a run-down espresso machine that was unreliable on its best day.
Dad’s booming laugh had hidden the truth. Everything had seemed fine. I’d called him the day before the heart attack. The last time I’d spoken to him in person, he’d left me with the biggest bear hug I’d ever felt. All my concerns about finishing college and settling into my real estate dream had felt much smaller. I wished that was all I was dealing with now.
Maybe that’s what hurt the most. Seeing a side of Dad I hadn’t known existed, left with a legacy I’d never wanted.
Had the coffee shop pushed him to that early grave?
Why had he hidden his debt from me?
Amongst the expenses was my college tuition. The mortgage. Some debt from years past. His insurance could only cover so much, and it was already gone.
Shaking that off, I found my determination again. This place would prosper. It would achieve all the dreams that he’d set for it, and then some. And then I’d crush it in the real estate market here with The Frolicking Moose as my very first sale.
As soon as I pulled it out of the mounting credit card debt, talked to the bank about the mortgage, and . . . figured out how to run this place without driving myself into the ground.
Like so many other problems, at least I could put Maverick off until tomorrow. The soft padding of four feet coming down the spiral stairs caught my attention. Just in time, too.
I had another quandary to face.
That night, I grabbed my laundry bag to head to the laundromat and then my second trip to the grocery store this week. Feeding young mouths was more intense than I’d thought. I stopped when the bag dropped to the ground, unexpectedly heavy.
Frowning, I stooped down and yanked it open.
An old plastic water bottle lay inside. It had already been used, but it was carefully refilled all the way to the top. Next to it was a collection of half-eaten pastries I’d given Ellie for breakfast. She must have stashed this all away here. Some doughnut packages and candy bars and protein bars I was sure had been stolen. Amongst the food were old shoelaces, wire, and metal pointy things sanded to a sharp tip that she’d probably found outside.
Understanding dawned all at once.
Ellie had always been flighty. Half-feral as she roamed the woods and fields by Jim and Mama’s house. They had open acreage for farming against a backdrop of forest, and Ellie had always lost herself in the outdoors.
But now she was trying to be ready again, just in case. She was always one step ahead of everyone.
Shaken, I stuffed the bag back where I’d found it and stared at my hands. If I didn’t take the girls, Ellie would run. We might never find her again.
Grabbing my keys with a scowl, I headed out. Laundry could wait another day.
The wheels of my cart squeaked a lonely song as I snaked through the only grocery store in Pineville, my mind on Ellie. Everything here lay packed close together, as if they wanted to cram as much as possible into the rectangular space. Air conditioning blew on me from overhead vents as I drove past the fruit, grabbing a cantaloupe.
Then I wandered to the greeting card aisle and spent way too long laughing at a few stupid cards before I bought them. Sending cards had always been Pappa’s thing, so I’d kept his list going in his honor. Birthdays. Deaths. Anniversaries. All of them inherited family friends, because all my other family had died, except Lizbeth and Ellie.
When I steered my cart back to the food, I realized I should have gotten a grocery list from Lizbeth. I had no idea what the girls liked. Or what I had in my bank account.
With a sigh, I tapped into my phone and logged into the banking app.
Ninety-seven dollars left.
“Yikes,” I muttered. Boxes of cereal marched down the aisle in variegated colors. They were cheap enough. Could the girls live on cereal for a few weeks? Blech. No. Ninety-seven dollars should feed the three of us for a week. The real question was whether I could pry that much out of the coffee shop next week.
“I would go with Fruity O’s, if that’s the debate that’s stalled you in the middle of the aisle.”
A voice from behind made me spin around. Maverick stood there, a wry expression on his face, as if I hadn’t glared him