“Oh, thank you, Father!” I said, leaping from the stool into his arms. He lifted me off the ground and twirled me around, before setting me before the gift. Mr. Van Beek cleared his throat and Mr. Hardin frowned.
“Sorry, gentlemen, I apologize for the outburst. Not every day you change your daughter’s life.”
He snatched up the box and headed to the back room. I dashed after him. He set it down on the little table we dined on and we both stared down at it.
“Well, aren’t you going to open it?” I tugged on the bow and carefully removed the ribbon, it in itself a gift. And then I peeled back the edge of the brown paper.
“Oh, come on! Put some muscle into it, Hattie,” Father said, yanking at the paper. In a frenzy, we both ripped off the wrapping, revealing a shiny black case beneath.
“What is it?”
“Unlatch it and find out.”
With my thumb, I pushed open the silver latch and lifted the lid. Beneath was a machine, of shiny metal, glowing white lettered keys and highly polished wood. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“But why, Father?” I asked, running my finger over the words on the typewriter’s black paper label. It read, REMINGTON.
“Now that you’re about to finish school, I’ve been thinking about your future.”
“But Nate and I—”
“You’ll find a good husband, Hattie. I have no doubt about that, but as your father, it’s up to me to provide for you now. But men are fallible and I never want a daughter of mine to have to worry about her future. We’re not quitters, you and me, but with this, you can do anything.”
I was speechless. He was right. In an instant, my father had changed my life.
“I love you, Father,” was all I could say as I threw myself into my father’s waiting arms, wishing I could stay there forever.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2015 by Anna Loan-Wilsey
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-1-61773-727-5
eISBN-10: 1-61773-727-5
First Kensington Electronic Edition: August 2015
ISBN: 978-1-6177-3727-5
A Deceptive Homecoming Page 26