For Papa James?
Nothing made sense.
Back at his own house, Jeff was helping his father sit down on a sofa.
Papa James looked tired and confused, rubbing his forehead as if trying to gather his thoughts. Jeff had been terrified when he learned his father had wandered off again. Papa James suffered from memory lapses. Sometimes he forgot where he was. Sometimes he slipped away without realizing it.
“Papa, please rest,” Jeff said gently. “Thank God I found you.”
Papa James sighed. “My head betrays me sometimes.”
Jeff tried to smile, but anger burned inside him. His father should not have been able to leave the house unnoticed. Only one person had been there.
Mabel.
He found her lounging comfortably, laughing at videos on her phone.
“Mabel,” he said.
She barely looked up. “What?”
“My father went missing today.”
She blinked once. “Okay. And?”
Jeff stared at her in disbelief.
“He has memory problems. You know this.”
Mabel shrugged. “He’s not a child. I can’t follow him everywhere.”
Jeff’s anger sharpened. “You didn’t even notice he was gone.”
“Well, he came back, didn’t he?” she said casually. “So relax.”
That was the moment something inside Jeff cracked.
He realized, perhaps more clearly than ever before, that the woman he planned to marry had no kindness in her.
