other. I told her it was.'
He stepped back. Of all the Canfields, Dani most trusted Katherine. Hearing that from her would make it all the more real.
'I know,' Katherine said, tears spilling down her cheeks. 'I know it was horrible and wrong and I have no excuse or explanation. I was hurt and I lashed out. I…' She turned away. 'I'm sorry.'
He didn't think he could have been more shocked if she'd told him she'd murdered someone. Katherine didn't act out of anger or impulse. She wasn't deliberately cruel. He would never have guessed her capable of hurting Dani… or him.
He didn't know what to think or say. While a part of him knew he had to find Dani and talk to her, explain the complexities that had conspired against them, the rest of him wrestled with the uncomfortable truth that his mother was not the saint he'd always believed.
'Alex?' Her voice was a whimper. 'I'm sorry.'
'I know,' he told her, knowing being sorry wasn't going to fix anything.
'This was a hard decision for me to make,' Dani said earnestly, wondering if knowing she felt guilty would help. 'You've been so great and I've loved working here. I really want to stay until you find someone else. I'm not leaving you short-staffed.'
Bernie shook his head. 'You're worrying too much. We'll be fine. I have family I can guilt into working here temporarily.' He grinned. 'I learned from the best.'
'I adore your mother,' she murmured, knowing she would miss hearing Mama Giuseppe's constant comments on everything from the weather to the state of the cannelloni.
'She adores you. I'll bet you won't miss hearing about how perfect I am.'
Dani sighed. 'If only you were a few years younger.'
He chuckled. 'Or you were older.' He put out his hand. 'Go with God, Dani. You're taking a job with family. That's always the right decision. Give me a couple of weeks to start looking, but no longer. You need to start on the next chapter of your life.'
'You're being a lot nicer than I deserve.'
He shrugged. 'I'm a nice guy.'
He was. Perfectly nice. Despite the age difference, she should have fallen for him instead of Alex. Bernie wouldn't cheat and lie and break her heart.
She forced her mind away from thoughts of Alex because thinking about him was too painful.
She shook hands with Bernie, then rose. 'You're a good man. Thank you for everything.'
He released her hand and pointed to the door. 'Now get out of here before I change my mind.'
She waved and left.
She would miss Bella Roma, but working at Buchanan's felt right. She was grateful she'd made up her mind before finding out the truth about Alex. She didn't have to worry that her decision was too much like giving up and running home.
A quick glance at her watch told her she had to leave right away or she would be late picking up Bailey for their shopping trip. She'd nearly made it to the back door when one of the wait-staff yelled for her.
'Phone call. A guy. Alex somebody?'
It was the first time she'd heard from him in four days. She hated that her first reaction was pleasure.
How bad did it have to get before she was willing to see him for the snake he was?
'Tell him I've already left,' she said.
'Will do.'
Dani grabbed her cell phone and turned it off. There was nothing Alex could say to her that she wanted to hear.
An hour and a half later, she was in an oversized dressing room with Bailey and laughing so hard she was afraid she was going to pee her pants.
'Stop!' she insisted, as Bailey danced like a chicken in a seriously ugly, yellow tulle gown. 'Stop, I swear, I'm too old. I'll collapse or something.'
'But it's so fluffy,' Bailey said, actually doing a fair imitation of the horrible salesclerk 'helping' them. 'And the yellow is so perfect for my hair.'
Dani blinked away tears and sank onto the floor. 'I give,' she said. 'This place is awful. We'll go to another store where they have pretty dresses.'
'But I want to be a chicken,' Bailey insisted, her eyes twinkling with humor.
'Sure you do. Oh, man, what was that woman thinking?'
She'd brought in four dresses, each worse than the one before. One had been marked down three times and Dani wasn't surprised. Who would buy it?
They'd been to other stores in the mall and nothing like this had happened. Was the salesclerk reacting to the fact that Bailey had Down's syndrome? Dani didn't want to think so, but she had a bad feeling that might be the problem.
She reminded herself that people like that were stupid and had their own problems. Dani wasn't going to sweat it. She would simply get Bailey out of here and they would go somewhere else.
Once Bailey was dressed and the awful gown was on the hanger, Dani led her out of the store.
'So, I'm thinking we need some fuel to help with our search,' Dani said. 'How about a snack?'
'Pretzels?' Bailey asked hopefully.
'Pretzels it is.'
They went to the Auntie Anne's stand and each got a pretzel with a drink, then sat on a bench and ate. Dani listened to Bailey talk about her school.
'I like reading better than math,' Bailey told her. 'Sometimes Alex comes over and helps me with my math. You know I'm in special classes, but I’m doing really well.'
'I'll bet you are. You study hard.'
'I do.' Bailey smiled and tucked a long, red curl behind her ear. 'I'm glad you're my sister. Mom explained about how we're sisters now.'
'I'm glad, too,' Dani said. 'I have three brothers, which means they're part of your family, too, right? Or are they. I can't keep it straight.'
'I can't, either.”
Bailey snuggled close and leaned her head on Dani's shoulder. 'You're nice. Fiona was never nice.' She looked at Dani and covered her mouth. 'I shouldn't say that.”
'It's okay. I won't tell anyone you did.'
'Good.' Bailey rested her head on her shoulder again. 'She said mean stuff to me. Not when Alex was around. Sometimes she scared me. But I didn't want to say anything.'
What a bitch, Dani thought, furious with the other woman. What on earth could Alex have seen in her? To think he knew she cheated on him and he went back to her.
Dani's stomach twisted at the thought. She wanted to tell herself to give him the benefit of the doubt-that there was a perfectly good explanation-but she couldn't. Not when Katherine had confirmed her worst fears. Once again her life was a nightmare.
Well, not all of it, she thought as she stroked Bailey's head. Having a new sister was nice. Today was nice. That was how she was going to get through the pain-one moment at a time.
They finished their pretzels and went into another store. Bailey found a pretty pale green dress that fit her perfectly. She turned back and forth in front of the mirror.
'I love it.'
'You look like a princess'
'Really?' Bailey beamed.
