Page 6 of Book of Love


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After freshening the water bowl, she made sure the screen door was still propped partway open. She grabbed an empty bucket and positioned it under the leak in the kitchen.

Though she’d have liked to crash right into bed, she picked up the stack of coupons on the kitchen counter and headed back outside. She stopped at the grocery store, the library, and the drugstore before driving to her father’s apartment building.

She’d spent weeks searching for the right apartment for him, one that was within walking distance of downtown and a short drive to both the beach and the state parks. Six months after moving to Bliss Cove from rural Tulare County, her father had yet to take advantage of the convenience or…anything else, really.

“What are you doing here?” He answered her knock with a frown.

“Great to see you too, Dad.” Pasting a smile on her face, she carted the grocery bags into the kitchen. “How was your day?”

He grunted. A tall man with a thicket of silvery-gray hair and a weather-lined face, Ray Berry had been the dominant presence in Grace’s life. Growing up on Berry Farms, she’d thought her big, strong father was invincible. Up at four in the morning to milk and feed the cows, he’d worked nonstop throughout the day to keep the operation running smoothly.

Until not even hard work had been enough to save Berry Farms.

“You get any steak?” He eyed the grocery bags that she set on the counter.

Grace swallowed the instinct to remind him that he was supposed to cut back on his red-meat intake. Not to mention, steak was expensive.

“It didn’t look very good.” She began putting away the groceries, noticing the salmon filet she’d brought over last night that was still in the fridge. “Why didn’t you eat the fish?”

“Fish belong in the sea, not on a plate.”

“Dad, fish is one of the healthiest things you can eat.” Grace set a carton of milk in the fridge. “Did you get outside for a walk today?”

“Why don’t you put a tracker on my phone so you don’t have to ask?”

Grace supposed it would be a bad idea at that moment to ask if he’d visited the senior center yet.

She continued unpacking. Ray looked at a container of yogurt with distaste. He’d lost weight since his heart attack and diagnosis, and his plaid shirt hung loosely on his frame. His skin, once so tanned, was now pale and waxy.

Worst of all, his twinkling blue eyes had dulled to the color of metal. Close to sixty years old, he’d always seemed twenty years younger…until now.

Ignoring the ache of regret, Grace washed the dirty dishes in the sink and tided up the apartment. She tossed his clothes in the wash, checked his medication refills, and showed him the books she’d brought.

“I thought you might like thrillers, and Bee over at the library put this one aside for you.” She tapped the hardcover. “If you like it, I can pick up more by the same author.”

“I’m not much into reading.” He sank into his easy chair.

“You might enjoy it, if you gave it a chance.”

“How about you stop talking to me like I’m a toddler?”

Grace set the book down. She was usually able to deflect her father’s sharp remarks, but today his tone hit her right in the chest.

“What would you like for dinner?” she asked. “I can make turkey burgers or maybe a spinach and tomato omelet?”

“Grace, stop fussing.” Ray sighed and dragged a hand down his face. “I’m not a damned invalid. I can fix my own food, and I’ll eat when I’m hungry. Don’t you have work to do?”

That was his semi-tactful way of telling her he didn’t want her there anymore.

“Yes, I…I have papers to grade.” She didn’t, actually, but that excuse was rarely questioned when one was a teacher. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Call if you need anything.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and went back outside, making a note to call the landlord about fixing the loose railing on the front steps. After her father’s heart-failure diagnosis two years ago, she’d spent a lot of time and energy trying to convince him to sell the family’s dairy farm and move to town.

He’d stubbornly refused. But when soaring grain prices had pushed Berry Farms to the edge of bankruptcy, Ray had unwillingly signed the papers surrendering the property he’d owned for over thirty years.

Though Grace’s heart had broken at having to let the farm go, she’d known it was both inevitable and necessary. Her father could no longer safely or successfully run the business, and it was better for both of them if he lived in Bliss Cove close to both medical care and his daughter.

Of course, Ray didn’t see it that way. And even now, Grace sometimes wondered if she’d done the right thing.

She got into her car. Almost eight, according to the dashboard clock. Though she was wiped out, she suddenly didn’t want to go back to her empty house with the stupid leaking roof and no cat.

Maybe she’d take a risk and just drive…somewhere. Anywhere but here.

She headed toward the interstate.

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