Page 24 of Her Cadillac Cowboy
Sara kept her voice calm. “Dad, before I got back from Alaska, Donny rented the warehouse to Josh McKinley.”
Her father turned sharp eyes on her. “He what?”
“You heard me, Dad.”
He ate two spoons of oatmeal without a frown or a grimace. “Gene should have prevented it. Invoke the escape clause and throw that McKinley bastard out.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“What do you mean?” The last of the muffin disappeared without a murmur. He picked up a spoonful of cereal.
“I spoke with Gene. He said that McKinley refused to sign unless Carson’s removed the escape clause. Donny was so eager to seal the deal that he ordered Gene to do it. There wasn’t anything Gene could do.”
The spoon clattered into the empty bowl. “Damn fool. I taught Donny better’n that. What’s he thinkin’ of rentin’ to a McKinley, then runnin’ off on a used car buyin’ trip at this time of year? We’ll have a lot full of new models in before August. How’s he gonna sell ’em if we have extra used cars on hand? Tell me that, little girl, will ya?”
Sara felt a twinge of guilt for making her brother look bad in her father’s eyes. But Donny should have told her where he was going if he wanted her to cover for him. The buying trip was the best she could come up with at the moment.
“I can’t tell you what Donny’s thinking, Dad. He didn’t confide in me. Besides, we’ve got to talk about the nurses. Dad, you can’t go on treating these women the way you have. Swearing, calling them names, throwing them against the wall, that’s all got to stop.”
He had the grace to look ashamed. “I’m sorry about that one I bounced off the wall, even if she was a dried up old biddy who didn’t seem to know she’s workin’ for me, not t’other way round.”
“That’s not the point, Dad. I hired those nurses to take care of you. You’ve got to let them do their jobs.”
“I would if they knew how. That German woman couldn’t even speak decent English. How’s she gonna know what I need?”
“She’s the professional, Dad, not you.”
He looked at her, skepticism written all over his face.
“You hire Latino mechanics down at the dealership all the time, and they don’t always speakdecent English.”
“That’s different. I know the work they do. I can tell if they do it wrong or not. And I got enough Spanish to let ’em know it.”
“I’m sure it seems different, but you hire experts regardless of their ethnic background. The nursing agency does too. I had a terrible time convincing them to send out another nurse.”
“Another one.” Her father sank back against the pillows, as if he’d received a blow. “I’d hoped you and me could visit together, little girl. It’s quite a time since you been home long enough to talk.”
Her father was a master manipulator. He dangled the one thing she’d wanted since her mother left. But his time and attention came with too many strings. She ignored the bait. “Until I can get a handle on things down at the dealership and straighten Donny out, you’re going to have to put up with a nurse.”
“But...”
“I want your promise that you’ll give Nurse White no trouble.” Sara stood up and took the tray from his lap.
“That the one comin’ today, Nurse White?”
“Promise me, Dad?”
“All right, all right, I promise.”
“Good, now you rest. I’ll check in on you in a bit.”
“I am feeling kinda peaked.” He yawned, pulled the covers up, and turned on his side. “Close the door on your way out, will ya?”
“Okay, Dad.” As she shut the door, the tray balanced on one hand, she heard soft snores issue from the room. With any luck, Dad would sleep until the nurse arrived at noon. In the meantime, Sara could get a lot of work done on those files. She dropped the tray off in the kitchen and headed for the den.
