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I huff. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Greer is getting some things of mine at the office. Can you grab something for me at the house?”
“I’m not there right now. But I can later.” I rub my forehead, feeling my patience and understanding wearing thin.
“Oh. Okay. This is rather urgent. Any way you could drop what you’re doing and take care of this immediately?”
Feeling like I might blow a gasket, I roll my eyes hard enough to nearly give myself a seizure. I make him wait several long moments before finally telling him yes.
“Can you go inside my downstairs office and get the key to the middle filing cabinet. You know where I keep it. Inside that drawer, all the way in the back, is a red velvet box. It has something very special inside. Very expensive.”
“What is it?” I ask, nausea creeping up my throat.
I know what it is. I just want to see if he’ll tell me.
“It’s something for Greer. I don’t want to say just yet, so please, this is just between us.”
“Alright,” I choke out. I can’t believe Daddy is givingmy sister of all peoplemy dead mother’s three-carat black diamond ring. It was in her family for generations before she inherited it and I always thought he’d give it to me when I was older. I suppose he wants me to take it to a jeweler and have it sized.
I seriously want to scream.
“Thank you, darling. If you would, give the box to Manny and he’ll hold onto it for me.”
“Give it to Manny? Can’t you just get it when you get home?”
I hear him mumble something but there’s all this noise in the background. “I could but I don’t know how long I’m going to be delayed. And Greer is talking about coming out here to be with me over Thanksgiving. Manny will take her to the airport and hide it in her luggage.”
My entire face moves into an involuntary scrunch. I swear it’s like someone else has taken over my dad and is making decisions for him.
“I don’t understand. If she can fly out there why can’t you just take a commercial flight back home? Unless youwantto be stuck in Sweden over turkey day.”
I hear more clatter in the background and several voices. “One moment, sweetheart.”
He mutes me for a solid minute. I pace the floor in my office, wondering if something snapped inside of my dad when he learned who Greer was. Maybe it did throw him for a loop and he’s trying to work through it. But that doesn’t explain why he’s still acting like he trusts her more than me. Shouldn’t he be more distrustful of her after learning something like that?
He finally comes back on the line. “Sorry. There’s so much noise inside this restaurant I can hardly think. Look. I need you to—”
“Are you proposing to her?” I ask, point blank.
“No.” He answers so fast I actually believe him. “I know that’s what it looks like. But Tove, my darling …” He lets out a breathy sigh. “There are some weird things going on right now. With the company. Things I can’t talk about over the phone. I need you to trust me and not ask a lot of questions.”
My mind swivels between thoughts. Is he talking about work or something more personal?
“Are you in financial trouble? What’s going on?”
“Sweetheart,” he says, his voice firm. “I said not to ask questions.”
“You said don’t ask a lot but okay. I get it.” I feel like this has something to do with Greer so for Daddy’s sake, I zip my lips.
“It’s very important for you to trust me.”
“You sound like Rigger right now.”
“Hm, why?”
“He’s telling me the same thing. To trust him. That—” I stop, remembering I’m not allowed to say. “Nothing. We’re just going through a thing. So I’m supposed to not ask questions and just trust what you two tell me while you continue to keep me in the dark. Got it. Tell you what. Why don’t you just get back to me when you’re ready to let me know what the hell is going on. Until then I’ll fetch the little red box with mother’s ring inside of it and you can do whatever the hell you want with it.”
I end the call and stare at the picture of us on the wall. I’ve never been that sharp or direct with him. But he has a lot of explaining to do. This goes beyond what I consider to be normal secret keeping. He’s sharing things with my sister, whom he just met a few months ago, that he hasn’t shared with his own daughter.
