No Solace (The Flames of Retribution - Book 1)

Chapter Four - Father's advice

I could barely put two thoughts together as I entered the Low neighborhood that I lived in to tell my father the news. The Lows were not initially named as an aspersion to the people that lived there. It originally was simply a name to indicate that the homes were situated in a valley. Over time, as wealthier neighbors sought higher ground to escape flooding, the less fortunate remained, and the Lows came to mean the unkind word that it was at present.

Our house came into view, and I realized that one of the shutters was about to fall off, and the front step was in need of replacing. It bowed in the middle like a swayback horse.

I winced at the state of it. Papa had sworn he could do the repairs, but it was evident he could not. He was like a bird, hiding his infirmities behind bluster. The windows were grimy, and the paint was peeling. I was going to have to call someone to fix things up. I would just have to figure out how to do it without insulting my father.

As I walked up the steps of our simple house, I was not sure how he would take it, me getting engaged. I was all that my father had after my mother died. Since he was not interested in remarrying, he had little hope of having more children. He worried every time I left that I wouldn't come back, but at least when I did, I came back home. There hadn't been much choice what my job would be once my aptitude appeared, but an engagement was a different story.

When I married, I wouldn't be able to stay here and care for my father. But that was three years from now. I hoped by that time, my father would find someone he would come to love as much as me.

I entered our small dining room and greeted my father who was at the table talking with his old friend, Dolph. He looked up at me and smiled before saying goodbye to his friend.

"Good day, Dolph. Bring me back some of your catch from your fishing trip if you can."

"Will do, Frances," Dolph said as he tipped his fisherman hat at me on his way out. Dolph was a good man, and at forty-five, he was ten years younger than my father. After my father's accident, he tried to help as much as he could, but all my father would allow was an occasional fish from one of Dolph's expeditions.

When Dolph closed the door, Father gestured for me to sit down.

"Honey, how was your visit with Merx?"

"I have news that I hope will please you." I told him nervously, taking a seat opposite of him.

He set down his cup he was about to drink from. "Why? What happened?"

"So, Merx proposed to me today..." I began to explain everything, and my father tilted in his chair too far in response. He grabbed the table and righted himself with a loud crack.

"Wait, he did what?!" my father said in surprise.

"Merx proposed to me." I repeated, eyeing the leg of the chair to see if he'd broken it.

Father took a deep breath and said, "And you accepted?"

I nodded in response, "Of course."

"But...it's much too soon," my father replied and stood up to embrace me. "You're too young."

"We won't marry for another three years, Father. He wants to protect me, and he believes his station is not enough. That's why he wants to be engaged with me." I told him trying to calm him while he continued to hold onto me tightly.

He sat back down in the chair he'd moved closer to me, then wiped the tears from his face.

It hurt my heart to see my father crying like this. I had hoped he would take it better. I was stupid to believe he would.