Page 69 of Memphis

“What? Is something wrong?”

“Mom messaged me earlier, and I’m pretty sure she’s packing up to leave him.”

“Leave him? What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. She mentioned something a couple of weeks ago about things being strained between them.”

“And you didn’t think to say anything to me about it?”

His voice sounded off like he wasn’t being completely honest when he said, “You know how Mom can be. She’s a bit dramatic. I thought things would work themselves out.”

“Dad is going to be crushed.”

“There’s still a chance they can sort it all out.”

“I hope so.” As much as I enjoyed hearing Wes’s voice, it had been a long day, and I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. “I’ve got an early morning meeting, so I better get going.”

“Okay but call me tomorrow and let me know how things are going.”

“I will. Good night, Wes.

“Goodnight, beautiful.”

Once I hung up, I tossed my phone on the table and forced myself out of bed. After I changed out of my work clothes, I washed my face and crawled into bed. Thankfully, my overactive brain didn’t keep me up too terribly long, and I was able to fall asleep at a decent hour. The following morning, I got up and headed into work early, as planned.

As promised, Mark brought coffee, and I was pleased to see that he was in much better spirits. And because of that, we were actually able to get some work done. In fact, we were able to finish all our reports and get them turned in a day early. I left the office feeling pretty good about things—at least at work.

I was still feeling apprehensive about seeing my father, especially after what Weston had told me about his mother. It was bad enough knowing that he was having financial trouble, but finding out that he was having marital problems took my worry to a whole new level. I just wanted to know that he was okay, so I grabbed some take out and headed over to the house.

When I reached the front door, I stopped and took a deep breath, then knocked and eased the door open. “Dad! Are you here?”

“Antonia?” Dad came rushing out of his office, and his eyes lit up when he saw me. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

“Thought I would surprise you.” I lifted the bag of Chinese takeout as I told him, “I brought dinner.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” He reached out and gave me a hug as he asked, “Did you get eggrolls?”

“Of course.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.”

I was pleased to see that he was in a relatively good mood. I hoped that was a sign that things weren’t as bad as I might’ve thought. I followed him into the kitchen and placed the bag onthe table. I started taking out the various containers while he made us both something to drink. “Where’s Kay? I brought her some sesame seed chicken.”

“Ah... She’s not here.” He sat down and started making himself a plate as he told me, “She’s at one of her book clubs or game nights or prayer groups. I don’t know which. It’s hard to keep up.”

“Oh, man. I hate I missed her.”

“She’ll hate that she missed you, too, but... hmmm.” His words trailed off as he took a bite of eggroll. He was still chewing when he asked, “So, how are things with you?”

“Good, but busy. You know how that can be.”

“I definitely do.”

I was growing tired of the small talk, so I decided to just go for it and said, “I actually came by here because I wanted to talk to you about...”

“You haven’t told me about Weston.” he interrupted. “Is he still doing better?”

He was deflecting.

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