The waitress brought their food and gingerly placed it on the table.
"He owns a shop in the mall where my shop is…" Mia slowly began to explain. She figured that if she didn't tell her father about Jayden, he would make good on his threat and pay Nita a visit. That would be just too embarrassing for her.
* * * * * * * *
Mia and her father made their way out of the family diner and were heading for their car when abruptly a spectacle caught her eye making her stop in midstride.
"What's the matter?"
"That elderly gentleman… over there" she pointed to a man dressed in a blue jogging suit stuck in the middle of a busy intersection trying to cross the street.
"I'll be right back…" she said as she took off running out of the parking lot heading for the intersection. Skip watched with concern as his daughter cautiously held up her hands getting the oncoming traffic to slow down and stop for her. She then jogged across the street making it safely to the median to Mr. Ellis.
"Mr. Ellis…" She called out his name and he looked up.
"You know me?" He asked in his confused manner.
"Yes, I'm a friend of your son."
"You know Markus?" His face lit up at hearing that someone knew his son. Mia didn't know whether to say yes or no to him considering his mental state.
"Come with me and I'll take you to him." She gently explained to him, and he more than willingly took her hand and walked back with her across the street to the car.
"Who is this?" Her father asked after she had gotten Mr. Ellis into the backseat of the car.
"His father."
"Good, I get to meet the Duke firsthand… Where are we going?" Mia couldn't help but rolling her eyes at her father's words. She knew she had told him that Jayden owned a shop in the same mall that her shop was. She knew that this was his way of testing to see if she knew where his house was.
* * * * * * * *
"Now you promise not a word." Mia reminded her father as they parked the car in the lot.
"I'm just a friend." He told her rehashing their agreement of him not revealing what his relationship was with Mia.
"Daddy!"
"What?" Her father asked innocently with a mischievous grin on his face.
"You know what… Don't be giving him the evil eye and stuff." She pouted.