THEA
“Be good.” I waggled my finger at Kona. “You keep an eye on these guys. No shenanigans. I’m locking the doggy door, which means you have to hold it. No peeing in the house. Alright? Everyone be good and I’ll bring you a treat. Or make you a treat. Let’s see how good you are. Oh, and please keep the barking to a minimum. We don’t want the asshole next door to have any excuse to call the police.”
The dogs barely looked at me. They’d had their breakfasts, pooped, and were now taking their after-breakfast naps. They lived a difficult life. I grabbed my purse, locked the door, and hopped in Rich’s car.
“Ready?” he asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” I muttered. “Have you talked to him at all?”
“No,” he answered. “I’ve left a couple of voicemails.”
“I guess I don’t feel bad. I thought he was just ignoring me.”
“Nope, he’s an equal opportunity ignorer,” he said.
“More like that bitch probably has his phone,” I shot back.
“No fighting,” he warned. “That does not solve this.”
“If she starts shit, I’m not going to let her simply walk away,” I said. “He deserves to be fought for.”
“But we don’t want to alienate him,” he said calmly. “We have to keep him close, or we will lose him for good.”
“Fine, but she better be quiet,” I said. “It would be better if she was just gone. Maybe she’ll run away. How much do you think it would take for her to run off?”
“More than we have,” he said.
“I should have married rich,” I joked. Then the joke wasn’t funny. Reese and I used to say we were going to get married. Then he did what he did. I was never with him for his money, but it would be nice to be comfortable.
The drive out to my dad’s house was in silence. We were both quiet, lost in our own thoughts. We had a lot on our minds. I couldn’t stop thinking about Reese and last night. I needed a whole day to reflect and evaluate my decision to sleep with him. The jury was still out on whether it was a right or wrong decision.
“Ready?” Rich asked.
“No,” I said. “Her car’s here. I guess we have to see her.”
“Just keep your eyes on the prize,” he lectured. “This is a necessary evil.”
“Evil is right,” I said.
We walked to the front door and that was when I noticed it. “Look,” I whispered.
“What?”
“The yard is clean. It’s been mowed. There aren’t any cobwebs on the overhang. Someone cleaned up.”
“It’s about time,” he said.
I rang the bell, excited to see my dad. If he cleaned up, that meant he was likely feeling better. Stacey answered the door. Her hair was piled on top of her head. She was wearing tight yoga pants and wedge heels. She was only wearing half the makeup she usually wore.
Her eyes looked me up and down before looking to Rich. “I didn’t know we were expecting you.”
“You weren’t,” Rich replied. “We’re here to see our father.”
“He’s packing up one of the bedrooms,” she said. The smile on her face wasn’t friendly. It was pure evil.
“Packing up?” Rich asked.
I didn’t wait for her to answer. I noticed the wall that was usually adorned with pictures of me and Rich when we were younger was empty. I pushed past her into the house. My stomach dropped. I thought I might actually be sick.