Complete Me (Book Three of The Kirkland Family)

Complete Me: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Good morning, Rosebud," Justin Kirkland said as soon as Rose unlocked Shaw's Antiques the next morning.

"Daddy...why are you here so early?" she asked, propping the door open to let in the morning breeze. Her cat Jeepers slinked around her leg and circled her father's. Justin bent to give Jeepers a scratch, and content with the attention, she sauntered off to find a spot of sun in the window.

"Wanted to see how you're doing," he replied and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Your mother sent over blueberry muffins...your favorite." He stepped inside.

"Thanks, Daddy," Rose said, peeking into the paper bag shoved at her. "But I'm fine...you don't have to check on me, you know. Or at least, wait until this afternoon. Charlotte is coming by soon to look at the French buffet."

"I won't stay long," he said. "Your mother and I were talking last night—"

Never a good start to a conversation, Rose thought and set the muffins on the counter.

"—and we were wondering what's going to happen with the store now," he finished.

And never a pleasant topic of conversation, Rose mentally added. "Nothing is going to happen to the store," she said, hating herself for lying to her father, but she still hadn't figured out what to say about Mr. Shaw leaving it to her. Her father had always been adamant about her getting a "real" life outside of this store. A real job. A real house. A husband and kids and all that. Rose was sure he'd be happy if she had a casual boyfriend, as long as she got away from the store periodically.

"How was your chiropractic visit last week?" she asked, hoping to change the subject. "With everything that's happened this week..."

Her father's face instantly soured. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That bad?"

"He told me to lay off the strenuous activity for a while," her father went on, despite his desire to not talk about it. "Goodbye sex life."

Rose groaned inwardly. "Daddy, please...I've asked you to not discuss your...your marital life with me. I'm your daughter."

He followed her through the store, leaning on the high counter as she unlocked the cash register and filled it from the bank bag in the safe. "Who else am I going to talk to?"

"I don't know. Your friends?" she suggested. "Don't you still have a bowling night with Mr. Rufus and the guys?"

"No bowling for a while either," he said, grimacing as he fiddled with the tin can of pens and pencils. "And Rufus just makes jokes."

"Then how about Mom...your wife."

Her dad fidgeted and shrugged. "Your mother kind of expects me to keep up with her...I don't want to disappoint her."

Rose sighed. There was no getting out of this. For some stupid reason in the past year, her father had decided to lay all his personal problems at her feet—financial, physical and sexual. At first, the bile rose, but now she just tried to turn a deaf ear to most of it. What daughter wanted to know what her parents do behind their bedroom door? "There are professionals who like to hear about a grown man's private life," she said, storing her own bag under the counter.

"I'm not talking to a shrink about what goes on in my bedroom," he growled low in his throat.

"What makes you think I want to hear about it?" she asked.

"She's on this shower kick...wants to shower together all the time, and then...you know," he said, now flipping through the newspaper she set on the counter.