Possessive Best Friend

Lora: Just showing you my appreciation.

Me: Talk to your uncle yet?

Lora: Nope!

Me: Do it.

Lora: I don’t want to!

Me: Do it anyway.

Lora: Fine!I smile and put my phone away. I spend the rest of the day doing normal tasks before heading home early for the night. I feel pretty proud of myself for sourcing such a high-end truck so quickly. There isn’t a huge market for the fully tricked-out fancy trucks in this area, so I’m lucky there was one within driving distance nearby.

In the morning, I head into work, go into my office, and sit down at my computer. I check inventory, make a few calls, send a few emails, and I’m chugging along when I hear a knock at my door.

My dad pushes it open. “Morning,” he says.

I look up and feel a pit open up in my stomach. “Morning,” I say.

He grins at me. “How’s it going? Have any good news for me?”

He always asks that. And normally I tell him that all news is good news around these parts, which makes him laugh. But this time I just shrug and shake my head. “Nothing,” I say.

“You sure?” He walks over and sits down across from me. “Because I saw on the inventory this morning that two of our black F-150s were being sent over to some dealership in Monroe for one fully loaded Limited?”

I shrug. “He needed black.”

“And we needed a fully loaded Limited? Have we ever even sold one?”

I hesitate for a moment. “I think I have a buyer,” I say.

“Really?” He frowns. “I didn’t know you were still doing sales. I thought we moved you up from that a long time ago.”

“I’m not. It’s a personal thing.”

“Personal,” he says, staring at me. “Come on, Dean. What’s the deal with this?”

“Can’t I just have this?” I ask. “Do you really need to push into every little deal?”

He tilts his head and smiles at me. “Sounds like you don’t want me to know, which only makes me want to know even more. So spill it, kid.”

“It’s for me.”

I know I shouldn’t lie. If he finds out, it’ll only be worse. But I know that saying it’s for Lora Lofthouse will only bring up more questions and inevitably turn into an argument.

And frankly, I don’t feel like dealing with his shit.

Right now, my plan is to try to ignore him for as long as I can, grow the car wash business, and help Lora set up the warehouse. Soon I’ll be able to leave the dealership entirely and strike out on my own. But that’s in the future, and right now I need to start focusing on building what I can.

“You can’t afford that truck,” he says. “I know how much I pay you.”

“You don’t know how much I’ve saved. And I’m getting a really good deal.”

He rolls his eyes. “Even at cost, even slightly below cost, which you better not do, you still can’t afford that truck.”

“I can and I am.”

He shakes his head. “Son, have I taught you nothing?”

“You’ve taught me the value of good things,” I say. “I’ve been driving my truck for a few years, but I’m ready to upgrade.”

“Then get something more sensible. The Limited is overpriced and we both know it.”

I shake my head. “Already made up my mind.”

“Fine.” He stands up. “Do what you like. It’s your money.”

“By the way, construction starts back up tomorrow on the car wash.”

He grunts at me. “Yeah. All thanks to the Lofthouse family. Do they own half that place now?”

“Nope,” I say. “And you should be happy. If it weren’t for me and Lora, that car wash would be sitting there half built. It’d just be a liability. Now it’ll get built and start generating some revenue.”

He shakes his head. “Nothing in this world will ever make me happy to be in business with the Lofthouse family.”

“We’re not in business with them. She just helped get a permit.”

“That’s business, son.” He frowns at me then shakes his head. “Probably buying the damn truck just to impress your little rich girlfriend.”

“All right, now you’re pissing me off.” I stand up and stare at him. “I get that you hate the Lofthouse family, but from now on, you’ll be more respectful of Lora.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” I stare at him for a long moment. “Don’t test me, Dad. And don’t be a dick. I like her and she might be around for a while. Time you got used to it.”

He stares back at me then shakes his head. “Your mistake to make.” He turns and leaves my office.

I sink back down in my chair.

Any elation I felt at sourcing the truck dissipates into anger. My fucking father is very, very good at pissing me off and meddling where he doesn’t belong.

I’ll have to be careful. He’s going to be watching me closely now. He doesn’t believe my story about the Limited, that much is obvious. I’ll have to be careful.