Chapter 2 In comes trouble

Kurt Jones was getting his mail on his way to his apartment. He enjoyed the single life. No barriers like his wife or kids. But life was lonely these days. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

The bottom piece was a thick envelope similar to the legal ones his office sent to clients. It had the return address of Horizon Vermont. He set aside all the other mail and opened that one first.

"My god." Was all he could utter. Why hadn't he heard his wife was dying? And why was his oldest daughter Harley seeking custody of 2 kids? He only knew that he had 2 daughters. He looked at the time. It was too early to call the east coast.

When he did call he was told his wife had died of cancer months ago and had been fighting it a very long time before that. His daughter Harley had been doing everything on her own since she was 15 and partly on her own before that. The state had agreed to her terms as they saw him as an absentee parent but certain procedures had to followed and the legal forms were a mere formality. The state was short on beds and his daughter was capable of being a sole provider. He decided then to return home.

Harley didn't hear the vehicle pull up. But when she turned around to grab her chisel, she didn't miss the man standing in her garage door staring at her.

"Buddy if your a collector get off my property. The hospital has agreed to let me pay installments. If you're from the state you know the way inside." She went back to her work.

"I am no bill collector I am your father though." He said.

She dropped the tool and didn't hold back on giving this son of a bitch a hard right hook. He shows up after all this time? For what.

"Your ass isn't welcome. I have everything under control." She spit out.

"I am back for good. Whether you like it or not. This is half my house and land. I am the parent here." He said then started bringing his luggage inside.

"Well take care of your own affairs then. Just don't expect us to be too hospitable. You're probably hoping for something well we only have the roof over our heads and the vehicle I drive. Other than that you can take all the debt on you want." She followed him to the bare master bedroom.

"What happened to the furniture?" He boomed.

"When mom first got sick she sold it to pay for treatment." She replied. Her mom would at least want her to be civil.

"There a furniture place in town?" He asked holding a kitchen towel to his nose while Harley cleaned the floor.

"Only the factory and we're working on a massive project currently. The second hand place might have a okay set. Let me run into town and take a look." She said heading to change into decent clothes.

"I got it. I will also do some shopping." He told her.

She returned to her work until he came in with the treats he used to when she was a kid. A nice burger basket from the town diner.

"Sorry for slugging you. I was caught off guard." She said while taking a bite of burger.

This brought her back to the good times. Before he had left last time.

"Where are your siblings at?" Her dad asked.

"KJ is at his friends for the night and Sally is on an overnight trip with her scout troop." She told him.

They ate in silence then he began unloading his haul from town.