Soul Inheritance Read Free

it.”
    Katherine stirred, rolled away from the sunlight streaming in through the windows.
    “ Hey, don’t we have that carnival thing with your dad today?” He perked up, shifted back to the friendlier attitude he took when he wanted something. “What time do we have to be there to pick him up?”
    Reluctantly Katherine put her feet to the floor and sat up. The mention of her father gave her a reason to get up. Every year he took her to the carnival for her birthday. It happened that the same group came through in late summer at almost the exact same time like clockwork. Even when she was a child he would scrape to take her and they would spend the whole day, riding the rides, playing games and just spending time together.
    It had always been just the two of them and they’d made the most of it. She rarely thought about her mother. There was only one picture of the woman, lovingly framed and always kept in the living room. If it weren’t for that Katherine wouldn’t have known she looked nothing like her, but instead took on the traits of her father, Mitch, almost exclusively. The years had passed by quickly enough with Katherine thinking her mother had died in a car accident when she was one. It was only after her twenty-first birthday her father had filled his daughter in on the rest of the story. When she’d gone on a crusade to find him a wife to fill his now empty townhouse and even emptier days.
    With a great deal of hesitation Mitch had sat her down on the plush couch in his neatly kept home to explain why he never remarried.
    “ Your mother didn’t just die in a car accident, Kathy. She was running away.”
    It took a moment to sink in. “Running away from what?” she’d asked, not quite understanding the desperation on his face.
    “ With another man, Kathy. She was running away from responsibility, from this family , with a guy she’d been seeing.”
    The emphasis he placed on ‘this family’ was evident, but it wasn’t the time to ask and it never presented itself. Katherine found nothing wrong with her family, except maybe that the two of them was all there was.
    For the first time she realized the blanket she was wrapped in smelled. Tossing it aside she made her way to the bathroom. The hot water ran over her for a long time, easing sore muscles and fatigue. Once it began to get cold she cut off the faucet and climbed out into the steam filled room, thankful for the fogged over mirrors.
    Nigel was milling around in the bedroom, slamming drawers, obviously getting dressed to go out. Two years ago had been the first time they’d included anyone else in their father-daughter plans. Mitch had asked Nigel to go along. It was both surprising and disappointing. Her father explained later he thought she needed to start looking for companions other than him, ‘just in case’. That disturbed her even more, but she took it with a smile and didn’t ask.
    Even then she had doubts about Nigel. He was handsome and popular and she wasn’t sure what his interest in her was exactly. Lately, though, she began to realize his reasoning. It was simple enough. The florist shops made her an asset and a target. He contributed less and demanded more over time. At first she wasn’t inclined to complain, at least she wasn’t alone. It was gradual, dawning on her only when he quit his job and she found herself supporting them both, with his expenses far outweighing her own. Once he dug in and thought his situation to be secure, he grew arrogant and self-involved.
    Lately Katherine had started to think more in the long term. What was she doing with her life, where was she going, where did she want to go? As he grew petulant the threats became borderline physical. Any time he began to question his hold he became more obsessive. Where had she been, what had she been doing? Trying to account for her every movement when he wanted to feel in control. He mistook indecisiveness for weakness and while she avoided