this!”
“Daddy, please! You just said you wouldn’t fight me on this.”
“Alright.” He took another breath. “It’s at a Public Storage on Pico Boulevard in West L.A.”
“Thank you.”
“Amour.”
“Yes daddy.”
“Whatever happens, I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart and you will always be my baby girl; nothing will ever change that.”
“I know, I love you too and I always will.”
“I hope so,” he said quietly, and then he was gone.
She wasn’t sure where those last words from her father came from, but they made her worry about him. His health wasn’t the best and now she was not only fourteen hundred miles away from him, she had him stressing over this. He’ll be ok…he has to be or she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. Be that as it may and as much as she loved her father, she had to keep going. “Let’s go.”
“Is everything okay?” Jason said as he cleared the dishes off the table.
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Her mouth spoke the words and it probably believed them. Her mind on the other hand, would definitely need a lot more convincing.
CHAPTER 10
Jason glanced at Amour across the truck as she stared out the window. “Did your father upset you?”
“No, he’s just worried that’s all.”
“Well, you are his only child. I know I would be freaking out by now.”
“He is.”
“What did he say?”
“The usual, I want you to come home now, you’re just as stubborn as your mother…”
“He was hard on you growing up wasn’t he?”
“Not really.” She looked up at him. “He was about normal.”
“Lucky you.”
“Why do you say that? Was your dad strict?”
“That’s an understatement,” he said faintly.
“What do you mean?”
He did not want to talk about this at all. “Nothing.” He’d hoped she wouldn’t ask him anything else about it. He was relieved when five minutes had gone by and she hadn’t. As he stopped at a red light, a thought suddenly occurred to him. “What did you say your father said to you on the phone?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You mentioned that he said something about you being like your mother.”
“Oh, he said I was stubborn just like her.”
“That’s what the person that called you said the other night isn’t it?” he said accusatively.
“Yeah…so?”
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think that’s kind of strange?”
“What are you saying Jason? You don’t think…”
“It’s quite a big coincidence Amour.”
“Stop it!”
“Look, I’m just saying! That could’ve been his way of getting you to come home. He hasn’t exactly hid his disapproval of you doing this.”
“No Jason! I know my father, he’s a lot of things, but cruel isn’t one of them. He would never deliberately scare the shit out me just to get me to do something.”
“Amour please think about this. He has so much to lose if anything happens to…”
“He didn’t do this!” she interrupted. “Can you just trust that I know my father better than you do?”
“Ok, I’m sorry. Let’s just go talk to Mrs. Pruitt, we’re here now.”
Abigail Pruitt’s quaint Mar Vista home was the quintessential “little old lady” house right down to the lace curtains and the plastic on the furniture. She sat in a large white rocking chair in the living room across from Jason and Amour who were sitting on one of the two large floral sofas. The smell of potpourri in the air reminded Jason of his mother. She also loved the smell of it so she’d kept it all over the house. It was a surreal reminder, but also a troubling one.
“Abigail, this is Amour Graciette and Jason Kincaid. They’re here to see you,” her nurse said as she cleared the empty dishes from in front of the old lady and flicked off the television.
“Thank you Millie,” Mrs. Pruitt said softly as the woman went into the kitchen.
The elderly woman’s slow drawl reminded Jason of the
“Daddy, please! You just said you wouldn’t fight me on this.”
“Alright.” He took another breath. “It’s at a Public Storage on Pico Boulevard in West L.A.”
“Thank you.”
“Amour.”
“Yes daddy.”
“Whatever happens, I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart and you will always be my baby girl; nothing will ever change that.”
“I know, I love you too and I always will.”
“I hope so,” he said quietly, and then he was gone.
She wasn’t sure where those last words from her father came from, but they made her worry about him. His health wasn’t the best and now she was not only fourteen hundred miles away from him, she had him stressing over this. He’ll be ok…he has to be or she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. Be that as it may and as much as she loved her father, she had to keep going. “Let’s go.”
“Is everything okay?” Jason said as he cleared the dishes off the table.
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Her mouth spoke the words and it probably believed them. Her mind on the other hand, would definitely need a lot more convincing.
CHAPTER 10
Jason glanced at Amour across the truck as she stared out the window. “Did your father upset you?”
“No, he’s just worried that’s all.”
“Well, you are his only child. I know I would be freaking out by now.”
“He is.”
“What did he say?”
“The usual, I want you to come home now, you’re just as stubborn as your mother…”
“He was hard on you growing up wasn’t he?”
“Not really.” She looked up at him. “He was about normal.”
“Lucky you.”
“Why do you say that? Was your dad strict?”
“That’s an understatement,” he said faintly.
“What do you mean?”
He did not want to talk about this at all. “Nothing.” He’d hoped she wouldn’t ask him anything else about it. He was relieved when five minutes had gone by and she hadn’t. As he stopped at a red light, a thought suddenly occurred to him. “What did you say your father said to you on the phone?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You mentioned that he said something about you being like your mother.”
“Oh, he said I was stubborn just like her.”
“That’s what the person that called you said the other night isn’t it?” he said accusatively.
“Yeah…so?”
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think that’s kind of strange?”
“What are you saying Jason? You don’t think…”
“It’s quite a big coincidence Amour.”
“Stop it!”
“Look, I’m just saying! That could’ve been his way of getting you to come home. He hasn’t exactly hid his disapproval of you doing this.”
“No Jason! I know my father, he’s a lot of things, but cruel isn’t one of them. He would never deliberately scare the shit out me just to get me to do something.”
“Amour please think about this. He has so much to lose if anything happens to…”
“He didn’t do this!” she interrupted. “Can you just trust that I know my father better than you do?”
“Ok, I’m sorry. Let’s just go talk to Mrs. Pruitt, we’re here now.”
Abigail Pruitt’s quaint Mar Vista home was the quintessential “little old lady” house right down to the lace curtains and the plastic on the furniture. She sat in a large white rocking chair in the living room across from Jason and Amour who were sitting on one of the two large floral sofas. The smell of potpourri in the air reminded Jason of his mother. She also loved the smell of it so she’d kept it all over the house. It was a surreal reminder, but also a troubling one.
“Abigail, this is Amour Graciette and Jason Kincaid. They’re here to see you,” her nurse said as she cleared the empty dishes from in front of the old lady and flicked off the television.
“Thank you Millie,” Mrs. Pruitt said softly as the woman went into the kitchen.
The elderly woman’s slow drawl reminded Jason of the
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