Maybe Clay needed to take them more seriously.
“I’m looking into her social worker.” Clay hadn’t forgotten the woman’s name. He had plenty of friends in child protective services given his line of work. “I’ll make sure she lands somewhere she’s happy.”
“That’d be with you.” His old man pointed a thinfinger at him, his skin a frightening shade of greenish-gray. “That’s what I’ve been wanting to tell you. The girl’s mother is an addict, but before Amanda got out of control, she gave me some money toward Mia’s future.”
That surprised Clay. The door opened and a gray-haired nurse in turquoise scrubs peeked into the room.
“Damn it, woman, I’ve been waiting all week for this one to show.” Pete raised his voice, but it trembled as he grew agitated. “Can I have five minutes’ peace?”
The nurse winked at Clay. Maybe she could see how mortified he was.
“I’ll give you ten, Mr. Yancy,” she called across the room, her stethoscope gently banging against the door as she leaned in. “But I’m hoping for a sweeter disposition when I return to swap out your IV bag.” She closed the door again.
“Fricking zoo in here. Like some IV bag matters when I’m gonna kick off soon anyway,” Pete grumbled, his eyes closing for a long moment.
“So does Mia know about the money set aside for her?” Clay asked, hoping to get back on track so they could sew this conversation up soon.
“No. It’s in a trust for you.”
“For me?” Clay straightened. What the hell?
“Don’t act so surprised. You were always trying to save the family even when I didn’t give a rat’s ass.” Pete’s voice cracked a bit.
For a moment Clay thought he might recognize regret in his eyes. Not that it mattered now.
“So when did you want me to give this money to Mia? When she’s eighteen?”
“It’s a good bit of cash, actually. That Amanda got herself a sugar daddy for a few years before she started to really hit the pipe.” Pete shrugged, but he looked to be inpain. Uncomfortable. “It’s meant to help take care of Mia. Maybe send her to college. Whatever you think.”
Clay wondered if he should call the nurse back to ask about some pain meds. He rose out of the chair. He couldn’t argue with Pete about the money right now when his father seemed to be going grayer.
“I’m going to call a nurse.” He reached for the call button by Pete’s bed. “You don’t look so good.”
“No.” Pete lifted a hand and clapped onto Clay with surprising strength, restraining him. “Wait.” The hand fell away again. “I just wanted to say…” He took a long breath. “I know you blame me. About Eddy.”
Clay went very still. The sounds around him intensified. His father’s ragged breathing. The steady beep of the monitor. The rattle of a food cart out in the hallway.
He hadn’t expected a discussion about this. Pete’s eyes had closed again.
“I just want you to know,” Pete continued, dragging open his eyes with an effort. “He didn’t die for nothing, you know.”
Anger surged through Clay, swift and fierce.
He clenched his fists at his sides.
“No? I can’t imagine a better example of dying in vain. He bled out in a prison knife fight after stealing a car to make his loser father proud.” Clay had argued with Eddy about the rough crowd he was running with. Hated that Eddy had tried renewing a relationship with their drunk-all-the-time old man. “He should have never been in there, and you know it.”
His voice had risen more than he intended. He heard it over the loud hum of an electronic blood pressure cuff squeezing Pete’s arm. His own blood pressure was probably throughthe roof.
“I know.” A lone tear slid down Pete’s gray-green cheek. “All I meant was, his death made me sober up. I was able to get Mia—help her—because of that. If it hadn’t been for Eddy, you wouldn’t even know about that girl, and she’d…who knows what would have happened to her.”
If his father expected forgiveness…Clay damned well couldn’t find any to give. He paced away from the bed. Tense. Angry. So full of old grief that hadn’t gotten any easier to deal with over the years.
Dragging in long breaths, he was glad Pete was quiet for a minute so he could think. It was good that he’d pulled Mia out of the foster system if she really did have problems in her old home. And yeah, it was good he’d tried to put away some funds from her mother to benefit Mia down the road. It was a hell of a lot more than Pete Yancy had done for any of his other kids.
As Clay stared up at the clock ticking down time, he could almost hear Gabriella reminding him that he didn’t have forever to make what amends he could with his father. To make peace with his ghosts.
Thinking of her calmed the angry fire inside. Made him want to be a better man. He needed to settle things with his father before Mia and her boyfriend returned.
