She stared at Chewi. “Guess you can keep eating the good kibble, buddy.”

He sniffed at her without raising his head.

* * * *

After Rebecca made herself a cup of chamomile tea to calm her nerves, she made the call she really dreaded—to her father. She had completely brainfarted on calling him earlier, between trying to run her booth at the show and deal with the emotional blow.

“Hey, sweetheart. What’s up?”

“I have some bad news for you, Dad.” She gave him the short version, the little that she knew.

He went silent for so long she had to look to see if the call had dropped.

“You still there?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding somber. “Sorry. I guess I always thought we’d reconcile.” Her father was the youngest brother. The last time Jackson had seen his two brothers was at their mother’s funeral twenty years earlier. Their father had died the year before her.

Rebecca had been old enough to drive and still visit her uncle, but back then his house, while looking like a bachelor lived there, hadn’t been hoarded. Yes, he’d had lots of stuff stacked in the spare bedrooms, but nothing like the attorney had described to her on the phone.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

“Why did the attorney contact you, again?”

She took a deep breath. “I guess I’m his heir. He left everything to me.”

He laughed. “Good for you, sweetheart. He always did like you better than Tom’s kids. Said you were down-to-earth and fun to have as a niece.”

“You’re…not mad, are you?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad?” He sounded genuinely confused.

“It’s a lot of…it’s a lot.”

“Sweetheart, after what you’ve been through, consider this your winning lotto ticket. Enjoy it. Go back to school and get another degree. Buy a new RV. Get Chewi some new duds. How is my granddog, anyway?”

She reached out and stroked his head. “He’s already demanding quarters upgrades.”

“Maybe now you can afford to buy him those ‘minuns’ he’s been wanting so he can finally take over the world.”

Now she laughed. Her parents had bought into the storytelling about Chewi and his plans for world ‘dominayshun’ and played along. It didn’t hurt that Chewi was almost like a ventriloquist dog with his facial expressions and reactions to them.

“Maybe.”

“Look, I’ll call Tom for you. When are you heading down there?”

“Monday. Eliza said I can stay with them. I’m going to drive the Toad and leave the RV parked here. I have to be back by early next Friday morning for the weekend. Two more weekends here, then I have two weeks off until the next event. I’ll drive the RV down then, if there’s still stuff to do.”

“If you need any help, call me.”

“Do I…I mean, do I have a service or a funeral or something?”

“What did his will say?”

“I didn’t think to ask that. The lawyer said he specified he wanted to be cremated, but other than that, I don’t know.”

“Okay, then ask the lawyer first. I don’t mean to sound cold about this, but Tom and I weren’t close to him. He made it pretty clear the last time we saw him that he didn’t want anything to do with us personally.”

“Why? I’ve never asked that, but I want to know.”

He let out a sigh. “Tom and I were pissed off at him for not being there more for Dad and Mom while Dad was sick. The cancer first hit him ten years before it finally killed him. All the stuff we did to help them, we both felt Jack could have taken more of an active role in their care than he did. He was still in the military, but he was stationed at MacDill then. He could have come down and helped some. And when he retired, he hardly helped at all. According to him, Dad was pissed off at him for joining the military and said he didn’t want Jack around.”

“I thought Grandpa was in the army back in World War II?”

“He was. Which was why he was so adamant about none of us joining. He wouldn’t talk about it with us. He wanted us to go to college and get degrees, and Jackson enrolled after graduating from high school without talking to Mom and Dad first.

“No offense, but it sounds like a stupid thing to split a family over.”

“It was, in retrospect. Tom and I were younger, and yes, we were trying to stay on Dad’s good side because we were teenagers. And then Jackson was gone for years, hardly any contact until he was back in Florida again near retirement. Tom and I tried to talk to him, to get him to put it behind him and be an active part of the family, but he had pulled away, too.”

“That’s really sad.”

“It is.” He let out a sigh. “That’s why I’m glad you kept us posted about what was going on with Sam when you divorced him. You didn’t pull away from us.”

She didn’t want to think about Sam. “He’s in the past.”

“You can’t fool me. I know that’s why you decided to go on the road. You have a degree in accounting. You could have settled down into a great job in Sarasota, or even up in Tampa or St. Pete. You ran far and fast once you were free of that bastard.”

“Yeah,” she quietly said. “I can’t deny that.”

“Well, look at it this way,” her dad said. “You get another chance to start over and do whatever you want. Either fix the house up and live there, or sell it and use the money, anything. It’s all up to you.”

After a brief chat with her mom, Rebecca ended the call and stared down at Chewi.

“I guess if we had a house, you would have a place to let your minuns sleep.”

He lifted his head and stared at her.

I need you to buy me minuns first.

She stroked his head. “Maybe I should use that money to buy me some psychotherapy.”

It couldn’t hurt.

Chapter Four

Early Monday morning, Rebecca packed up her jewelry supplies, a bag of clothes, Chewi’s stuff, and notified the RV park office she likely wouldn’t be back until late Thursday or early Friday. She left her cell number and Eliza’s number with them, and slipped the manager an extra forty bucks to keep an eye on the RV for her. After setting up the Android cellular tablet she only used for ringing credit card sales and as a GPS unit for driving, she set off for Florida.

It was late Monday afternoon when she pulled into Eliza and Rusty’s driveway. Eliza emerged from the house, hurrying over to her for a long, strong hug.

They were interrupted by an irritated grumble from the passenger seat.

Chewi, slowly wagging his tail, was still held back by his safety harness that kept him tethered to the seat.

“Hey, Chewi,” Eliza said, walking around to free him. “Did you take over the world yet?”

He greeted her with eager face licks and a faster beat of his tail.

“He only loves you for the good nommies,” Rebecca teased. “Remember that.”

“Yeah, these damn doggy dictators are fickle beasts.” She set him down, holding onto his leash while he sniffed around. “Can I help you unload?”

“No, I’ll get it in a little while. Right now, I just want to relax.”

They went inside, where Booger, a fifty-pound Old English bulldog whose real name was Boo, eagerly greeted her long-lost four-legged friend.

Chewi responded by trying to hump the much taller dog.

Eliza sadly shook her head. “He still doesn’t remember he’s neutered and she’s spayed, does he?”

“Sure he does,” Rebecca called out as she headed for the bathroom. “It’s totally safe sex he’s after. He’s no dummy.”

* * * *

They were sitting at the dining room table and talking while waiting on the attorney to arrive when Rebecca finally asked the question. “Any news on you-know-who?”

“Wow. I’m impressed. You went nearly a whole hour without stressing out over Sam.”

“Sorry. I’m paranoid.”

“Don’t be.” She started to say something else when they heard a car in the drive. “That must be Ed Payne. Hold that thought.”