Page 89 of Lake
“I’ll call you later.”
With a nod, I hit the end button.
He was right and I knew it.
I took in a few deep breathes trying to get the tightness in my chest to ease up a little.
Then got my shit together. Or at least enough to get up off the dirty ground.
As I looked at the door one last time, my fingers brushed over the cracked and peeling design of the magnifying glass.
I knew now that Art had been avoiding me. All my calls going to voicemail had been deliberate.
I almost didn’t expect to find him at home, but as I pulled up to his house, I saw his car sitting right there in the driveway.
I banged on the door so hard I was sure the whole neighborhood heard it.
“Yeah, I’m coming.” A moment later the door opened and he didn’t look surprised to see me. “Come in.”
I stood there for a long moment taking the place in as he walked back to the middle of the room. There were so many boxes everywhere. Half of the living room was already packed up.
“I take it you’ve already seen it by now,” he said, his back to me as he wrapped something in a sheet of newspaper and tucked it away in a box.
“Why?” I said still shocked at what I was witnessing.
“Sit,” he said as he pointed to the couch while he flopped down in his old recliner.
“You sent me on a bogus case just to get rid of me so you could… Why?!”
“Because it was what he wanted.”
I gaped at him. There was no way that this was what my dad wanted.
“No,” I said shaking my head almost violently. “No, this was his business. It was his dad’s. It was our family’s. He set it up for me to take over. He taught me everything so when the time came I would be able to run things. He…”
“Didn’t want to leave you with a burden. Come on, Bridget. We were never going to be able to pull ourselves out of the hole.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Your dad left it up to me but he said that if things didn’t turn around soon then he wanted me to set you free. He knew you wouldn’t be able to do it yourself. You’d go down with the ship, and then what? You’d have nothing. This way he figured you have enough to find something that calls to your heart.”
“This isn’t just somejob. This is my life. This is what I know, what I was taught.”
“Bridget, you have a lot of skills that you can use throughout your life. This isn’t the end.”
I shook my head, unable to believe what I was hearing.
“But how? I read through the will, there was nothing in there about this. I own the business. How could you close it without me?” I looked at him wondering how this all was set up.
“And he taught you to always read the fine print. Which was why he had it worded the way it was. You own the name. I own the building.”
“Ahhh. Smart. You sold the building, taking away everything. I have… what… a name and a license, for now.”
“It was never meant to be mine. Your dad trusted me. I deposited the money into your account. All of it.”
“And what becomes of you?” I asked because I did care about him and I hated to see him left with nothing.
“I’m moving in with my sister. She is showing signs of dementia and I need to be there for her. I have a place, Bridget. It’s time for you to find yours. That’s all he ever wanted for you.”
“But.” I stopped because I didn’t know what I was trying to say. I was still in shock and couldn’t believe that they would both do this to me behind my back. “This is my life. This is what I want to do.”
“Is it?” he asked pinning me with his old, wise eyes. “Is it what you want to do? Being a PI makes you happy? It’s not that you feel some sense of obligation? All your dad wanted to do was be a great father to you. He felt stuck with this burden handed down from his dad. But he took it and he did the best he could with it because it gave him the chance to be there with you.”
