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“He’s off-site today,” Joshua says vaguely. “So, what about that lunch? There’s a Mexican place in town that does fantastic street tacos.”
I’m so relieved he didn’t propose going to the country club that I accept on the spot. We take his car — a late model Lexus — to a tiny hole in the wall on the far side of downtown Ironwood. As he promised, the tacos are absolutely out of this world. Joshua is funny and self-deprecating, and I surprise myself by having a good time.
Walking back to his car after we finish eating, Joshua is telling me an amusing story about Tonette when we round a corner and I almost physically run into a tall, rangy man with longish hair.
“Oh, I’m so sorr —” I begin, and then freeze.
Because I recognize him.
He’s literally the last person in the world I would have ever wanted to see again.
“Well, hello there.” Thorpe’s lips pull back into a wide, mocking smile. “I heard you were back in town.”
I choke on a reply. I simply stare up at him, a riot of emotions rendering me mute and unable to move.
“Uh, Rory?” Joshua’s puzzled voice sounds like it’s coming from inside a tunnel.
“Yes!” I blurt out, willing myself to recover. “Sorry.” Swallowing painfully, I look up at Thorpe Summers and square my shoulders. “Yes. I’m back in town for a little while. Excuse us.”
Brushing past him, I stomp away, focusing all my concentration on putting one foot in front of the other. I hear Joshua say something to Thorpe and then hurry to catch up with me.
“Hey,” he says when he’s by my side. “You okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” I lie.
“Are you sure? What happened back there? You’re white as a sheet.”
I force myself to sound casual. “He’s just someone I don’t particularly like. Let’s get back to the office, okay?”
On the ride back to RJW, the blood is buzzing in my ears as I try to push the image of Thorpe’s smirking face from my mind. He looks different now — older, of course — but he sounds and acts exactly the same.Oh god.How did it never occur to me that he might still be here in town?
He has no power over you. Everything happened a long time ago. He doesn’t matter. None of that matters anymore. Just forget him. Forget it all.
The afternoon goes by a little more quickly than the morning did. I get my computer installed and the IT guy helps me get logged into the system and set up my email. My father doesn’t show up to the office at all, but around four o’clock, Tonette comes to tell me that he’s waiting for me at the house.
I leave work and drive to Dad’s place with all of my stuff in the trunk, since I checked out of the motel early this morning. I park in the back, like I always used to. But when I climb up the steps to the back door, I hesitate.
Do I knock? Should I just walk in? This isn’t really home anymore. But it feels weird to act like I’m just a visitor.
In the end, I push my feelings of awkwardness aside and just go in.
“Hello?” I call as I walk through the kitchen. It’s been remodeled with an ultra-modern, expensive style, updated with the latest high-end appliances. I barely recognize it. Stephanie’s idea, I presume.
“Dad? I’m here.”
“Come through!” he calls from somewhere in the house. “In the library.”
My father’s library is really a home office/man cave. There are very few books in it, and the ones that are there, I’d be surprised if he’s read. Dad has never really been the type to spend long hours in silent contemplation. He’s more a man of action. Which is why it’s so surprising and shocking when I walk into the library to see him reclining in a massive lounger I’ve never seen before, almost as big as a hospital bed. He’s wearing navy-blue flannel pajamas and slippers in the middle of the day — another shocker.
Trying not to show my dismay, I don’t break my stride as I walk in and sit down in a chair facing him. “I missed you at work today,” I tell him.
“How are you settling in?” he replies, ignoring the implied question.
“Fine, except that I still have no idea what I’m even supposed to be doing there.”
“Joshua didn’t show you the ropes?” he frowns.
“He did, as much as he could, I guess.” I don’t want Joshua to get in trouble with Dad. I pause, and it’s then that I realize how quiet it is in the house. “Where’s Stephanie?”
