Clyde, the old family butler, had been around since Kashton was a tyke, and Kashton was a real troublemaker compared to other kids—always something to keep an eye on.
But Clyde could see clear as day that no matter how often the master disciplined Kashton, he really did care for the boy deep down. Clyde wished Kashton would stick around a couple more days and spend some extra time with his father.
It was the same way Clyde felt about his children spending more time with him as he got older.
"Great! More time with your old man!" Clyde said, beaming from ear to ear.
Kashton gave Clyde's shoulder a friendly pat. "Clyde, get some rest. I'm heading in!"
"Sure thing!" Clyde muttered, making tracks for his room to get some shut-eye.
Kashton slid into his slippers and headed for Elden's room.
He pushed the door open and walked right in, letting it bang against the wall and rock back a couple of times.
"Dad, I'm back!" Kashton called out, flopping down on the bed.
Elden, pushing fifty, was a night owl, always up late doing his fortune-telling thing in his room.
Elden didn't even bother to open his eyes at Kashton's voice, grumbling, "I'm not dead yet, so why are you here?"
"Tut, tut, tut!" Kashton clucked his tongue three times. "How could you say that?"
Elden took a deep breath and opened his eyes, looking at his son, who never lived up to his expectations. "You've been back for a while now. How many times have you actually come home to spend the night here?"
"I know you're eager to have grandkids, right? Well, I've been in a rush to give you a cute one!" Kashton chuckled.
Elden snorted coldly, giving Kashton a sidelong glance. "You're always hanging around with women, so why aren't the babies showing up at our door calling you dad?"
Kashton looked at his father, thinking, 'Well, I have the most effective birth control method!'
He definitely didn't dare say that out loud to Elden. He kept up his smirk on his handsome face, and his charming eyes slightly smiled. "Dad, didn't you predict I'd have some disaster coming my way recently?"
"And? Did it happen?" Elden leaned in, his interest piqued.
Kashton got into a nice position of comfort on the bed. "Tell me more. What kind of disaster was it supposed to be?" He had left in a hurry last time and only heard his dad mutter something about a disaster, but he just blew it off without pressing for more details.
Because with Elden, one could only take his words with a grain of salt, as they might come true or might be completely off.
Like in Elvis's case, his predictions never hit the mark.
"The tarot cards say you're headed for some health trouble. Can't pin it down from the cards, though. Get to the hospital and check it out. Make sure you haven't caught something nasty," Elden said to Kashton, giving him the once-over like he had a smell that wouldn't wash off.
'Seriously?' Kashton thought. If he was just going to go to the hospital, what was the point of coming to Elden for advice?
Anyway, he didn't buy for a minute that he had some kind of men's disease.
Elden shot him a look that could cut.
"Dad, is there any way to, you know, fix this?" Kashton asked, hoping there was some kind of magic spell to undo bad news.
Elden just sighed, shaking his head at his son's antics. "The cards say you could turn this around for the better, or it might get really bad. The key is..."
"What is it?" Kashton asked, leaning in, his eyes sparkling with hope.
"To find your lucky charm!" Elden said, getting up from the bed.
Kashton's brow furrowed. "Lucky charm? Who?" Kashton was confused.
"No idea! It's all about luck!" Elden replied, grabbing his coffee mug and walking out of his room.
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