My Ex-Husband's New Wife Asked Me to Take Him Back novel · Chapter 22 of 24

Chapter 22: The Keys

My father was waiting for me in the back office, in the oak swivel chair, with a ring of keys on the blotter.

Bernie stood by the filing cabinet, wearing her good purple vest.

She had put on lipstick.

"Shut the door," said Wim.

I shut it.

"Sit."

"I'm not a dog."

"Sit, please."

I sat in the folding chair across the desk, with a yellow legal pad and a pen from the paint counter.

My father laid his hand on the keys.

There were nine of them, on a steel ring worn smooth, with a red plastic tag that said FRONT.

"My father handed me these in 1984," he said.

"He didn't say a word."

"He put them on this desk and went to the Anchor for pie."

"Dad."

"I've had a fine forty-two years."

He pushed them an inch toward me.

"I'm tired of the basement stairs and the Tuesday freight."

"I'd like to sit on a stool by the register and tell customers what they're doing wrong."

"You do that now."

"I'd like to do it with a pension."

I looked at the ring.

For a moment I felt the same panic I'd felt in the stockroom, when the man on the phone said partner.

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