Three weeks later, Dad called as though nothing had happened and asked whether we were coming for Thanksgiving. I reminded him of his own words and said no. That same week, a local business magazine published a story about Marcus’s repair shop. What Dad had dismissed as “something small” had quietly grown into three locations. Marcus and his partner had purchased the original building, added a commercial fleet division, and signed service agreements with several regional companies. We had kept it private because Marcus hated showing off, and every extra dollar had gone back into the business instead of expensive cars or a bigger house.
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