To Hold and to Heal (BWWM Interracial Romance) by Naomi Lecroy Page A

a bad way. And whenever that happened he always came home. And it would just get worse if he didn't get one. Much worse.
    She grabbed her phone and collected her keys before padding out of the bedroom. She passed her father in the hallway and tried to hold her breath. The smell of stale booze surrounding him made her almost ill. Pulling on her sneakers she quickly left the house.
                  The morning was bright and she wished she had sunglasses. The light hitting the white sidewalk was causing her to have a headache. Her steps were sluggish. She needed to get some sleep. Last night was hitting her hard. She let her mind wonder back to what had happened. Touching her lips at the memory of Alden's kiss.
                  She wanted to enjoy it, the idea of him wanting her. No one wanted her. Not with all of her problems. But then out of the blue there he was and he did. She pushed the doubt out of her mind.
    Just for today , she thought, just for today I want to keep something for myself.
                  She reached the bar and let herself in. Once inside she locked the door and took in the hazy darkness of the bar. The plate that they had half shared was still sitting on the bar. Walking over, she grabbed it and carried it into the kitchen. Washing it quickly, she dried it and put it away.
                  Yawning, she walked into the office and sat down on the cot in the back. On the office desk was the gift from Alden. She still hadn't opened it. Yawning widely again she laid down. She needed to rest just a few minutes. Her father could wait an hour. She wasn't going to last much longer without some sleep. She curled up on the cot in the quiet darkness of the bar.
                  There was a mosquito in her ear. She swatted at it and tried to roll over, but it kept buzzing, flying around her head. She opened her sleep crusted eyes, confused. Realizing it was her phone she answered without checking it.
                  “Hello?” she said, still half asleep, slowly remembering that she was in the bar.
                  “Did I wake you?” Alden's voice was full of concern.
                  “Yeah. . .” she said slowly, awareness coming back to her in bits and pieces.
                  “I'm sorry. I thought you would be awake by now.”
                  She pulled herself into a sitting position. “We're not all on military time,” she said, rubbing her eyes.
                  “Nice, it's three in the afternoon.”
                  She pulled the phone back from her ear and checked the time. “Fuck!”
                  “Nice! Is something wrong?”
                  “Uh, no. I just overslept. Can I call you back? I have to take care of something.” She didn't wait for his answer. She jumped up from the bed and grabbed an old knapsack from under the cot. She rushed out of the office completely forgetting about package from Alden.
                  She grabbed a bottle of liquor from behind the bar without looking at it and shoved it in the bag. She slipped out of the bar and hustled the eight blocks back to her the apartment.
                  She opened the door slowly. Slipping inside, she was immediately on edge. Her phone was in her bag, buzzing like a bee against her thigh. It was Alden. She knew without looking. But she didn't answer, couldn't answer. Not now. She had something more urgent to attend to.
                  “Dad?” she called out sheepishly.
                  There was a groan from the kitchen. She walked towards the back of the apartment to what was left of her once clean kitchen. Every dish had been broken, every pot pulled from the cabinets. And there, head down on the table was her father. She pulled the bottle out of her bag and placed it on the table next to him. He looked up at her and