Surprise Dad by Daly Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

school.”
    “It was a shock to her,” Allie said, “but she’s trying to understand, although I know she’s still determined that I’ll be a doctor. I feel so guilty about upsetting her, and I feel worse now that she’s being so kind to me. Too kind.” She smiled. “I feel like a four-year-old again.”
    “Mothers do that,” Priscilla said. “Maybe it’s time to leave home.”
    “I wish I could, but you don’t make a lot of money going to med school.” She forced a smile.
    Roger and Priscilla exchanged a look, and Roger nodded. “Would you like to stay here for a while?” Priscilla asked her. “We could postpone the sale until I feel more like cleaning things up, repainting and that kind of thing.”
    Allie’s mouth dropped open. “It would be like a dream come true. I’ve always loved this house. Um, it would depend on the rent, of course…”
    “No rent,” the senator said. “We couldn’t rent it to anyone in its current condition.”
    It was too good to be true. “I’ll clean it up,” Allie said in a hurry. “I’ll…”
    “You’d better take a look at it, make sure you can stand even walking inside the way it is now.”
    “I can stand anything,” Allie said fervently. “When could I move in?”
    Priscilla laughed. “As far as I’m concerned,” she said, “right this minute. I love your mother, but I know how determined she can be.” Then she smiled. “Just like you, Allie Hendricks.”
    Allie realized that what Priscilla said was absolutely true. She and her mother were like two mules trying to share a stall. As she followed Mrs. Appletree inside, she felt like dancing. Her life was definitely taking a turn for the better.
     
    M IKE HAD BEEN dreading the lawyer’s call for two-thirds of the day, and now, looking at the last third, he felt he couldn’t stand another minute of suspense. He’d overcooked one batch of flank steaks and Maury had rescued the next one just in time. Maury had snatched the sugar caster out of his hand when he’d picked it up instead of the sea-salt box, which didn’t look anything like the sugar caster.
    Each time the phone rang, he twitched. At last, he picked up the receiver to hear, “Mr. Foster? Earl Ritter here.”
    “Yes, Mr.—”
    “I’m so sorry I’m just now calling. A family crisis and no cell phone, as my assistant told you.”
    “No problem,” Mike lied.
    “I’m afraid there is,” Ritter said. “I’m sorry to be calling with some very bad news.”
    Mike felt his gut tighten. “Go ahead,” he said.
    “My client, Evan Howard, died yesterday morning.”
    Mike’s hand froze on the receiver. Evan Howard had shaped his early life, had been the wall Mike had to break down to be the man he’d struggled to become. Now his nemesis was gone, just like that. It was over.
    He should feel relieved. Instead, he felt deprived of the opportunity to prove himself to the man.
    “How did he die?” he asked as calmly as he could.
    Ritter sighed. “A dreadful car accident,” he said. “His wife died with him. She was so young. It’s such a tragedy.”
    Evan remarried? A young wife?
    “The funeral is tomorrow and the reading of the will is on Friday. You’ll need to be there.”
    “I wish I could, but I run a restaurant and have to be here. I want to send flowers, of course, if you’ll tell me the name of the funeral home.”
    “Mike, you must be here.” Ritter wasn’t impolite, but he spoke so firmly that it took Mike aback.
    “Evan wasn’t really a close friend,” Mike hedged, “so I, um…”
    “He certainly thought of you as a close friend,” Ritter said. “He’s made you the guardian of his child, Brian Marshall Howard.”

Chapter Four
    Mike felt as if he’d been caught by a tide that was tugging him too far from shore to swim back. He needed to make some response to Ritter, but his mind had shut down.
    “So you must be here, of course,” Ritter repeated, “to take the appropriate legal steps before you can take