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“Time to go.”
“Fuck!” I lean down and rub my knee.Since when did my father have a table there in the hallway?
My shoulder bounces off the wall as I straighten up and continue my creep through the dark house.
“Fucking hell!” I yell as I stub my toe on something. “Enough of this bullshit.” I move along the wall, hitting the first light switch I find. “Ugh.” I squint as the glaring light fills the front hallway.
I spot the source of my throbbing toe.
Asuitcase.
“Ava’s things that she left here. William’s coming by to collect them tomorrow.”
I blink, making out my father’s figure as he descends the stairs.
“Jesus, Son. How much have you had to drink?”
“One or two,” I mumble, stepping toward him, then cursing as I bump into the suitcase again.
“What? Bottles?”
I grunt. “Of course… Never glasses. Always bottles… Or cartons.”
My father lets out a tired sigh. “Let’s get you to bed.”
He walks over and throws my arm around his shoulder.
“Did you pack her things?” I turn to him and he screws his nose up as my breath hits his face.
“Margaret did. I didn’t want to be looking at her… her female items.”
I nod as we take our time going up the stairs.
“Margaret’s not spoken to me since I came to visit.”
“She will. She misses her, that’s all.”
“She’s not coming back, and Margaret blames me.” I puff out my cheeks, gripping the handrail with one hand so Dad doesn’t have to support all my weight.
“I don’t know what happened between you two. But Ava sure looked upset when she came into your office. You’ve not mentioned her once since then.”
“She hates me,” I slur.
“Hate’s a big word, Son.”
“Better this way,” I mutter.
My father sighs again. “William sent her here where he thought she’d be looked after. He thought she’d be safe.”
I wince as his words drip through me like acid.
“She should have been.”
“You have company tonight?” My father frowns as we reach the top of the stairs and amble down the hallway toward my room.
“Why?”
His eyes zero in on something, and I slap a clumsy hand onto my cheek, wiping the spot he’s looking at. Shiny pink lipstick coats my fingers as I pull them away.
