AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah, I’m just running my mouth.”
I kept driving. A silence brewed between us until Dad finally cleared his throat and began to speak.
“So I have to tell you something serious, Izzy.”
Oh, you too? Great.
“Your mother and I have been having some problems for a while now,” he said, his voice low. “I’ve been sleeping in your old bedroom. It’s looking like we’re going to get a divorce.”
So it was true. Even though I’d gotten wind of it months ago through Rust, the news still hit me like a truck. I felt sick to my stomach.
“I can’t believe it, Dad. I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.”
He set his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “It’s okay, honey. It’s not your fault.”
“Can I ask why? What happened?”
He sighed. “I can’t point to any one reason, really. I guess we’ve been having problems for some time now. Your mom and I don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things anymore.”
“Really? Like what?”
“A bunch of different things,” he answered cagily. “To make a long story short, we’ve been having a lot of fights, and that led to us growing apart, I guess.”
But what I didn’t understand was, Mom and Dad rarely fought.Ever,really. The only time I can recall them fighting—truly fighting, and not just having a disagreement—was the time when Mom encouraged me to apply at UNLV. Dad wanted me to go to school in-state.
“Does it have something to do with me?” I asked guiltily. “Is it because I came to school down here? I remember you two having that awful fight.”
He shook his head. “There’s a lot more to it than that.”
“Like what?”
“We just don’t have all that much in common anymore, Izzy,” he said. “Once you left the house for school, it felt like the bird had flown the coop, and Ele and I stopped having a reason to be together.”
“That’s so sad,” I said, frowning.
“Hey, honey, it’ll all be okay. You’ll see.” He brushed his hand against my cheek. “Actually, it might be for the best this way.”
I saw fewer commercial buildings as we neared the address Dad gave me. The area turned into Hendertucky proper—smaller, older houses, jammed together on tiny lots.
“Are you sure you gave me the right address, Dad?” I muttered. “Because this is a residential area.”
“No, this is right,” he said. He pointed at a shabby brown house. “That’s the one. Pull up here.”
I pulled along the curb and stopped. “What is this place?”
He looked at me and started to smile. “Well, Izzy, I’ve been thinking of moving down here.”
“Uh. What?Why?”
He reached across the center console for my hand. “Because both my daughter and my best friend live here. Let’s face it, right now more of my heart is in Las Vegas than it is back home.”
“Um …”
Oh no.
I’ve got to tell him.
Before I could say a word, Dad spotted a man walking around the house. “Oh! That must be the property agent,” he said, throwing his door open and scampering out.
