When she reached the front door, she tapped the toe of her shoeagainst it in lieu of knocking. “Dad.” Her fingers were numb, and her palmstingled under the constricting strips of plastic. She kicked again, harder thistime. The door swung open, and she turned sideways and slipped past her father.“I told you I was bringing your groceries today.”
“Sorry, Jacq. I must have fallen asleep in my chair.” He followedher into the kitchen.
“At noon?” She hefted the bags onto the counter and turned tostudy him. “Are you feeling okay?” His hair had been thinning for years, andthe comb-over she’d been trying to talk him into abandoning looked even moresparse than usual. He’d given up golf last year—or was it two yearsago—complaining of back pain, so maybe he’d lost some muscle mass since then,due to his increased inactivity. But other than that, he looked fine to her.Was he napping out of boredom? Six years ago, after her mother died, she’dencouraged him to meet up with his buddies at the VFW. He’d always been proudof his air-force service during Vietnam and enjoyed visiting with fellowveterans. But she couldn’t recall him mentioning them recently.
“I’m fine. Can’t an old man fall asleep in front of thetelevision in peace? Doesn’t matter what time it is. I don’t have anythingbetter to do.”
“I brought you that list of activities from the senior center.”She opened the refrigerator and began pulling out the expired food before sheput in the new supplies.
“Now, why would I want to go hang out with a bunch of cacklinghags?”
“You could make some friends. I’m sure you’d find some surly oldveterans like yourself there.”
“Very funny.”
“I got one of those rotisserie chickens you like. You should eatthat in the next couple of days. After that, there are plenty of your favoritefrozen dinners—”
“I’m not an invalid. If I want something different, I’ll go outand get it.” His tone was gruff but not angry as he left the kitchen.
She nodded, clenching her jaw against her protest, and continuedstowing the food. She’d started getting his groceries last winter when he’d hadpneumonia and had carried on even after he was well again. Though he readilyallowed her to continue shopping for him, he never liked for her to suggest hedepended on her to do it.
“I’ll be in Atlanta for the rest of the week. Do you needanything else before I go?” Travel had been an integral part of her career forwell over a decade now. As regional manager of human resources for a majornational shipping company, she traversed Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, andNorth Carolina regularly. Company-wide meetings forced her even farther awayseveral times a year. Next week she’d be at the divisional office in Atlantafor a quarterly meeting with her boss.
“If I think of anything, I’ll call Casey.”
“Dad, I’m here. You don’t need to call Casey.”
“You just said you’re going out of town.” He’d already settledback into his favorite chair by the time she returned to the living room. Hishand covered the television remote that rested on the arm of his chair, but theflat-screen hadn’t been turned on. She’d replaced his old tube television witha brand-name 55-inch LED model several years ago.
“I am, but—” She couldn’t argue. She wouldn’t be around thisweek. Before they’d split up, she’d always loved that her father and Casey wereclose, especially since Casey had lost both her parents only two years aftershe and Jacqueline met. But Jacqueline hated that sometimes it seemed Casey wascloser to her father than she was. She couldn’t really fault either of themsince she spent more than half the month out of town. So instead, she noddedstiffly and squeezed his shoulder as she headed for the door. “I’ll call you tonight.”
“Be safe.”
She waved a hand as she exited. He’d been calling out the samegood-bye since she first started driving away by herself at sixteen. With theexception of one minor car accident in her twenties, she’d managed to comply.
In the driveway, she slid behind the wheel of her car. She’dloaded her suitcase and her leather laptop bag in the trunk that morning. Bythe time she merged onto the interstate, just minutes later, her brain hadalready switched completely into work mode. She would arrive in Atlanta in timeto check in at the hotel and make her first meeting. But, for the sake ofefficiency, she would also be monitoring a conference call via her car’sintegrated Bluetooth feature while driving.
*
“Come on. Give me that smile that makes everyone melt.” Caseylooked through the viewfinder of her favorite Nikon and shook a rattle over herhead. The baby propped up in the fall-themed tableau giggled, and Casey firedoff a series of shots. She’d hoped to get some photos outside, but the day hadturned too cold for the baby, so she’d be doing the whole shoot in the studio.“There we go. Just a bit longer, little man. Okay, Mama, put him in his lastoutfit.” She adjusted a couple of settings on her camera as the child’s motherswept him up and carried him to a small loveseat against the wall behind Casey.“Sean, let’s get the next setup ready.”
“Sure thing, Mom.” Sean loped into the frame and began loadingthe decorations into a large plastic tote. He’d always loved hanging out in herhome studio. In fact, even from the time Casey and Jacqueline had taken him inat five years old, he’d been so fascinated with her cameras that she’d beenconvinced he would follow in her footsteps.
When, at ten years old, he’d declared that he wanted to be aveterinarian, she’d been certain that was just a childhood phase. Now, enteringhis second year as an animal-science major in preparation for veterinaryschool, he’d proved her wrong. Though their road hadn’t always been smooth, shecouldn’t be more proud of the caring young man he’d become.
Those first few months, fresh out of a nightmare of a fosterhome, he’d been timid and extremely distrustful. Slowly, Casey and Jacquelinehad won him over and soon found out he was warm and anxious to please. In theearly years, when Casey
