She absolutely would not lend her father money, but she indulged him anyway. “How much do you need?”
“Two,” he said simply, pretending to be interested in one of the books on the table.
“Two hundred?”
“Two thousand.”
Violet wouldn’t have been surprised if he had asked for two hundred thousand. The man had no shame whatsoever.
“What for?”
“I … uh…” He looked up at her, holding her gaze intently. That was a sure sign that a lie was about to come from his mouth. The man overdid eye contact when he was hoping to convince someone of something. “I need to get some work done to my truck. It’s not reliable. And I got the new job and all.”
“I thought your girlfriend bought you a new truck.”
“She did,” he said quickly, still staring intently.
“What kinda work does it need? You know Ethan’s a mechanic, right? He might be able to help you out.”
“No, no. I ain’t lookin’ for no handout from the Walkers.”
Violet snorted because that wasallHarold Anderson had ever looked for. After all, he married Daphne Walker because he’d been under the impression she was going to come into some money.
“Just lookin’ for a handout from your daughters, huh?”
“It’s not like that, Vi. You know it’s not.”
“I don’t have that kinda money, Dad,” she said with a sigh because arguing with him required too much time and patience. No matter how much she wished otherwise, Harold was never going to change.
He looked around the store as though assessing how much he could get for it.
“Even if I did, you know I wouldn’t give it to you,” she tacked on so he would know she considered the conversation over.
Violet peered back at the aisle where Simon was, wondering what he was thinking. Although she loved her father, she wasn’t proud of the things he’d done or the things he continued to do. Some thought Harold might mature with age, but so far, that dream had died painfully. He was still the same selfish guy he’d been when he met her mother, married her, got her pregnant, and started cheating on her. And yet, for whatever insane reason, Daphne let him keep coming back.
“I’ve got a customer, Dad. And I’m about to close up.”
His attention shifted to the cash drawer beneath the counter before he met her gaze again. “All right. Can you give your ol’ dad a hug, at least?”
She did, but only because it would get him to leave faster.
“Whenever your new boyfriend comes around, I’d like to meet him,” Harold said as she guided him toward the door. “I’ve gotta assess him, make sure he’s good enough for you.”
“Sure, Dad.”Yeah, right. Like you should be judging anyone.“One day.”
•••••
Simon was trying not to eavesdrop, butit was difficult when he was the only one in the store. It wasn’t an enormous place, so everything being said at the front carried to the back.
When her dad finally left, Simon came out of the aisle, moving slowly to the front, trying to gauge Violet’s mood.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” she told him as he approached.
Simon grinned. “What? That you’ve got a boyfriend?”
The crease in her forehead disappeared, and a smile curved her pretty mouth. “His word, not mine.”
He pulled her into him. “So I’m not your boyfriend?”
