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He propped his hands on his hips as he jutted his head forward. “You think working for him again will be different this time?”
“Maybe. Who can say? We’re different people these days. But I’m not in love with him. I’m not sure I ever was. Having Ari didn’t give me the chance to decide. I was caught, so I had to make it work—and I tried to make the best of it—even though you were there sabotaging me every step of the way.”
“I did nothing to sabotage your marriage!”
“You did everything,” she argued. “Just ask Jack.”
“I’m not going to ask Jack anything. He’s probably only trying to win you back to spite me—that’s why he offered you so much money.”
“He offered me so much money because I’m worth it,” she snapped. “And if I fall in love with Jack, maybe I will get back with him. From now on, I’m going to do what I think is right, okay? And I’m going to hope that spending a little less time with you will be good for me. I need more space.”
“Since when?” he countered. “The only time we ever have any trouble is when there’s a man in your life.”
“Because it somehow threatens you when I love someone else. You hate that you no longer have total control!”
“Are you listening to yourself?” he yelled. “What’s gotten into you?”
“I’ve been trying to tell you, but you won’t listen!”
“I’ve been good to you! Where do you think you would’ve gone after your divorce if it wasn’t for me?”
Patience stared at him.
“What?” he said when she didn’t respond.
Maybe her problems with her father were more her fault than she’d realized. She’d definitely leaned on him—too much, as she was finding out.
After taking a deep breath, she sighed. “I love you, Dad, but Ari and I can take care of ourselves from now on,” she said and, for the second time in as many days, walked out.
* * *
“I know you’re busy, so I hate to ask, but…would you have an hour or two this evening that you could help me move?”
Kanon had stopped spreading salt over the parking lot at the motel to take Patience’s call. It’d gotten so warm earlier in the day that the snow had started to melt, but the cooler temperatures setting in as evening approached were turning the runoff into ice. “You’re moving? Tonight? Where are you going?”
“My old English teacher and his wife have a mother-in-law’s quarters behind their house that’s been empty since Mr. Devlin lost his father almost two years ago. So I gave him a call to see if he’d be willing to rent it to me.”
“I don’t know Mr. Devlin…”
“He and his family moved to town my junior year. Their two kids are away at college, but he still teaches AP English at the high school, and Clara runs the small library in town—a volunteer position.”
“And you’re going to live behind their house?”
“Yep! He and his wife hadn’t really considered renting it out until I called. But after they talked it over, they got back to me to say they’d be happy to do it.”
She sounded excited, but it was easy to tell she was frightened, too. This was a big step for her. That was probably why she’d called him instead of someone else, he realized. She wanted emotional support as much or more than help with the move.
He didn’t mind providing both, but if he decided Hard Luck wasn’t for him long-term, he didn’t want to leave her in a position that was worse than the one he’d found her in, which made him a little nervous about this sudden change. “Is it going to be big enough for you and Ari?” he asked.
“I think so,” she replied. “It’s a two-bedroom, one bath with a tiny living room and kitchen. But I think we can make it work. They’re only charging me $800 a month, so at least it’s affordable.”
He was happy to hear she finally had a place of her own. Her father was so controlling, Kanon couldn’t imagine getting out and away from him wouldn’t be good for her. But why did it have to happen so soon? “Is there a reason you’re doing this tonight?” he asked. “Before Christmas?”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t elaborate, but he could tell by the flat note in her voice that all was not well. “Don’t tell me you and your father had another argument. I hope this one wasn’t because of me.”
“It was and it wasn’t,” she said. “Moving out has been a long time coming, regardless. I need to be free to live my own life, and I can’t do that with him constantly looking over my shoulder, trying to micromanage my every move.”
