“I have. She won’t tell me.”
“Then butt out.”
Dalton tried to think of a way to get Ice to confide in him and drew a blank. Going back inside, he went to the guest room he had been using the last two days. He sat on the side of the bed and took his cell phone out. Scrolling through the names on his list, he found the number he was searching for.
Sending the text, he checked his emails as he waited for a reply. He had just finished when the reply came back. He had a couple of hours to get some more work done on the computer before meeting Penni. If Grace’s friend and boss didn’t know what was troubling his daughter, he was out of options. Neither Grace nor Ice were willing to discuss what was causing the turmoil in their marriage. Dax was just as concerned about her and was wrapping up all the loose ends on their movie before flying in Christmas Eve.
Forty-five minutes before meeting Penni, Dalton closed his computer and went into the living room.
“I’m going out for lunch. Can I get you something while I’m out?” he offered, seeing Ice texting on his phone.
“No thanks. I’ll be leaving myself in a few minutes. I have some errands I need to take care of.”
“I’ll see you this evening, then.”
Dalton shrugged his coat on before leaving, then strode to his rental car. Traffic was busy, and he was five minutes late after trying to find a parking spot. Penni was already sitting at the table in the restaurant that was a block away from where she and Grace worked.
“Sorry I’m late,” he apologized, taking a chair on the opposite side of the table from her. “I appreciate you meeting me.”
Penni was already sitting with a cup of tea in front of her. “Gives me an excuse to get out of the office. Don’t worry about being late. I have to admit I was so curious about why you wanted to meet me, I was early.”
Dalton had liked Penni from the first time Grace introduced them. She was friendly and made no pretense about saying whatever was on her mind.
After their waitress left, her curiosity couldn’t wait any longer. “So, are you going to tell me, or are you going to make me wait until lunch arrives?”
The perceptive blonde delved right into what had been behind his sudden desire to meet with her. Dalton could appreciate her candor; he didn’t want to waste time either.
“Do you know why Grace seems so unhappy?” he asked without preamble.
Her expression immediately closed down. “I was hoping you were going to ask me what Grace wants for Christmas. That I could have answered.”
“Why can’t you answer? Because you don’t know, or will it be betraying a confidence?”
“Because I can’t say for sure.”
“But you have your suspicions. You work with her every day. Surely, you have some idea?”
“Not from Grace. I just noticed she wasn’t talking as much and seemed to be constantly worried about something.”
“About what?”
“At first, I thought she and Ice were having problems with Ice being the president of the Predators and the line of work he does working security for a company in town.”
“But it wasn’t?”
“No.”
“What don’t you want to tell me? I can tell you’re holding something back. Anything you say will be between us, but you have a daughter. I can’t just sit back and not try to help.”
Penni waited until their food arrived and the waitress left before answering.
“Jackal thinks the problem is you.”
He wasn’t shocked or surprised. “Why?”
“Grace is having a hard time losing and missing her mother. When you disappear, it made it even worse. She kept asking Ice to find you, but he understood why you wanted some time on your own. Jackal and I think it created a conflict that their marriage is having trouble recovering from.”
“You’re the one who asked Lily to help Grace find me.”
“I am,” she admitted. “And I’m not sorry. If I hadn’t, Grace was going to file for divorce.”
“Damn.” Dalton didn’t touch his food. “I told Dax and Grace that I needed to get away. We were practically attached at the hip when Oceane was ill. I wanted Dax and Grace to get back to normal without me being in the way. Dax was just as bad; he stopped dating and hanging out with his friends.
“I knew it was hard on Ice with Grace gone that much, and her constantly flying back and forth to spend time with me didn’t stop after Oceane’s death. Dax was constantly flying back and forth too. I think they were both trying to fill the void their mother left behind.”
“They love you, both of them, very much,” Penni agreed, taking a bite of her sandwich wrap. “What are you going to do?”