“What’s wrong?”
“Seniors don’t hang with lower classmen.”
“Really?” I nearly laughed. “That’s stupid.”
Tiesa just looked at me.
“I’ll hang with you,” I added and she smiled brightly.
“Awesome!”
I guess it was. I’d made my first friend.
“Morgan!” A deep voice called.
I instantly knew who it was. Tammer stood behind us. Tiesa blushed. He smiled at her and motioned me to come to him.
“You know him?” Tiesa asked.
“He’s my stepfather,” I said and her eyes nearly popped out her head.
“No! Tammer Riddick is your step-dad?”
“Yeah,” I stood up. “Why? What’s the big deal? ”
“My dad and he are best friends. I hardly see him though because normally they go boating together. Everyone knows him! He’s like the richest guy in this area. And he’s gorgeous!” She whispered the last part to me as she stood.
We walked up to Tammer and he held his hand out to Tiesa. “How are you, Tiesa?” He asked.
“I’m good, thank you. How are you?” She was practically melting before him.
“I’m well. Say hi to David for me.”
“I will.”
Tammer smiled at her and then looked at me. “Are you all right?”
I shrugged. “I guess.”
“Your Mom is worried. I told her I’d bring you home.”
Tiesa turned and gave me a hug. “I’ll call you!” She said and walked away.
How? I hadn’t given her my number.
“Everyone knows my number,” Tammer said. It was as if he’d read my mind. “She’ll call you tomorrow.”
I dug my toe into the ground. “You know, I don’t feel much like being anywhere but here, Tammer.”
Tammer tilted his head to the side. “I understand, Morgan, but your mother is very worried about you. This may be a small city, but it’s still foreign to you and the last thing anyone would want would be for something to happen to you. Can you understand that?”
He was right. I didn’t want to admit it, but he was right. I was getting hungry, too.
“Look, I know that all this has been dreadful for you. Heaven knows we didn’t want it to be this way. Can you see it from our side? We wanted to explain phasing to you gently, not be forced into it because your legs suddenly changed.” He paused, looking at the ground.
“Your father’s passing has been hard on your mother. She cared a great deal for him. He was a good and kind man and though I only met him once, I knew he was a perfect father for you. It is terrible that he’s gone, but look at what a good job he did helping raise you. At least you have those memories of him. He was a special man.”
I stared at Tammer. Most people weren’t like this. Most adults didn’t go around talking so nicely about their spouses ex. But here he was, practically spouting poetry.
“I didn’t know you’d met him.” I knew that Mom had talked once or twice to Dad about Tammer, but meeting him was something I did not know.
“Once, many years ago.” Tammer seemed sad. I almost felt sorry for him, but I was the one who’d lost him.
“Yeah, well, I’m really sorry all this is so hard on you,” I said sarcastically and instantly regretted it. He looked up at me.
“You’re right,” he said and pulled his keys from his pocket. “I’m sorry I tried to talk to you so soon after his passing. I know you’re angry. Are you ready to go home?”
There wasn’t anything else for me to do, so I just followed him to his silver Porsche and we returned home in silence.
Chapter Five
Now What?
I’m not going into detail about the funeral. It was horrible. I don’t know why people say things like, “It was a wonderful service, just lovely.” The whole time, I sat staring at the shell of a person who used to be my dad and wanted to scream, “That’s not him! He’s not dead. Who is that person?”
The house was dead without him; the life of the place, sucked out. Mom and Tammer took care of everything. The realtors swooped in and Mom hired one of them. The cattle didn’t belong to Dad, so they would remain on the property for the remainder of the summer, getting fat until they would be shipped to Nampa for slaughter. Mom gave our horses to the workers who helped Dad run the place all year.
The whole thing took five days. Five days and everything was taken care of. They hired a moving company to go in and pack everything and put it all in a storage unit for me, supposedly for when I went to college. Five days and my life in Idaho was over. I’d probably never return. The sadness clung to my heart like a lead weight.