Page 61 of Spiritwarrior

Sophie turned her head to stare at Jody. “I think whatever video game you’re playing is starting to affect your friendship.”

“It isn’t my call to end the game. Joel can stop it at any time.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jody took his eyes off the road to glance in Sophie’s direction. “Do you need your car? We’re going to the same place, so you can ride in with Ginny in the morning.”

Smothering a yawn with her hand, she answered, “I’m too tired to drive, anyway.”

Jody felt her eyes on him in the darkness.

“You should be just as tired. You helped me finish cleaning the apartment last night and were at the restaurant at the same time as I was.”

He kept his hands on the steering wheel despite how much he wanted to pull her close to his side and let her rest her head on his shoulder. This was the first time Sophie hadn’t covered the exhaustion she must be feeling. The woman had to be surviving on fumes from the way she worked herself.

“I’m not going to disagree. I’ll sleep well tonight.”

“You’re very talented at playing the fiddle. I didn’t know people still played them.”

“Not many do.”

“How long have you played?”

“My dad tried to teach me before he died. After he passed, I started teaching it to myself. I wish I had taken playing more seriously before he passed away, but it makes me feel better that he’d be happy if he’d known.”

“You were close to your father?”

“We all were. Dad could act like a kid as much as we were, yet you never forgot he was the parent. He didn’t tolerate bullshit, believed in treating everyone the same, regardless of how much money they carried in their wallet, and was kind unless you showed him it wasn’t reciprocated.”

“He sounds like a good man,” she said softly.

“He was,” he agreed tightly. Missing his dad was a daily battle, for all of the family.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get so fortunate with Marty.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turn to stare out of the window.

“Me too,” she said solemnly. “My father was just incapable of being close to anyone. I asked my mom once why she had married him. She said when they were dating, he treated her like a princess. After they were married, though, his behavior began to change. He wanted to keep her isolated. That’s when she started working with him because he wouldn’t stop badgering her until she did. She said it was the same thing after I was born—he didn’t want anyone babysitting me while they were at work. That lasted until I was four.” Sophie went silent.

“What happened?” he urged gently.

“I went into the kitchen when I wasn’t supposed to, so Marty gave me one of his lessons not to do it again.” Her voice was so low he had to strain to hear her. “Mom came into the kitchen and saw him. She picked me up and left. She divorced him after that. I only had to see him every other week for a few hours with supervision until after I turned eleven.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. Some people just shouldn’t be parents. I think he hated me.”

“If he hated you, then why did he leave the restaurant to you?”

“I have no clue. The only reason I can think of is Marty expected me to fail. He knew I had limited funds. He had made our lives a living hell. My parents and I moved from job to job, state to state, trying to stay ahead of him. I was able to save some money, so I guess he thought I would sink what money I had into the diner and be left with nothing.”

“That’s screwed up.”

“You just summed up Marty.”

Jody turned into the driveway, to the side of Silas’ house, then turned off the engine. He felt her stiffen when he leaned toward her and gave her an amused glance as he opened the glovebox to take out a flashlight.

“I’m afraid I can’t see in the dark.”

---