“You do that. She can oversee it and let Kelly work in here.” He paused. “That working okay for you?”
“It’s fine. She sticks to her side. I stick to mine. We’re polite, and I have to give it to her. She works hard and takes a lot off my plate.”
“Good.” He paused. “Where is she?”
“At the bank and a couple of errands.” I frowned as I glanced at my watch. “I thought she’d be back by now, actually.”
“I’m sure she will be back soon.” He stood. “Okay. Let’s move ahead with the project, and I like the idea of us all switching Saturdays again. Gives us all time with our families. But I don’t expect you and Chase to cover every second one.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind. I like working with the kid. He’s become a really good mechanic.”
“Maybe we should hire a new runner. Make him one of the team permanently.”
“He’d like that. He deserves it too.”
He nodded. “I’ll talk to him.”
He left, and a short while later, Kelly walked in, putting the bank books on the desk and bringing me the petty cash I’d requested.
I frowned as I looked at her. “Why is your shirt wet?”
She glanced down with a laugh. “Oh, I stopped to get some more bacon from your dad for Charly, and when we were having a drink on the front step, he told me he was having trouble with his soda machine. I was trying to help him, and I dropped a wrench in the water and it splashed all over me.”
“A drink on the front step?”
“Yeah. We sit and chat a little. Like I said last week, I think he’s lonely. He asked about the paper and the garage, and it was nice to talk to him.”
The thought of Kelly and my dad sitting, sharing some time together, somehow made me unsettled yet pleased. It was an odd sensation.
“What kind of trouble?”
“It’s not keeping the bottles cold. I think it needs a new compressor.”
“Why didn’t he call me?”
She lifted one shoulder, studying me. When she spoke, her voice was gentle. “I don’t think he wants to bother you, Brett.”
“He’s my father—he’s not a bother.”
“Maybe you need to tell him that. In fact, I think the two of you need to talk and, for a change, really listen to each other.” She set down the envelope and headed to her office. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“You aren’t going to Rosa’s on Sunday?” I asked before I could think about it.
She shook her head. “You’re stuck with me during the week. I won’t interfere with your downtime too. Stefano is your friend, that is your circle. Not mine.”
Then she walked away.
For some reason, those words bothered me the rest of the day.
The next day, I closed the garage at noon, packed up some tools and parts, and headed to the store. My dad was inside, adding a few items to the shelves. His radio was set to an oldies station, and the sound was staticky and muffled. He needed a new one, and I wondered how much resistance he would put up if I tried to give him one. I studied him from the open door. He was dressed as usual, his shirt crisp and white. A dark cardigan was pulled over top, and his tie matched. His hair gleamed in the light, and his shoulders were still broad under his sweater. His shoes shone. But I noticed the lines around his eyes were deeper, and he looked almost forlorn.
I felt a flash of guilt. Kelly was right. I needed to see more of him. He wasn’t getting any younger, and we needed to move past this impasse we seemed to have been locked in for years. I knew Charly checked in on him regularly. Brought the kids to see him. She had him to dinner on occasion, always making sure to invite me. I always declined, letting her have a relationship with him that didn’t include me. I only dropped in on occasion, and my visits were always brief and usually fraught with tension. Maybe I needed to do something about that.
I rapped on the wood as I walked into the store.
“Hey, Pops.”
He looked up, surprise on his face. “Brett. What are you doing here?”
“Can’t I come see my old man?”
“You can, but you rarely do.”
I bit back my usual retort of saying he never asked me to. “Well, here I am.”
He set down the can he was holding. “Here you are.” A glimmer of a smile crossed his face. “I like surprises.”
“I hear you’re having a problem with the soda refrigerator.”
He scratched his head. “It doesn’t seem to be working so well. Like a lot of things in the store, it’s getting old.”
“Old isn’t bad, Pops. But maybe it needs some work. Want me to have a look?”