gone or when you’d be back.” He hesitated and the tone of his voice when he continued twisted my heart into knots. “I asked him to have you call me. When I didn’t hear from you…Well, I just thought maybe you didn’t want to hear from me.”
I shook my head, disgusted with myself. My behavior over the past year had made it far too easy for him to come to that conclusion. “No, Dad. That’s not it. Things have been kind of crazy.”
“Are you okay?” he instantly demanded.
“I am,” I assured him. Now . “So, um, what all did Jason say?”
“Not much. He just said that you’d gone out and that he wasn’t sure when you’d be back. But you’re saying you left him?” He sounded slightly skeptical. “Because he didn’t give me that impression at all. Why didn’t he just tell me you were with Claire? And why does he have your phone?”
“Things with Jason and I haven’t been good for a while. I needed a change. I forgot my phone. I didn’t tell him I was moving to Grafton.”
I was met with a prolonged silence. I knew he was listening to everything I didn’t say.
When he spoke again, his voice was cautious. “He doesn’t know you’re there?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m not sure why he’d be answering my phone.” I realized then that might not be entirely true. He was likely hoping to get information from whoever was calling. I decided to elaborate. “I thought a clean break would be best.”
He sighed and I had the feeling he wanted to say more but didn’t dare. A few years ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated in telling me exactly what he thought. It twisted my heart up painfully to realize that he no longer felt comfortable doing something that had always come naturally to him.
Instead, he simply said, “I hope that a part of that change is seeing more of your old man.”
“It will be,” I assured him. “Claire and I have been talking about making a visit to Cleary soon.”
I could almost hear the smile in his voice. “I’d like that Zoey.”
It felt good, finally, to make my dad smile.
“I got a job, too,” I said, not admitting that Claire and I had a rather unorthodox agreement in place. While it was new, it was currently working well for both of us.
“You did?” he asked. “Good for you! What are you doing?”
“I’m working with Claire.”
“She owns that flower shop, don’t she?” he asked.
“She does. Mostly I’m doing bookwork right now. Her financial records were a mess. But now I’ve gotten them pretty cleaned up so I’ve started helping with other things. I run with the deliveries and lately I’ve been taking some orders.” I laughed. “She won’t let me touch the flowers and I won’t complain about that. She’s the one with the real artistic talent. But we’ve just started talking about a new mark eting plan. She’d really like for me to get a website up and running. I’ve had a few ideas about that, mostly just different gifts that can be purchased in addition to floral arrangements. I’m really excited to get started on that,” I admitted.
I’d started looking through some of her supply catalogs. I’d started tracking items I thought would be popular online, items that would nicely complement floral arrangements for every event imaginable. I was anxious to get started on the website but she hadn’t been joking. Summer was a busy time. Even so, I had an appointment scheduled for the following week with a computer programmer.
Dad chuckled. “You sound excited. I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that things are falling into place. Claire, she’s always been such a sweet girl. You two are a good pair. I’m glad she was able to take you on.”
“Well, that’s part of the reason I haven’t been able to make it back to town. The problem is that right now is her busy season. Most Saturdays are especially crazy. She’s closed on Sundays though, so I was thinking maybe pretty soon I could make a quick, day
I shook my head, disgusted with myself. My behavior over the past year had made it far too easy for him to come to that conclusion. “No, Dad. That’s not it. Things have been kind of crazy.”
“Are you okay?” he instantly demanded.
“I am,” I assured him. Now . “So, um, what all did Jason say?”
“Not much. He just said that you’d gone out and that he wasn’t sure when you’d be back. But you’re saying you left him?” He sounded slightly skeptical. “Because he didn’t give me that impression at all. Why didn’t he just tell me you were with Claire? And why does he have your phone?”
“Things with Jason and I haven’t been good for a while. I needed a change. I forgot my phone. I didn’t tell him I was moving to Grafton.”
I was met with a prolonged silence. I knew he was listening to everything I didn’t say.
When he spoke again, his voice was cautious. “He doesn’t know you’re there?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m not sure why he’d be answering my phone.” I realized then that might not be entirely true. He was likely hoping to get information from whoever was calling. I decided to elaborate. “I thought a clean break would be best.”
He sighed and I had the feeling he wanted to say more but didn’t dare. A few years ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated in telling me exactly what he thought. It twisted my heart up painfully to realize that he no longer felt comfortable doing something that had always come naturally to him.
Instead, he simply said, “I hope that a part of that change is seeing more of your old man.”
“It will be,” I assured him. “Claire and I have been talking about making a visit to Cleary soon.”
I could almost hear the smile in his voice. “I’d like that Zoey.”
It felt good, finally, to make my dad smile.
“I got a job, too,” I said, not admitting that Claire and I had a rather unorthodox agreement in place. While it was new, it was currently working well for both of us.
“You did?” he asked. “Good for you! What are you doing?”
“I’m working with Claire.”
“She owns that flower shop, don’t she?” he asked.
“She does. Mostly I’m doing bookwork right now. Her financial records were a mess. But now I’ve gotten them pretty cleaned up so I’ve started helping with other things. I run with the deliveries and lately I’ve been taking some orders.” I laughed. “She won’t let me touch the flowers and I won’t complain about that. She’s the one with the real artistic talent. But we’ve just started talking about a new mark eting plan. She’d really like for me to get a website up and running. I’ve had a few ideas about that, mostly just different gifts that can be purchased in addition to floral arrangements. I’m really excited to get started on that,” I admitted.
I’d started looking through some of her supply catalogs. I’d started tracking items I thought would be popular online, items that would nicely complement floral arrangements for every event imaginable. I was anxious to get started on the website but she hadn’t been joking. Summer was a busy time. Even so, I had an appointment scheduled for the following week with a computer programmer.
Dad chuckled. “You sound excited. I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that things are falling into place. Claire, she’s always been such a sweet girl. You two are a good pair. I’m glad she was able to take you on.”
“Well, that’s part of the reason I haven’t been able to make it back to town. The problem is that right now is her busy season. Most Saturdays are especially crazy. She’s closed on Sundays though, so I was thinking maybe pretty soon I could make a quick, day
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