Blue-Collar Daddy || Bang Chan

Chapter 5: Down & Dirty

"Not after your family ruined my whole life."

      "Wait...what?"

      "Like you don't know..."

      "I wish someone would tell me."

      "Fine. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Your father had an affair with my mother. He refused to leave you and your mother, not even when my mom got pregnant with me. He chose you over me, and I grew up without a dad!"

      My father died a year ago. He was always a quiet, kind man... but there was some reason he left Blue Haven that they never wanted to tell me.

      "Wait...that's not my fault."

      "Maybe not. But you got the life I wanted."

      "I can't help that either!"

      The woman collects Katie, and I follow behind her, trying to get her to say more.

      "Does this make us...sisters?"

      "I don't believe in family. My mom and I don't even talk."

      "Granny is a mean old woman!" Katie says.

      The woman pauses at the door, glancing back at me.

      "She is. Mean and bitter. And that's all thanks to the (YLN) family. We may be half-sisters, but we'll never be family."

      The woman storms out of the library, leaving me stunned. For a long while, I sit, stunned, at my desk.

      "I have a half-sister, here in town. I have family alive after all! That's amazing."

      As I rush to the bank, my mind turns over the events of the day.

      "I thought Blue Haven would be boring, but it's anything but!"

      "Ha! You can say that again."

      I stop outside the bank, where a man leans against the wall. His name tag reads, 'Steve-Banker'.

      "You're Marjorie's brother?"

      "Guilty as charged."

      "Sorry, I have been through a lot today."

      "We call that the Blue Haven treatment. You here to rob me?"

      "Huh?"

      "Wishful thinking. We've never been robbed, but it seems exciting."

      "I'm here to save my house."

      "Let's see what I can do."

      He leads me into his office where he sits back in his chair like I'm the oldest of friends.

      "What can I help you with?"

      I need him to sign my grant paperwork so I can get the money to repair my house...and future B&B.

      "Bang Chan said we should talk. I need a 2nd council member to sign my grant request."

      "I'm listening..."

      I've got his attention, and Bang Chan said he just needs a fact-based presentation to sign!

      "We're losing tourist money by only having one B&B that can only accommodate two guests at a time. During the blueberry festival, visitors have to stay in the next town over, Green Valley. If we had another B&B, our tax dollars would shoot up 75% per year!"