“Bet you’re glad to get us
out of your house,” Casey said to Bing, laughing.
“You, I can deal with. Duke
however...“ Bing reached down to pat the bloodhound’s head, adroitly avoiding
getting drooled on.
They were standing in the
living room of a house on the east side of Winterfield. It was in a
middle-class neighborhood and much smaller than the one Casey had vacated a
week earlier. Not that he gave a damn. It suited him perfectly and had a nice
large backyard that Duke had already happily made his own.
“Now all you need is some
furniture,” Bing pointed out.
“It’s coming later today, which,
of course, took some more money out of my bank account. I just wish...“
“What?”
Casey shrugged. “I hate
acting like such an ass but she did ask for it. At least the pre-nup made my
company untouchable.” Pacing across to look out the large front window he
sighed, then turned around, saying, “Enough moaning. Are you hungry?”
“When am I not,” Bing
replied with a grin. “Go out or order in and have a picnic on the floor?”
“Order in, just in case the
furniture arrives sooner than expected.”
Bing snorted. “That would be
a miracle.” Taking out his cell he asked, “What are you in the mood for?”
“Food.”
“Wiseass. Okay, I’ll make
the decision.” He scrolled through his address book and punched in a number.
Twenty minutes later the two
brothers were sitting cross-legged on the hardwood floor eating Italian while
Duke sat at attention waiting for his share.
“So what’s next on your
agenda?” Bing asked once he’d made a dent in his meal.
“Nothing terribly exciting.
I might take a couple of days off and go up to Mill Creek for some fishing. Get
away from all this for a while.”
“And leave Thomas in
charge?”
“Of course, why not?”
“No reason I guess. I just
don’t like the man.”
“He’s good at what he does,
and he knows quality. And,” Casey added, “he is honest which in my business is
a definite plus.”
“True that.” Bing looked at
the remains on his plate and then slid it over to Duke.
Casey hastily snagged the
plate before the dog attacked it, picked up his own plate and took both of them
outside to the back porch. “Clean up after you’re finished,” he said, patting
Duke on the head.
“That’s a dog, Casey, not a
kid,” Bing said with a laugh.
“I know, but it doesn’t hurt
to tell him that anyway. Maybe someday he’ll get it.”
* * * *
“How are you doing?” Thomas
asked as soon as Casey walked through the front door into the well-appointed showroom
of the Rothem’s Galleria.
The two other employees, who
were standing behind the cases, dusting and straightening them before the store
opened, looked up, interested to hear his reply.
Casey shrugged. “I’m fully
moved in now, have furniture and I slept like a baby last night. So I’m doing
very well, thank you.” He headed towards his office, beckoning for Thomas to
follow.
“So how are you really
doing?” Thomas settled primly on one of the mahogany armchairs while Casey took
his seat behind the large matching desk.
“Kathy’s lawyer had the
divorce papers delivered, which I promptly handed over to my lawyer. Until I
talk to him I won’t know where I stand. So, I’m going to take a long weekend
off and get out of the city.”
“That bad huh?” Thomas
smiled slightly at his boss. “When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning, which
means I need to fill you in on some things before I go.”
The two men spent the next
hour going over details that Thomas would need to know during Casey’s absence.
Just as they’d finished Casey’s secretary rang through to tell him his sister
Alma was on the line. He rolled his eyes, waited until Thomas had left, and
then picked up the phone.
“Good afternoon, Alma. To
what do I owe the honor of this call?” His tone was rather snide but then it
usually was when he talked to her. Snide or angry. He listened for a minute and
then cut her off.
“My life is none of your
business, Alma. Kathy and I don’t see eye to eye any more, not that we ever
really did. As a result she’s filed for divorce. Unless she decided to be very
antagonistic I don’t intend to fight her.”
There was another long pause
on his end while his oldest sister berated him up, down and sideways for being
a fool and an idiot and several other things that he blocked out. Selective
hearing was a necessity for him while talking to her.
Finally she wound down
enough for him to tell her he wouldn’t be in town for the next three days which
set her off again. With a sigh he broke in, told her he had a business to run,
and hung up before she could protest.
Two minutes later his
youngest sister was on the line, whining that he couldn’t leave Kathy because
then she wouldn’t be invited to her ‘fabulous’ parties.
“Tell you what,” he barked
out sarcastically, “I’ll make it part of the divorce decree that you have to be
at everyone. Now, Darla, if you don’t mind I have more important things to do
than talk to you at the moment. Call me tonight if you want to continue this.
And just for your information I’m going up to the Mill Creek cabin over the
weekend and my cell will be turned off. Goodbye.”
Hanging up, he muttered,
“God save me from my sisters,” before getting down to work.
