Duke lifts his eyebrows, "For what?"
"Shocking Dad into silence." Snow is gathered on either side of the road, but the pavement is clear.
"He expects defiance from you. From me? Not so much."
"Has he said anything to you since"—I thumb behind myself—"back there?"
Duke shakes his head. "He might never. You know how he is. He may rewrite history to make it so he doesn't have to face everything I said."
"Well, apparently you got to Mom. She's lying down. I guess the truth exhausted her."
"Was it me, or the champagne?"
"Probably a combination."
Duke nods. "Did you see the expression on Grandma's face?"
"I don't have eyes in the back of my head."
"She was smiling while I was talking. Full out beaming." He glances at me briefly before turning his attention back to the road. "Isn't that weird?"
"Actually, no. Last night I told you that I think she wants us to deal with our shit. Not just get along."
"It makes more sense than anything else," he says. "Why would she want to spend what she knows is the final portion of her life with family who refuse to be functional?"
"I think she knew if she forced us together, not only in physical proximity to one another but ample amounts of time, everything would eventually come to a boil." I look back at my dad, where he sits in the chair next to Kerrigan with his chin propped on his hand as he stares out the window. "The jury is out on Dad."
"I'm sorry I told Mom and Dad about your state of intoxication when you got married."
"In the interest of honesty, Dom and I originally planned to get it annulled right away. Then Grandma summoned us to herhouse, and Dad did that blustery thing where he tries to force me to do something for reasons that aren't even good, and then I did that thing where I get stubborn for no good reason other than I don't like being told what to do, and well"—I shrug—"here we are."
"You're staying married?"
My gaze flickers backward again, this time to my husband. He has his laptop out, and he's typing away. I hope coming on this road trip with me hasn't set him back too much at work. "We are. We're going to date. We went on a date once, when he was in town visiting his cousin. It was actually really nice, and we had a good time." No need to mention the miscommunication that occurred that evening. That can be an anecdote for later, sometime down the road. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, too. I had no idea you felt that way about me moving to Phoenix. This whole time I thought you wanted to be where you are. Working for the family business."
"I do like working for the family business, but siblings who have parents like ours need to stick together, if only for the purpose of having another soul in the world who understands. I don't begrudge you leaving, but it sucked being left. If that makes sense."
Tears sting the backs of my eyes. "It does. I didn't think about you when I was leaving, and I'm sorry for that. All I could see was getting the hell out. Dad was so controlling. And his way of trying to control me was to make me feel bad about myself."
Duke nods knowingly. "One of many tactics he deploys. He tailors them to each one of his children. For me, it's been something along the lines ofyou weren't good enough, but you could be.The carrot he dangled in front of me was the possibility of greatness, which in turn led to his approval."
How did I never see that growing up? To me, Duke was the golden child. That made him easy to love. It was shortsightedof me, and very one-note. I missed the detail, the nuance, the subtext.
"What do you think Kerrigan's damage is?"
Duke chuckles. "I think she's good at hiding it, but offhand, I'd say she's a helicopter mom to a dog, enjoys shrooms more than she should, and pretends she's not as smart as she is."
It's hard to believe we started this trip in a dry, cacti-filled desert, full of hidden resentments and festering wounds. Look at us now, talking through our issues and driving through a world that looks like it has been dusted in powdered sugar.
I touch Duke's shoulder, lightly prodding him. "They sure did a number on us, didn't they?"
CHAPTER 51
Dominic
The red-brick HotelMonte Vista in downtown Flagstaff has every Hamptons arms crossed, their eyebrows tugging in either disbelief or discomfort. Even Cecily, who read about the hotel and knew this day was coming, looks perturbed.
"I amnotstaying in a haunted hotel," Kerrigan says.
