Pam was excited to go looking for a car with her dad, after leaving the office he drove her north towards a suburban residential area, and after a few minutes of driving stopped in front of a small house with an attached garage. Will got out and Pam followed, they were greeted at the door by a man in his seventies who seemed delighted to see them and promptly opened the garage door to show them the car. The garage door opened to reveal a little blue Toyota Matrix, in mint condition. The man, Harold, claimed that he got it shortly before losing his license and so had hardly driven it, and had finally decided to sell it to free up space in the garage for projects. Will asked to take it for a test drive and Harold was happy to accommodate them.

On the drive Pam confided in Will that it was certainly a cute car, and it would be easier to handle than Roy’s truck had been. Will seemed quite pleased with the vehicle as well, talking to Pam about the reliability of Toyota’s and how low the mileage was on the car for its year. Will told Pam that if the price was right, they should take it and stop looking, as finding a used car so lightly worn was a rarity. Pam agreed, and they rode back to Harold’s house.

Upon arriving back at Harold’s Pam noticed her dad produce an envelope of cash, which surprised her as she had assumed he would take her to the bank to draw a certified cheque. He assured her that she could pay him back later, which Pam was grateful for as she didn’t want to feel like a burden to her parents.

Will asked Harold how much he wanted, haggled him down a bit, and in the end cash changed hands, handshakes all around, and a bill of sale was made up. Pam was now the proud owner of a blue 2002 Toyota Matrix. Harold handed her the keys and after waiting for her dad to get to his car, Pam reversed out of the driveway and headed to her and Roy’s apartment. The plan was to drop the car off and see if they could see a couple of apartments that they had been considering over the weekend and a new one that her dad said he had found.

They looked at the two that Pam hadn’t been able to decide between on the weekend and she still couldn’t commit to either one, so Will drove her to the one he had found earlier. As they were entering the area Pam came to a realisation.

“Hey, I think this is the area Jim lives in,” Pam said to her dad as they rounded a corner, “He should be like a block and a half up the road.”

“Well that wouldn’t be too bad, you would already know someone in the neighbourhood,” Will said with a smile, “From what I’ve heard you tell your mom about him and the small talk I had with him today I think he’s good people. I’d definitely be less worried about you alone out here with him nearby.”

“Come on dad, we’ve been over this, I appreciate your concern about me living on my own but it’s going to have to happen,” Pam said with exasperation, “It’s not like I can keep living with Roy after all that’s happened.”

“I suppose, I just would like to think that there’s someone to check up on you is all,” Will said as he raised his hands to placate her, “A father worries Pam, it’s in our nature.”

“Thanks dad,” Pam said, feeling kind of bad for telling him off, “I appreciate you looking out for me.”

“No apology necessary sweetie,” Will said as they exited the car in front of a small bungalow.

“Where is the apartment we’re supposed to be seeing,” Pam asked, wondering if she had the listings confused in her head as she looked around.

“Right in front of us,” her dad said with a shrug and pointed at the house, “It’s in your budget so I thought we’d add it to the list.”

“Seriously,” Pam asked, disbelieving, “I mean, I love it, but there is no way this is in my budget,” she said, fishing for some explanation.

“Do you remember Mrs. Kennedy,” her dad asked, waiting for her to recognise the name.

“Oh! From Sunday school when I was little?”

“Yes, that’s the one,” her dad said with a big smile, “This is her house, and she’s in an old folks home now and the family have been having trouble selling it. I called them the other day and they agreed to let us have a look at it and talk about renting.”

“Oh dad,” Pam said and launched into a hug, overwhelmed with emotion at how things were turning out today, “That is so great, I can’t thank you enough, and I can’t wait to see inside,” she finished as she sniffled and wiped her eyes quickly.

“Well it pays to have connections,” her dad said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and steered her towards the front steps, “Let’s take a look around.”

The house was perfect, there wasn’t much furniture left, mostly just end tables and a coffee table, that sort of thing, but all the large appliances were still there. Her parents had already told her that she could have some of the furniture from their basement, and they would chip in to help her cover anything new that she needed, saying she shouldn’t have to worry about the small things right now. Pam felt a little guilty taking their charity, but at the same time the half of the wedding savings that she was going to get would run out quickly after she paid her parents back for the car. Her dad had tried to convince her to let them cover that too, but Pam felt like that was too much and she had to be able to fend for herself financially if she was going to live independently, not rely on handouts from her well meaning parents.

“So are they ok with pets,” Pam asked as she toured the different rooms of the house with her dad, “Because Jim gave me a lead on a dog that I thought I might look into, now that I might have a yard…”

“They’re fine with pets, essentially the rent is low enough for your budget because you’ll be in charge of taking care of the house,” her dad explained, “So anything that needs maintenance will be out of pocket for you, but they’re willing to chip in for any large expenses like a water heater or something is how they explained it to me.”

“That sounds pretty great actually,” Pam said, surprised at how generous they Kennedy’s were being with their terms, “So did they write that in the rental agreement? It’s not that I don’t trust them, it’s just I really want to have that in writing in case there’s a misunderstanding.”

“So, you think you’ll take it,” Will asked with a hopeful smile.

“How could I not? It’s a house when everything else in my budget was tiny apartments,” Pam said with excitement, hugging her dad again.

“I’ll get them to email you the rental agreement tomorrow,” her dad told her as they leaned against opposite counters in the kitchen, “As far as when you can move in, well, as you can see Mrs. Kennedy doesn’t live her, so as soon as we hash out the details with them we’re good to go,” he finished with a broad smile.

“Thanks for everything dad,” Pam said with a big smile, “My life has been such a mess these last few days, I really appreciate what you’ve done for me tonight.”

“Just looking out for you sweetie,” her dad said humbly.

Pam smiled at her dad and turned back to wander through the rooms of her soon to be home. The entryway lead into the living room, with a large area rug on the hardwood floors. And a large window looking out over the street. The kitchen was just to the right off the living room with a half wall between and had linoleum down to cover the hardwood it seemed. The kitchen was L shaped with an island, and there was another window out to the front of the house with room for a dining table that had been removed judging by the sun bleaching on the floor.

There was a hallway that ran along the width of the house behind the kitchen and living room that had on the other side of it a small office with a large window looking into the back yard, a bedroom, and a mudroom with laundry that had a door leading out back as well.

Pam’s life was starting to come together with tonight’s events and her super-dad with his wisdom and connections. She had a car, and soon she would have a house and could move out of her ex-fiancé’s apartment. The fact that she would be living down the street from her best friend and might be getting a dog were definitely contributing to her glowing mood as they locked up and her dad drove her back to the apartment. Remembering that the dog in question was her best friend’s dead cousin’s support animal brought a grimace to her face, but she quickly schooled her features before her dad noticed.

“So, you mentioned Jim was looking into getting a dog for you,” her dad asked by way of conversation.

“Well, it’s more I mentioned to Jim that I was thinking about getting a dog, what with living alone,” Pam explained, “And he mentioned that his aunt and uncle were trying to find a home for their dog Nikita, so I said I’d think about it.”

“That sounds great, what kind of dog is it, did he say?”

“Yeah, she’s a three year old German Shepherd, so she’s already trained.”

“Well, that sounds like all the hard work is already done,” Will said, “At that point all you have to do is feed it, clean up after it, and give it some love. Do you think you’re going to take her?”

“Yeah, I think I will,” Pam said with a smile.

“I’m glad to hear that, it’ll be nice to have a big dog like that if you’re going on walks or runs alone,” her dad said, revealing his ulterior motive, “You can never be too careful in this town.”

“I didn’t have a dog when I went running from the apartment,” Pam pointed out.

“Yeah, but you had Roy,” her dad said, looking he immediately regretted it.

“Really dad,” Pam said with exasperation, thinking about how barely present Roy had been when she was doing things like that.

“Sorry, wasn’t thinking sweetie.”

“I’ll forgive you, but only because you found me a house,” Pam said, trying to lighten the mood. This earned her a good-natured chuckle from Will.

“Whatever you say sweetie,” he said with a smile.

The rest of the ride was spent in companionable silence. As her dad pulled up to the curb in front of the apartment Pam leaned over to kiss her dad on the cheek and give him a hug.

“Thanks again for everything tonight dad,” she said with a big smile, “I’ll get a cheque to you guys this weekend for the car.”

“Again, no problem sweetie, and don’t worry about the cheque,” her dad said patting her forearm, “Just whenever you’re settled in. You mom and I will come by tomorrow after work to help you pack and move assuming you get the paperwork done, keep us updated.”

“Seeya tomorrow hopefully,” Pam said as she got out onto the curb. As she started walking towards the back lot of the apartment complex she noticed the sun setting behind the parking lot, perfectly silhouetting the cars parked there. Pam remembered that she hadn’t had a chance to call Jim today, and so instead she smiled as she took a picture of her car towards the sun, making it hard to see any details. She sent him the picture and followed up with a text when she got inside saying she didn’t need a ride and she would see him tomorrow.