Page 77 of Doozer

“Wow.” I sniffed, wiping my eyes. “That’s… um, wow.”

She stood. “Right, it’s time for you to go pack, so how about you do that now, so you don’t have to see me blubber like a baby.” She snagged an envelope off her desk. “But first, here’s your phone back. You’re free to use it at will.”

I stood, unable to stop myself from pulling her in for a hug. “Thanks for everything.”

“Anytime.”

I escaped the emotion and headed back to my room, packing up and moving quickly into senior housing amazed I’d made it. I texted Doozer and let him know the good news, then met my team in the mess hall to celebrate.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Doozer

BY THE TIME I’d arrived at Legacy hospital, my father was out of the ICU and had been moved into a private recovery suite. After spending some time with Mama and my sisters, I checked in with Minus and Sweet Pea, who’d stayed at the hospital with my family all through the night.

“Thank you both for being here. It means a lot to me,” I said.

“Some of the other guys and the old ladies were here last night too,” Minus said.

“I’ll be sure to thank ’em.’

“Any news?” Sweet Pea asked.

“He’s pretty banged up, but the doctors were able to stop the swelling in his brain and it looks like there won’t be any permanent damage. He’s resting now and the nurse said I can go in and see him once he wakes up.”

“Glad to hear it,” Minus said.

“What the hell happened?” I asked. “Did the Beast do this?”

“It was the judge, man,” Sweet Pea replied.

“Judge Snodgrass?”

The two men nodded in unison.

“The day after you spoke with your old man, he went to the judge to tell him the deal was off. Apparently, they belong to the same country club, and your father figured it would be safest to meet in a public place where the judge would be less likely to flip out.”

“He was wrong,” Sweet Pea said.

Minus continued, “The two of them were having lunch together when at some point, the judge started chasing your father around the dining room, screaming at the top of his lungs.”

“We figure that’s when your father broke the news.”

“Eventually Snodgrass chased your father all the way to the pro shop, where he picked up a golf club and attacked your father.”

“A golf club?” I asked.

“Sand wedge,” Sweat Pea said.

“How do you know all of this?”

“The night you spoke with your father, I put Spike on protective duty.”

“You put a tail on my father?”

“I figured the Beast wouldn’t be happy about your father breaking his deal and wanted to make sure he was protected in case they tried to retaliate.”

“Looks like the judge got to him first,” Sweet Pea said.

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