquiescence is an indication that he will be amenable to sharing custody with you.”
The tears spilled down my cheeks. “How soon can I see them?”
“When can you make the trip to Long Island?”
Sunday was my next day off. I had back-to-back shifts—dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow—and I was on the schedule for Friday and Saturday night.
Luckily, I had covered shifts for all of my coworkers over the past few months, so I had plenty of people to ask to do the same for me this weekend.
If I was going to make the two-hour drive out there, I figured that I might as well make the most of it.
I’d find a cheap motel, try to set up some interviews for jobs out there, and check out neighborhoods to figure out where I could find a relatively inexpensive apartment.
If I wanted to make the joint custody thing work, I needed to be closer to where they lived.
That was going to be tough to accomplish since Long Island was one of the most expensive places in the country, but if Carrie’s cousin didn’t make me go to court, then maybe I’d get some of my retainer back and could use that for a deposit.
“I can drive up right after my shift tomorrow.”
“I figured you’d say something like that. I’ll send you the address and follow-up with Mr. Ellis's attorney so he knows to expect you.”
Scraping together the thousands of dollars I’d needed to hire Mrs. Poole had taken a lot of overtime and cutting back on anything but the necessities, but she’d proven to be worth every single penny.
It had only taken her a day to discover the girls were with Carrie’s cousin in New York, and two more to get permission for me to see them.
“I’ll never be able to thank you enough. ”
“I’m just doing what you paid for, and very well at that.”
“Maybe but thank you anyway.”
“You can thank me by making my job easier. Be amicable to Mr. Ellis while you’re with the girls,” she urged. “Let him see how much you love your nieces. Show him that you’ll be an asset when it comes to caring for them.”
“I’ll do my best,” I promised before ending the call.
When I headed back into the dining room, I was relieved to see that my boss was still at the grill.
Although I’d only been gone for a few minutes at most, I hurried to check on my tables.
I couldn’t afford to lose my job. Not until I found one closer to the girls.
I powered through what felt like the longest shift ever, and then I found coworkers to cover me over the weekend. With that done, I headed home to pack since I wanted to leave straight from work.
I was so excited to see my nieces that I barely slept all night. I had to down a ton of coffee to make it through my shift. As soon as all of my final tables were cashed out, I changed out of my uniform and hit the road.
With traffic, it took me almost three hours to get to the address my lawyer had given me, but I felt as though I had driven to a whole new world with the sprawling estates lining the road.
My junker car stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the Rolls Royces and Aston Martins that passed me, and I was on the receiving end of a lot of suspicious looks.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if I was stopped by security before I made it to the house. It didn’t matter to me, though. I would happily suffer any embarrassment if it meant I got to see Daisy and Cassidy.
When the navigation app on my phone finally told me that I had arrived at my destination, I heaved a deep sigh of relief.
The driveway I turned into—with the gate already open for me—led to a house that was so big and fancy, it could have been used to film a movie or something.
Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I climbed out of my car and slammed the door shut behind me.
My knees shook as I walked up the steps, and my fingers trembled when I reached out to push the buzzer.
The bell’s chime lasted a while, and I was starting to worry that Carrie’s cousin had changed his mind about letting me see my nieces when the door finally swung open. My heart racing, I took a step back.
As I stared up at him, I tried to remember what Carrie had told me about her professional football player cousin.
She hadn’t mentioned Roan often, and the only thing I could remember her saying about him was that he’d done a men’s underwear campaign a few years ago.
The fight she and my brother had gotten into about it was pretty unforgettable.
He had mentioned how being an underwear model was the best way to pick up women if Roan was looking to score.
Carrie hadn’t been happy with my brother’s remark.
Probably because it had been pretty obvious that he would’ve used the ads as a way to pick up other women, even though they were in a relationship at the time.
Instead of calling him out for being a jerk, she had focused on how gross it was that women all over the world were drooling over her cousin’s half-naked photos.
Her fake gagging sounds had stopped me from asking to see the ad.
Which was probably a good thing because now I totally got it—I would’ve been one of those women who drooled over Roan if I’d seen the ad back then.
He was the hottest guy I’d met, and the only one to ever draw a physical response from me. I was hyper aware of my heartbeat, my body felt as though it was being flooded by heat, and my breath quickened. I’d finally found out what kind of man was my type, and I apparently had great taste.
Roan Ellis was six feet of male perfection with dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, a black tattoo on his broad chest, and six-pack abs that I wanted to trace with my tongue.
If he was going to be around while I spent time with the girls, I seriously hoped the man owned a shirt.
If not, I was going to have a heck of a time stopping myself from jumping him.