Chapter 4 #3
“I don’t. I tried to remember, but I can only remember the pain of it all.
Then, afterwards, being shipped off to boarding school right away.
” Brandy told her. “All I did was ask after my father, and that had her losing control? Why? It seems like a perfectly good question for a kid to ask about someone that’s not in the picture. ”
“She would lose it all if you were to ask about your father, remember? She had to keep you from asking so that she’d be able to keep her money and house.
With you being curious, that would have ended it all.
” She said she never knew that as a child.
“Even as an adult, she had to make sure that you never tried to find him. I think that’s what had her hating you being around your uncle and aunt, they knew your father from before you were born. ”
“I guess my life is a bit more complicated than I thought it was. All this mystery about my childhood could have been so dangerous. I guess it was.” She thought about her mother and wondered what she would do if she knew that she was going to see her father in a few days.
She’d have a fit that was for sure. And would more than likely hurt her again for doing it.
“I hate that she has this hold over me. Like I’m some sort of child that needs to be kept in the dark about their father.
It’s not like he’s a monster or anything.
Even though, come to find out, she is. I always knew there was something off about her.
I just never realized how extensive it was. ”
They talked about the dinner and what kind of food they’d be having.
Brandy thought it was wonderful that Howard’s attorney had sent over a list of things that he couldn’t eat.
He wanted to be a part of this family so badly that he’d opened up his entire life to them and didn’t hold back on answers.
“I was told that if you thought of something else you wanted to know, you were to call the office. You might not get to talk to the attorney when you did, but Howard would always take your call, no matter what.” She thought that was very sweet and said as much.
“He really wants this to work. I’ve never known someone to be so open with their lives before.
I don’t even get this much information when I’m doing a merger for a company. ”
“What have you told him about me?” Brandy said there wasn’t much he didn’t already know about her.
“So he’s been keeping tabs on me my entire life.
I guess that’s not creepy or anything.” They all laughed.
“I don’t know what to think about this right now.
I’m excited but nervous too. I can’t wait to see him again.
It’s been a long time in coming, don’t you think? ”
“I think this is a man who has been waiting his entire life for you to come into it and has had the first bit of good news since then. His friendship with the Rangers has been a long one, and I’m betting if asked, he knows what kind of grades you made in school, as well as has every school picture ever taken of you.
He would have been right on top of everything having to do with you.
” She thanked Ivan for his kind words and laid her head on his shoulder.
“He, like me, has been waiting for you all this time and now has the opportunity to be with you. Just like I have been.”
For the rest of the evening, they talked about the slaughterhouse.
It was coming along nicely, and they’d been able to sell their beef to local stores that needed it.
They’d only been open for a short time and were already having people come back to get more of their beef so that they could stock their freezers.
She loved that they all worked for the place, with the exception of Ayden.
Ayden had been working for Brandy to go to places to see why they were losing money.
Once, he’d been working as a dishwasher at a high-end restaurant, and they were losing money.
Come to find out they were selling off the meat that was to be used at the restaurant and selling human flesh to the customers, the employees.
Ayden had been eating at the place for over a week by then and had gotten an aversion to red meat after finding that out.
Not only him, but his wolf as well, couldn’t stand to be around it or even to smell it on someone else’s plate, or he’d be sick.
She felt sorry for him and was glad that the people at the restaurant had all been arrested.
By the time dessert was being served, she was full.
They always had good dinners when they went to Brandy and Lica’s home, and this was no exception.
The pork chops had been braised in something peppery, and the au gratin potatoes had been her favorite.
She ate a little pie but was too full to eat much more than a couple of bites of it.
“I had the strangest animal in today. Usually, I get in dogs and cats with an occasional hamster. But today I was to see an emu. I only had to make sure that they were healthy, as I don’t know exotic animals all that well, but it was odd having one in the office.
” Lica said he’d never seen an emu before.
“Me either, but in the zoo. But the woman who brought him in said that she raises them, and this one had been acting off. As I said, I don’t specialize in exotic animals, and she had to take him to Columbus, but it was something that I’m going to remember from now on. ”
“How is your business going, Ivan? I’ve not heard that you were having any troubles.
I guess you did all right by buying up old man Wiggins’ place.
” He said that he was having fun and he thought that was the best part of his job.
“Good. I noticed, too, that you’ve put in for a couple of shifts at the slaughterhouse.
Just don’t overdo it. We have enough people working for us now that we don’t have to come in to cover anymore.
Just remember that when you’re too tired. We’re doing all right now.”
“I will, but it gets me out of the house.” Lica told him that he knew how that was.
“Sometimes it’s just good to see something different.
I get to talk to the others, too, when I’m there.
That’s a rare treat for me when everyone is so busy all the time.
I usually can’t wait until we have our Thursday dinners. It’s the highlight of my weeks.”
Sen knew that the men all got together once a week, and the women in the family did as well.
They never talked of business when they were out with each other, and that was good.
It was their time to catch up on their daily lives and get to know what was going on.
Even with the new baby in the family, there was much to talk about, and she was looking forward to her first dinner with the women. She liked them all very much.
After dinner, she and Ivan went back to her place.
The more time she spent in the place, the more she could find wrong with it.
While she was happy to have a house, this one wasn’t one that she wanted to make her forever home.
Tomorrow, she and Ivan were going to look at a couple of houses around town and see what they could find.
She also wanted to get to know him a little better.
They were having so much fun just talking that she sometimes forgot that they hadn’t known each other all that long.
It seemed like he’d been in her life forever.
She wondered what he’d say if she told him that she was falling in love with him.
Ivan was the kindest person she’d ever met, and she loved to watch him with the animals that he worked with.
Sometimes she’d just go sit in his waiting room to meet the animals that he treated.
He thought she was silly, but she didn’t care.
She thought it was great that animals trusted him so much when they didn’t feel well or were hurt.