“What’s wrong, Pop?” I answer.
He’s quiet for a minute, which sends my heart rate ratcheting through the roof.
“Dad?”
“I’m outside.”
I frown at that. “Outside, where?”
“I’m here. At the work site, man. Come to the car. We need to talk.”
“It’s cold,” I say. “Come inside my trailer. There’s heat in here.”
There’s a pause, then he says, “I’m on my way.”
Fuck.
I think somebody died.
Maybe not somebody close to him, because he doesn’t sound torn up, but definitely somebody close to me.
I pace for a good thirty seconds before the door opens and my father walks in, his jaw tight, his posture rigid.
“What happened?”
He points to my desk. “Have a seat.”
I exhale sharply as I round my desk and sink onto my chair, hoping he gets to it quick so I can stop anticipating the worst.
He takes the seat on the other side, then pulls out his phone.
“What is it?” I demand, my voice a little higher than I want it to be.
He shakes his head slowly. “I’ve tried my best to move past this, man. For your sake. For the family’s sake.”
“Pastwhat?”
He looks me dead in my eye. “Your wife.”
I sit back in my chair, my blood running cold. “What about her?”
“I didn’t even wanna say anything. The whole way over here, I was trying to rationalize this shit. Weighing the pros and cons.”
“Ofwhat?” I’m damn near begging at this point.
He raises his phone and turns the screen toward me. “She sent me this.”
What the fuck?
I recognize it immediately, but I wish I didn’t. I wish a whole lotta shit right now, but all I can manage to say over the voices in my head is, “When?”
“An hour or so ago.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
He puts the phone on the desk and slides it over to me. “You’ll notice there was no communication between us prior to this. I have no idea why she did it. I don’t know what was going through that crazy ass head of hers.”
“Aye, chill with that.”
