Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74225 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“Dad you don’t have to do that, especially since...” I started but stopped not wanting to bring up my dad losing his store and damage his pride.
“Especially since what? You can say it dear,” Dad said, standing up. Preppy knelt and helped a smiling Bo count his money.
“Especially since you LOST your business,” I said in a low voice.
Dad surprised me by laughing. Preppy picked up Bo and placed him on his shoulders, hanging onto his knees. Bo wrapped his little arms around Preppy’s head, covering his eyes with his hands. Preppy lifted them so he could exchange a knowing glance with my father.
“What’s going on here?” I asked. “What am I missing?”
“Your dad didn’t lose his store,” Preppy said.
“He didn’t?”
Dad shook his head. “Nope. I was bought out. Some big bookstore made me a more than fair offer and I jumped on it. They don’t even want to take it over, they just paid me to close up and get out of the way. Either way, now I’m debt free and my schedule has been cleared up to spend more time with my beautiful daughter and her new family.”
“And you knew about this?” I asked Preppy who was leaning to one side as far as he could without Bo falling off.
“Maybe?” he said, but it came out like a question. He set Bo down on the grass and the two of them took off across the yard, chasing one another through the small crowds of people who happily made way for the new father and son.
“Us boys. We chatted,” Dad said, slyly.
“When?” I asked.
“The day you came back from Logan’s Beach...and every other day since,” Dad said. He pointed to Preppy who caught Bo in his arms and was twirling him around, his feet barely missing King and Bear who jumped back and pretended to have been hit. “That Samuel. I don’t know what to make of him. Frankly I don’t understand half the shit that comes out of his mouth, but I know one thing and it’s the only thing that matters in my book.”
“What’s that?”
“That he loves you. He looks at you the same way I looked at your mom, but I didn’t need to see it to know it. I heard it in his voice long before that,” my dad said, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.
I wiped my eyes, sniffling.
“No more tears, kid,” my dad said with a laugh. “This is a time to celebrate!”
“Wait,” I said, realizing something. “So between their money and the money from the sale of Mirna’s house, you’ll be okay, then? At least for awhile I mean?”
My dad nodded and took a swig of his beer. “Kid, your old man will be set until Bo there is ready to go to college. And that’s just with the money from the store sale. I never touched the money you put in my account from Mirna’s house. I transferred it right back down here into an account in Bo’s name. You can use it for his college or whatever else he’ll need growing up. Trust me, kids are expensive,” he said with a smile. Dad gave my shoulder another squeeze. “I’m going to go find the little boys room.”
I watched him walk toward the house. I pulled at my imaginary sleeves. Preppy came up beside me and put his hands on his knees. He was out of breath from running around with Bo who was now happily chasing Max and Sammy around the yard.
I pressed my lips together, trying not to laugh. “I’m not out of breath, your out of breath,” he said, standing upright and pulling me against his chest. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and was off again, heading toward all three kids making monster noises.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Ray asked, sauntering over with one hand in her back pocket and a beer in the other.
“My dad, he never used the money from the sale of Mirna’s house,” I said, still not quite able to believe what he just told me. “The money, he put it in an account for Bo.”
“I know,” Ray said.
“I’m happy he did it, but I wish we would have known sooner. Wait, you know...”
“Yeah, I know,” she admitted. “Sooner when? Like before you sold the house?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, more confused than ever. “But oh well, I guess things happen for a reason. I mean, I can’t believe my dad got such a great offer on the store when it was failing so miserably. Whether they only paid him to close or not it seems odd that a company would pay so much money for a failing business.”
“It is odd, because it never happened.”
“Huh?”
Ray rocked back on her feet. My dad came out of the house and I officially introduced him to Ray. “Mr. Capulet, Dre was just telling me about the sale of your business, congratulations. Tell me, do you remember the name of the company that bought your store?” she asked, chewing on her lip.