Nothing To Die For (Books to Die For Book 8) by Richard Houston

Author:Richard Houston [Houston, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Fred and I met Kelly at Fido's the next morning to share the news about Arnie's videos. I was about to tell her what I’d found when my cell started playing “Beethoven’s Fifth.” “It must be from Allie. She's the only one I know young enough to text and not call,” I said to Kelly. The server had just brought us our drinks and a treat for Fred.

Kelly emptied a packet of sugar substitute in her tea. I reached for my phone when Kelly started to say something but didn’t. I could tell by her frown that she wasn’t happy with what I’d said about texting.

I read the text aloud, hoping my remark would blow over, knowing that Kelly preferred text over voice because she was always too busy to talk. “Spring break has been canceled, and they're going to let us go home early to make up for it. Could you pick me up on the twenty-fourth? I have to move a bunch of stuff out of my dorm for the summer.”

I texted back, “No problem. Should I bring the truck?” I used the phone's speech-to-text feature because of my fat fingers. Fortunately, I double-checked the text before hitting send. The text app wrote something other than truck, and it wasn't nice. I made the correction manually, added a silly heart emoji, and hit Send.

She texted back a few seconds later, “Thank U, Dad. Love U. And Goldie loves you 2.” The word “Love” was a heart emoji.

“I still can't get used to the idea that you have a grown daughter, Jake. What did you do--get married at sixteen?” Evidently, my remark about texting had been forgiven.

I put a finger up to my lips, pretended to look around the cafe, and covered Fred's ears. “Twenty, but let’s keep that between you and me.”

Fred cocked his head to the side when I uncovered his ears, and Kelly laughed.

“How is she doing up there? Doesn't she have to take a lot of STEM classes to be a vet? I'll bet that's not easy,” she said and went back to stirring her tea.

“For now. She took chemistry and biology and some electives. She really liked creative writing, so now she’s thinking of changing majors. She thought I'd be happy. Little does she know that most creative writing majors never find work in their chosen field and end up flipping burgers. She could do that without a college degree.”

Kelly unconsciously raised her hand to cover her mouth before speaking. “I hope you didn't tell her that. She needs to do what she wants, not what other people want her to do.”

“No, not in those exact words,” I said, looking down at Fred to avoid Kelly's eyes. I was saved by Kelly's phone this time.

“It’s Teller, Jake. I wonder what he wants.” Like my daughter, Teller had sent a text, so I had to sit still while Kelly read the message.

She closed the messaging app and put the phone back in her purse before looking at me.

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