Page 53 of No One But You

One more quick kiss and she was on her way. The warmth that filled me when she was around dissipated immediately as soon as I climbed into the truck.

“Now I know why you’re here. Shooting a little high, ain’t ya, kid?”

I shot Terry a harsh drop-dead glare. Maybe I’ll get lucky, and he’ll shut up. I turned the key. “You smell like a cesspool. I’ll run into the grocery store. You stay in here.”

Chapter 20

Kai

It had been the most god-awful week, and it wasn’t over yet. Work was long, the addition at Shear Perfection wasn’t as straight forward as I had hoped, and add in the unforeseen addition to my life—my father—and my stress level was through the roof.

I was totally exhausted by the time I got home from work every night and checked on Terry, that I fell behind on my work at Shear Perfection and had to put in extra hours at night. Somehow, I managed to work through fatigue and exhaustion. There was nothing quite like the satisfaction of finishing a job and being able to step back and admire it, and the salon was something to admire. It looked damn good.

I pulled into my rocky and hole-filled driveway late Thursday night. I couldn’t wait to relax in front of my television, in my bed. Terry had the couch in the living area, and spending time with him was not on my agenda.

As I bumped and jostled up my driveway, I was reminded of the next item on my list: focus on my own place—number one priority—the driveway.

I pulled up in front of the fifth wheel, and my heart sank. “What the hell?” I shook my head and climbed begrudgingly out of Matilda and stalked to the fire pit. There was a pile of beer cans on the grass next to a lawn chair. Great. Just what I needed. To deal with my drunk ass father.

How did beer get out here? He didn’t have a vehicle, and I didn’t have any beer on the property.

I stormed in the door. “Terry, what the hell? You have a mess out there.” I froze. He was passed out on the kitchen table, and the small living area was a wreck and smelled like a dump. It seemed like Terry had a party while I was at work. Memories of my childhood accosted me, but I fought them off.

This was not the shithole I grew up in. This was my place. My castle—well, my fifth wheel—but still. I grabbed a trash bag and started tossing all the paper plates, empty bags, and cans into it. I made as much excess noise as possible in the process.

Once the trash was picked up, I grabbed the spray cleaner and sprayed and wiped down the counters and even the floor. It smelled like stale beer, and I wasn’t having my childhood life brought into my house, even if it wasn’t really a house yet.

I was done with his bullshit, and it had only been two days.

“Terry,” I shouted. Nothing. No sign of life. I nodded. Maybe he finally drank himself to death. That would make my life much easier and would end the crap I had to deal with.

I sighed heavily. I guess I should make sure he’s alive. I whacked him on the back. Hard. “Terry!” I bellowed.

“What the fuck?” he yelled as he sat up swinging.

“Chill.” I placed a bottle of water in front of him. “What the hell were you doing here while I was gone, and where did you get all this beer?

“Simple,” Terry answered as he took a sip of water and scrubbed his hands down his face. “I was bored off my ass, so I decided to go for a walk. Noise down by the river caught my attention and I followed my ears. I ran into a group of kids kayaking and drinking. They were having a last day of school dardy.”

“Dardy? What the hell’s a dardy?” I asked. Where did my father come up with this stuff?

“That’s what I asked.” Terry gestured agreement with his hand. “I was told it’s a daytime party. A dardy. Anyway, I offered them money for beer. We started talking, and they came back here. I fed them sandwiches—peanut butter and jelly was all you had, by the way. A little embarrassing.”

My jaw dropped. Was this idiot for real?

“Doesn’t matter. They were teenagers. They didn’t care. It was free food. Anyway, I gave them money and they left two cases of beer behind.”

“You had money?” I placed my hands on my hips. I was tired and didn’t want to deal with this bull shit. But where the hell did he get money?

“Nope. You did. I found it in the coffee container in the closet.”

“You what?” Anger sliced through me. I swiped my hands over my face and stalked to the closet. I took out the coffee container that had cash in it. The cash I was saving was for work around here.

Or had been saving. The container was empty.

My blood boiled. If I took my blood pressure right now, it wouldn’t be good. “That was my money.” I needed to hit something. “I’ve been saving that, and there was more in there than a couple cases of beer would have cost. What else did you do with it?”

“Oh, they door dashed food and needed some for pot. They got some good weed out here.”

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