She nodded.
Punc slid another box aside, and found the bottom box was taped. He pulled his keys from his pocket and cut the tape. A variety of pastel colored water bottles sat inside. Except these weren’t bottles, they appeared to be Stanley cups that were hot ticket items over a year ago.
Savannah huffed out a humorless laugh and grabbed one of the cups. “Oh, yeah, this has to belong to Dad.”
“You don’t know that for sure, babe. Your parents were divorced. Why would this shit be stashed here?”
Her head tilted. “Dad lives in a trailer in a somewhat rough part of town. He doesn’t have the space to keep the boxes and definitely can’t keep them secure. I don’t know what all this might have cost, but if Mom got that loan for Dad…I could see this being the reason why.”
Punc narrowed an eye at her. “Do you really think he convinced your mom to take out a loan for tens of thousands so he could get boxes full of backpacks, water bottles, and the creepiest dolls I’ve seen, probably ever?”
She shot him a wan smile. “To be fair, thename brandversions of all of those products are the hottest items right now…well, except the cups. He’s a year or two late on that. Dad never was an early adopter.”
He shook his head. “What are you talking about? All of these things have name brands on them, Savannah.”
She chuckled. “Take a closer look. Stanley cups have their logo printed on them, but this logo says ‘Standard’.Obviously wrong. Same with the backpacks. I know Sprayglow isn’t the right name. I’m pretty sure it should be Sprayground. Dad is the epitome of Rita’s favorite old adage, ‘He knows just enough to be dangerous.’ He knew what was hot…he just didn’t have the exact brand names.”
“This is messed up, babe,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“That’s my family, Ted. Are you sure you want me to be your woman, now that all the cards are on the table?”
He swung an arm out at the boxes, knocking a Labubu doll to the floor. “This doesn’t reflect on you, baby. Until this afternoon, you didn’t have the first clue what the hell was in these boxes. Your dad’s a fuck-up. That’s on him, notyou.”
“But the debt is on me. And he’s still a criminal,” I said in a soft voice.
He widened his eyes. “That doesn’t reflect on you either. Hell, it impresses me to no end that you’re so much better than he’severbeen. You’re bustin’ your ass to cover this shit, andthat’swho you are. You do your damnedest to do the right thing. No offense, babe, but I don’t think Doug’s done the right thing in decades - if ever.”
She stared up at him. “Thanks, honey, but it doesn’t change that fact Dad has a way of dragging us Smythe girls down with him.”
Punc shook his head. “That shit stops now. He’s not dragging you down ever again. Not to doubt your instincts, babe, but it’s better to be certain about it.”
Her eyes widened and she nodded. “Yeah, and I’m gonna go call Dad right now. Let him know I’m clearing out Mom’s house and I found her dolls, her brand-new bags, and her extensivedrinkware collection, but I’m not into pastels. I’m pretty sure he’ll get the gist and finally call me back.”
“You do that. I’m gonna move the boxes inside and pull your car and my bike into the garage. Then we can take a shower together because I’m already drenched in sweat and it’s hotter than Satan’s asscrack out here.”
16
Want in on This
Punc
Savannah’sdaddidn’tanswerher call, but she left a message for him. To take her mind off things, he gave her two orgasms in the shower.
While they got dressed, he said, “You should ask Cat about the boxes.”
She pulled up a pair of lounge shorts. “I’d rather wait for Dad to return my call. I’m assuming Dad is involved, and my assumptions always get me into trouble.”
“I’d call it an educated guess, babe.”
She shrugged. “Maybe, but I also don’t want Cat to think less of Dad - especially on the off-chance that knock-off crap isn’t his.”
Almost an hour later, Catalina came home to pack an overnight bag, and he was slouched on the sofa with Savannah while watching a murder mystery series on Netflix.
“Hey, y’all! I can’t remember the last time there were two cars in our garage,” Catalina said.
“You can thank Ted for that,” Savannah muttered.
Catalina opened the fridge, and he heard her gasp. “Whoa! There’s a ton of food in here. What’s the occasion?”
