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Nodding his head, he chuckled. “Guilty.”
They loaded up the truck and left for the ride to Bayou Cottage.
“What’s going on at your father’s house?” Katrina asked.
“Not much. It was nice spending time with my old dad. They want to come over to see the baby.”
“Anytime.”
***
Dave wasn’t entirely ready to share the conversation he’d had with his father. That morning, after Katrina had left looking so cute, pushing the baby stroller down Main Street, he left for the short ride to Chastain Clinic and his father’s place. He’d arrived at the homestead just as Rose carried an armload of linens from the house.
“Where are you going with all that?” Dave asked, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
“I’m loading up the trailer with stuff to take to the Salvation Army.”
“Is my father inside?” he asked, pointing over his shoulder.
“Yep, going through the kitchen cupboards.”
Inside, Dave didn’t waste any time. His father was squatting in front of a bank of cabinets where his mother had stored all her oversized baking pans and serving platters. There was a stack of items already forming on the floor next to him. Dave recognized a terracotta platter shaped and glazed like a turkey and swooped it up.
“Dad, I had asked you to let Justin and me go through anything you’re getting rid of in case we want it.”
“Why do you want this old stuff?” Vic asked, rubbing his forehead. Dave noticed he seemed frail, not a word he’d have ever used for his father in the past.
“Because it was Mom’s,” he replied. “All we have of her is herstuff.”He squatted down next to him. “It’s not my place to say this and I hope I don’t cause any hard feelings, but seeing Rose throwing linens that had belonged to my mother into the horse trailer pisses me off.”
“Go out there and pick out whatever you want,” Vic said, defeated. “You can take it all.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I’m downsizing, son. This big old place is too much. Since you moved out, it’s ridiculous for me to live here alone.”
Stunned, Dave stood up and leaned against the counter, looking around the familiar space.
“Does Justin know?”
His brother spent most of his adult life in the clinic across the driveway.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. He’s built that office over by Maggie’s.”
“Yes, but, Dad, that doesn’t have an operating room or X-ray machines or anything that he needs for a veterinary clinic. You should go see it. It’s a room with an exam table and a few supplies. He’s working here because that was your plan for him. Justin would take over the clinic when he finished college. He’s worked tirelessly to keep it as successful as when you ran it alone. He’d be heartbroken if you sold it.”
Vic stumbled trying to stand, and Dave caught his arm, suddenly concerned.
“I shouldn’t be squatting with my knees. I know my own son. He sacrificed his youth to be here and now as an adult, he’s here six days a week unless Harvey is here, or Grace, and he’s paying them out of his own shares. But I need to move on. I can’t tolerate another summer on the bayou.”
“What can I say? You were excited about your grandkids being here. We just had that conversation, Dad. You said the little babies would grow up here, running around the farm. What happened?”
“I want to go back to Florida.”
Rose had returned. The men looked up at her, Vic obviously uncomfortable.
“What does that have to do with my father?” Dave said, his voice giving away his anger.
“We’re a couple, and he wants to be with me. Simple.”
