Southern Storms (Compass 1)

If anything, they were running around singing songs of joy about him almost being dead. Soon enough, I’d walk down the streets and hear the townspeople’s praises: Ding dong, the dick is dead. Which ol’ dick? The dickiest dick!

My father wasn’t loved by me, and he was even less loved by the town’s inhabitants. If I had to count the number of times he’d been referred to as the town’s Mr. Potter from It’s A Wonderful Life, I would’ve been exhausted by the high number. I couldn’t even argue with the assessment.

My father wasn’t a good man, and now he was in a nursing home, struggling after his third stroke had left him partly paralyzed with vascular dementia. He no longer knew who he was, and I was no longer able to take care of him. He’d recently moved into the nursing home where he’d be able to get the care he needed.

Before my father was placed there, I’d spent the previous twelve years aiding him with his health issues—which were a lot. He never took care of himself, which made it even harder for me to do so. During all that time, he was quick to beat me, too, to remind me that I was under his control. My older brother, Derek, left the day he turned eighteen and never looked back. Mom had Derek from a previous marriage, but throughout my whole life, Derek referred to my father as his—up until the day our mother passed away and Dad turned to us as his punching bags.

Now, Dad had been moved out of the home I grew up in and placed in the care of others. Even though I hated him, the house still felt a little colder at night. Funny how one could miss the demons they used to play with once they had to go away.

Eddie had a field day when I revealed that truth.

I nodded once, trying not to show any feelings about my father’s condition. The truth was, I’d skipped our therapy appointments because I wasn’t ready to talk. I didn’t know what to say.

A frown landed hard on Eddie’s lips. He used to be better at holding his frowns in during our therapy sessions, but the older we grew and the more we became like family, Eddie couldn’t hide his worry about me.

“If you need to talk…” he started.

“Your couch is always open—yeah, Eddie, I know.”

I headed outside to meet Connor at the truck, but to my surprise, I found him standing at the fence, talking with Eddie and Marie’s newest neighbor—the trespasser.

He was holding one of his business cards out toward her and talking way too much—like always. “So, yeah, I am the founder, owner, and CEO of Cuber Incorporated, and as a new member you get your first ride for free. But, as you appear to be a diamond in this town of coals, I’ll let you have two rides free. Just download the app and enter the code ‘diamond’.” He paused and scrunched up his nose. “Okay, don’t enter that code yet because I have to update the app before that will work, but after like sixteen hours, I’ll be free to give you a ride.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way.

“Connor,” I called out, making him snap his head to me. “Let’s go.”

He held up a finger. “One sec, partner, I’m conducting some business. Speaking of businesses, I have more than just Cuber going on. I am a partner at Kilter and Roe Plumbing and—”

“You’re not a partner, you’re an employee, and currently even that is hanging by a thread.”

Connor laughed me off and waved a dismissive hand my way. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just a grumpy old man before one in the afternoon. Takes him a while to wake up and be a decent human like the rest of us,” he joked.

Trespasser smiled and chuckled a bit, looking my way. “I could see that being true,” she said.

I grimaced, unimpressed by where this conversation was leading. “Connor, truck. Now.”

“All right, partner—”

“Again, not my partner.”

He rolled his eyes. “Some people and their resistance to titles, am I right?” he said, grinning, and Trespasser laughed once more. Screw her laugh for being beautiful. “But, anyway, let me get going before Grumpy McGrump pops a blood vessel. Remember, if you need a ride, you got Connor on your side. Also if you have any plumbing issues, don’t be afraid to hit me up at the second number on this card.” He handed her another business card then winked. “I’ll be more than happy to snake your pipes.”

Oh good Lord. The innuendos coming out of these kid’s mouth were painful.

“Connor, get your ass in the truck,” I barked.

“Grumpy McGrump indeed.” Trespasser smirked, which annoyed me even more because her smirk was kind of beautiful, too. I walked back to the truck and hopped into the driver’s seat.