Chapter 2-3
774 Words
Alvin and I stayed up late drinking and talking about the women in our pasts. I told him a little more than I’d admitted to anyone else about Jane.
And woke up the next morning regretting some of it.
My phone rang, far too early for me, but at what most people would consider a reasonable hour. I grabbed it off the table next to my bed and answered it quickly to stop the sound from bouncing around in my brain.
“Yeah?”
“Micah. Is that how you answer the phone?”
I bolted straight up in bed and blinked my eyes open. “Dad? Um, hi. Why are you calling?”
He sighed, that heavy disapproving sigh that I’d grown up with echoing in my head. “Well, good morning to you, too.”
And there was the angry tone that slithered right up my spine and tightened a fist around my throat. “Good morning, Dad. How are you?”
“I’m well. Already been up for hours and got my morning chores done. Then I got a phone call from someone trying to track you down.”
“Who?” I asked.
Another sigh. “I don’t know. Some lawyer’s office.”
“What did they want?”
“Micah, I have no idea. I’m not your message service.”
I took a deep breath, filling my chest and trying to calm myself before I blew a gasket. My dad always brought out the crazy in me. We were explosive when I was young, always fighting. It was even worse when I started high school and we disagreed on how involved in the day-to-day operations of his farm I needed to be. We never recovered from those fights.
“Why did you call if you don’t have anything to tell me?” I asked, forcing my voice to stay calm.
“I thought you’d want to know. I told them you don’t live here and that you have a new place on the Big Island.”
“Did you give them my number?” I asked. God, I hoped he didn’t give a random person my phone number.
“No. I’m not stupid, Micah.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Lawyers came with trouble. I didn’t need more trouble. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Do you want their number?”
“You have it?”
He read it off to me while I scrambled for something to write it on. “Thank you.”
“Yep. Bye, Micah.”
“Bye.”
I hung up and closed my eyes. Sleep was out of the question. As was calling the lawyer. I would do some research and find out what I could about the place before I made a decision about calling them.
I heard footsteps in the kitchen and got up, pulling on a t-shirt before I left my room. Alvin already had the coffee started and was staring into the sink.
“Are you going to be sick?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Just debating sticking my head under the faucet for a drink.”
I chuckled. “As long as you don’t take a leak in my sink, I don’t care.”
Alvin snorted and glanced over his shoulder at me. “You all right?”
I nodded.
“Pretty early for a phone call.”
I eyed Alvin for a minute. I told him about Jane, but he didn’t know about my family. “It was my dad.”
His eyebrows peaked toward his hairline, but to his credit, he didn’t say anything, just leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.
“We don’t talk much. And when we do, it’s rarely good.”
“Is everything okay?”
I shrugged and slid a hand through my short hair. I flexed my arms, needing to feel like I was in control of something, even if it was just my body. “He’s fine. If you consider ornery asshole fine. My mom left when I was young. Didn’t like the farm life, so she moved to the beach and married a guy who flew med-evac flights to Oahu. She told my dad a boy needs his father, so she left me with him, and he resented me for it.”
“Damn.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Our relationship isn’t great. Never has been.”
“Why did he call?”
“Some lawyer called him looking for me.”
“A lawyer? That’s not good.”
“Nope, it isn’t. The last time I talked to a lawyer was when I was going through my divorce.”
Alvin grinned. “Think it was her lawyer? Apologizing for being an ass.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Not a chance. She’d never work with someone who knew the words ‘I’m sorry.’”
Alvin choked laughing. “Damn, dude. You should have warned me.”
I shrugged and poured myself a cup of coffee. “It’s the truth.”
He shook his head. “Women like her are why I’ll never get married. It’s not worth the hassle.”
“One and done for me. I’ll be single for a while, and when I do date again, I’m not putting a ring on anyone ever again.”
“Just don’t tell your boss.”
I snorted. He made a good point.
- Writer
