They Gave My Cousin a Car, I Built an Empire novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving I drove to my parents' house in Ben's truck and parked it behind the Camaro.

The red car was in the driveway with a PupPalace magnet on the door.

Mom opened the front door before I knocked and hugged me hard.

"You came," she whispered.

"I said I would."

"Your father's in a mood. Tyler brought a video guy."

"A what?"

"For the family business."

The dining room table had been stretched with two extra leaves.

There was an enormous turkey, three kinds of potatoes, and at the head of the table, my father, in a PupPalace polo shirt.

Aunt Deb sat on his left with a glass of wine and a tight smile.

Tyler sat on his right, with a second young man behind him holding a camera.

I took the chair at the far end, next to my mother's empty one.

"Vicky!" Dad said, spreading his arms. "Sit! Eat! You look thin."

"I've been working."

"I heard. I heard." He nodded around the table. "My girl has her little shop."

Nobody had ever called Good Dog Supply "her little shop" before.

I took a roll and said nothing.

When everyone had a plate, Dad stood up with his glass and cleared his throat.

The camera moved in.

"I want to say something," Dad said. "I'm fifty-eight years old. I spent thirty-one years at the plant. I never thought I'd see a day like this, with my family around me, and a business that's going to make this family's name mean something."

"Hear, hear," said Aunt Deb.

"To PupPalace," he said. "To the family business, and to the boy who's going to run it."

Everybody lifted a glass.

Tyler lowered his head, modestly, for the camera.

I raised my water glass and held it there.

"The family business," I said.

Dad's eyes slid past me.

"You're welcome to come work for it, Vicky. Tyler could use someone with retail experience."

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