Sleigh Bells - Fern Michaels Page 0,6

short answer is, no. Is there something you want, Dad? Like maybe my hide, a pint of blood? Name it, and it’s yours.” His voice was so bitter that Josh could hardly believe it was his own. He heard his father sigh. He always sighed when Josh let loose with his feelings.

“You were pretty hard on that little gal, weren’t you?”

“If you say so, Dad. Is there anything else? If not, I’m going to turn in early.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, son.”

“Actually, no, I won’t be stopping by. If you need something I can have someone from the store drop it off. But now that you’ve brought it up, there is something I’ve been meaning to say. I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you that I’ll be leaving the first of the year. I’m moving to London. I got a job at Harrods. I leave New Year’s Day. You can have Eagle’s back. I guess I’m not really giving it back to you since you never really relinquished your interest in the store to me the way you agreed to. The way I figure it is this: you’ll probably have a week in January before you have to close Eagle’s doors for good. Good night, Dad.”

Josh tossed his beer bottles into a wire basket in the laundry room. As he made his way up the stairs he could hear the phone ringing. He knew it was his father calling back because he was in shock over his son’s cold announcement. “It’s been a long time in coming, Dad,” Josh muttered as he settled himself in his small home office. He clicked on the computer and ran some stats. Nothing had changed since earlier in the day. Eagle’s was still at the bottom of the list. Just a few months until Eagle’s would have to close their doors. Well, come the first of the year, Eagle’s Department Store would no longer be his problem. He was sick and tired of battling his father, sick and tired of batting his head against a stone wall. Eventually he would get over the shame of failing. He had a job waiting for him at the prestigious Harrods in London, where his expertise would be appreciated.

The phone at the end of the long second-floor hallway continued to ring. “Give it up, Dad, I have nothing more to say.”

Josh climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. Then he climbed back out of bed to turn the thermostat down to sixty degrees. Back in bed, his last conscious thought before drifting off to sleep was that he had to apologize in the morning to the witch with the broom.

Eva knew that Angus was coming up behind her. She could hear his walker on the tile floor. Then again, they were the only two patients in the sunroom, so who else could it be? She steeled herself for Angus’s sharp tongue and whatever he was about to say. She clicked the OFF button on the remote control. What was left of the evening news report disappeared.

“Do you mind if I sit down, Eva?”

“Not at all. It’s nice to see you again, Angus. It’s been a long time, five years if I’m not mistaken. How strange that we should meet up like this after so long.”

Because she was a nurturer by nature, Eva wanted to get up to help Angus ease himself into the chair across from her, but these days it was a production to get herself up and moving. “Are you in pain, Angus?”

“A bit. How about you?”

“At times. I try to ignore the pain and just use the frozen bags of peas. They really do help. Other than the hip replacement, how are things?”

“Are you asking to be polite or do you really want to know?” Angus asked.

Eva thought she’d never heard a sadder voice. “Is there anything I can do, Angus?”

“Not unless you have a magic potion that will turn my son into a charming young prince. What was that all about earlier?”

Eva decided not to pretend she didn’t know what her old friend was talking about. “Rivalry would be my guess. Two strong, bullheaded people pushing each other’s buttons. How is the store doing, Angus?”

“According to my son, not well at all. He blames me. Says I’m an old fuddy-duddy. He says I have no foresight. He claims I’m locked in the past. He said the last time I had an idea was the day, almost twenty