“What did she say? What did she want from me?” Mark steeled his spine as he let a decision form in his mind.
“She wants you to go over to see him. Whether or not he passes away. For the funeral if he does. She said she wanted your family to bury the hatchet—” He stopped speaking for a moment, then continued, his face getting darker in anger. “And I did my best to be polite, but….”
“It’s all right, sir. She knows what she’s done. What he has done.” Mark got to his feet. “If she calls again, please tell her I’m not interested.” This, too, felt freeing on some level he wasn’t familiar with. He stepped to the door and then turned back to his boss who seemed relieved. “Frankly, sir, you’ve been a better father figure to me than my biological one ever was. So, thank you.”
He quickly slipped out of the office before Sheriff Newman could respond to his silly admission.
* * * *