Page 77 of A Journey For Jasmine

“Sure,” he said. He wouldn’t be an ass, but he wanted to be. “Where is Brenda?”

“In the car. She wanted to call Michele and check in with her first. She’ll be in in a minute.”

Wesley nodded. “As you can see, this is a store.”

His father laughed and slapped him on the back. Putting a show on for those around that they were close when they never were.

“It is,” his father said. “Bigger than I thought it’d be. Busy too.”

He looked around and saw people moving through the store. Some using the bathroom, others picking up drinks or snacks that were sold here, boat accessories or nautical knickknacks too. They had a bigger store out at the restaurant off to the side, but he’d wanted to focus more here too. He’d actually been thinking about talking to Jasmine and seeing if her bosses might want to put some lotions or soap or something here. He had no problem filling the place. The more options, the more people came in.

Others were in line to pay for the gas they needed on their boats or just moving around the grounds to go to the restaurant that would be opening in twenty minutes.

The fact his father was here this early told him he must have arrived yesterday and stayed the night somewhere and planned the best time to show up unannounced.

“It’s doing well,” he said.

“Did you get yourself a nice boat too?”

“No,” he said. “I haven’t had much time to get on the water. I’ve been too busy working.”

“Here comes Brenda now. Why don’t you show us the grounds and then we can get some lunch and visit. We’d like to maybe take you to dinner tonight if you don’t have plans.”

He didn’t but first asked, “How long are you in town for?”

“Just another night. We’ll leave sometime tomorrow I think and make our way back down on our road trip. We’ve been driving about five hours a day. Brenda doesn’t like to be in the car too long so we get out and stay in a town and do a few things.”

“Sounds like fun,” he said. What more was he going to say? It was nothing he’d ever want to do and his radar was up for more to come out of this visit.

They left the building and walked down by the water. He showed them the grounds and where things were, how the marina operated, and they started to return to the store twenty minutes later. He was going to bypass the restaurant until he could give his mother a warning, but he didn’t need to worry.

“Henry,” his mother said, moving toward them. He walked off the path and out of the way knowing he might not want witnesses for this. “What could possibly bring you all this way without letting Wesley know?”

“Maybe he knew and just didn’t tell you,” his father said. No smile on his face. They barely got along, but his father wouldn’t be too nasty. Not when he knew Wesley would always side with his mother.

“You know that isn’t the case as much as I do,” his mother said.

Brenda jumped in with a big smile. “I wanted to take this trip after we dropped my baby back off at college. So hard to say goodbye and have the house to ourselves. I thought it’d be nice if Henry and I could have this time together before he had to return to work.”

Brenda always had a toothy smile and tried to play nice. He supposed when push came to shove that Brenda wasn’t a horrible person, just not someone he wanted to spend much time with.

She made it all about her kids and that was fine. There was a huge age gap and he didn’t care. He wasn’t all that close with them and was glad by the time they came along he didn’t have to spend much time with them either. He was in high school when Noah was born, then two years later came Michele. He barely saw his father at all except for stopping at holidays.

“That’s lovely for you,” his mother said.

“I’d think you’d be enjoying your retirement,” his father said, “but you always put work before everything and everyone else.”

“Only above you and what you wanted, per your words,” his mother said to her ex with a grin. Anyone walking by wouldn’t know the sarcasm he was hearing and he had to bite back the laugh.

His mother could be vicious when she wanted to be. He’d seen it in the courtroom. She just didn’t always show it in her personal life. Not unless she was protecting those she loved.

He supposed she had a feeling there was more going on with this visit too.

“It’s all in the past,” Brenda said. “Right, Henry?”

His father forced a smile. “That’s right. We are all where we wanted to be. Of course, I’m not sure you’re going to enjoy it here so much in a few months when the snow starts to fall.”

“Wesley and I are hardy,” his mother said. “Please, come to my restaurant and check it out. Lunch is on me since you drove all this way.”

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