“I can stop in for a moment, but...”
“It’s really you that he would like to have at his bedside,” Matt said with more insistence.
I frowned. “Why? I mean, why me? You’re his brother. And your sister is somewhere in this big, sprawling house. I’m sure she would have plenty of time to sit with him.”
“My sister is far from being reliable and trustworthy in moments such as this. She’s a little too selfish and self-absorbed to tend to anyone else’s needs.”
“And you?”
He smiled. “He realizes that you’re more knowledgeable in these types of situations. Also, I just think he prefers a feminine hand. When I slapped a wet washcloth on his brow, he swatted my hand away.”
“Fine.” I nodded and sighed with resignation. “I’m sure to be called to shoot a scene this afternoon, but in the meantime, I’ll go sit with him.”
He reached out to take my hand. “I appreciate this. I know you’re busy, but I understand his desire to have you tend to him. Were I in the same situation, it would be you that I would have at my side, if I could.”
I smiled. “Perhaps I should reconsider my calling and go into nursing.”
*****
HIS EYES WERE CLOSED, but his sleep was fitful and filled with incoherent ramblings.
“I’m here, Kenneth,” I softly whispered as I lay a cool cloth on his brow.
He mumbled and muttered and groaned.
“You’re wrong father,” he muttered. “What you’re doing is wrong.”
“Everything is all right,” I said, trying to ease whatever was troubling him.
“No. It’s not all right. What you’re doing is just one step away from slavery. Damn it, Father. You’re not the man I thought you were.”
I frowned. “What are you saying, Kenneth?”
“It’s modern slavery, and you know it. Don’t deny it. And don’t deny that you know exactly what you’re doing.”
“Kenneth, you’re delirious. You’re no longer in California with your father. You’re back home. You’re at Barry Park, and you’re safe and with your family. You need to rest.”
He shook his head. “Children. Hundreds of children. Not just men and women who are desperate for something better. Children. Children working and taken advantage of...doing dangerous work. Damn. Damn! How did we come to this?”
I stared at him, unable...unwilling to believe the words coming from his mouth.
“Dad has to stop this. He has to change his ways. We have to stop the way we do business. I don’t care about the lost profits. We can’t go on like this.”
“Never mind all that, Kenneth. Please, just rest. You’re home now. You can tend to all these issues when you get better.”
His eyes opened. He stared into space for a prolonged moment then looked at me. “Darling. Yes, sweet little Darling. You were always such a sweet girl. Never bothersome like some can be. Matt was such an idiot not to see it. He’s still an idiot. You’re a good girl. Good girl.”
“I wish you would rest, Kenneth. You’re not helping your fever much. You’re allowing yourself to get too agitated.”
“Agitated? I am racked with guilt, my dearest Darling. Racked with guilt. All these months, all these years of benefiting from the wealth my father has acquired. All these years of taking for granted everything I have, everything I am, everything that I’ve ever experienced. And yet, when all is said and done, I am nothing. Absolutely nothing!”
“You’re speaking nonsense. You are a smart and hardworking man. You deserve the good fortune you’ve had.”
“How wrong you are.” He shook his head with great vehemence. “No. I don’t deserve my good fortune. No, I don’t. Not one bit. Not at all.”
His rejection of what his life had brought him was so sincere and heartfelt. I ached for him.
Sitting up, he grabbed my hand, his eyes narrowed and pained as he looked at me. “I naively believed my father. He said he’d hired them, legally. Everything was on the up and up. But it wasn’t. They had no papers. No documentation. And this allowed him to take advantage of them. He barely paid them, and they were housed in miserable conditions. But when people are desperate and have nothing, even a little something is acceptable.”
