Now that was a surprise. I shook my head. Heck, it was nine in the morning. Whatever.
“You’re just like your mother,” he said, staring at the glass in his hand.
I didn’t want to go over that again. “Look—”
“In the end, the business is all we have, isn’t it?”
I had no idea what the hell was going on with him, so I remained silent.
“It’s better than being with a manipulative woman.”
I narrowed my eyes. If this was about my mother or Logan…
“Very well,” he said. “I’ll see you in the morning. Since you did intern here and hopefully remember some of the ropes, report to Tanner.”
I rose and headed for the door.
“I saw you play that day.”
Frowning, I turned. “What?”
“At the music hall downtown. Jack called me, though I think it was more for media damage control.” A wry smile twisted his lips. “You’re very talented, no surprise there. You had L.A. Phil and San Francisco Symphony wanting you along with a few others despite your rather unorthodox entrance. Why did you turn down the offers?”
Was this an olive branch? From the same man, who not so long ago, had said I’d be a penniless musician?
“Because it’s not what I want,” I admitted. “While I like composing pieces and playing the piano, this”—I glanced around the office—“is my legacy. Besides, I like the competition, the fights with dealings in mergers and acquisitions far more.” Then added, “I only played at the music hall to make a point with those stuck-up assholes.”
I wasn’t sure if there was a glimmer of a smile on his face or not. He set the glass on the sideboard. “It’s because of her? Logan?”
Did he just call Ila,Logan? And how did I even begin to describe what she was to me?
“If it weren’t for her, I doubt I would have found the strength to find my way back from what was happening to me. It was slowly killing me.Shewas the one who made me see that. She pulled me back.”
A slow nod. “I’m sorry about what happened. I should have made more of an effort with you...” He paused as if drawn back to another time. “I fell in love with your mother the moment I saw her, but she was highly temperamental. I guess the artistic types generally are. She agreed to marry me as long as she could play, so I let her have her music. But as her popularity grew, she went on more and more tours…yet she wasn’t happy. It was like she was searching for herself, and I had to give her the freedom to do that. At times, she’d take you with her. I didn’t care for that, but it created peace at home, so I let her be.”
“No, Dad, you shouldn’t have given in so easily. You should have fought for her. She was lost.Youshould have led her back home. One thing I’ve learned from loving Logan. It’salwaysabout the other person.”
His gaze flicked to me then he stared out the window at the high-rise building opposite. A long silence passed. “She never loved me, not the way I did her.”
The words were so quiet, I wasn’t sure he’d meant to say them aloud.
“For her, it was always her music. For me, it was all about her. No matter our problems, I never cheated on her with anyone.” He looked back to me. “As long as she was in my life, it was all that mattered. But I realized I couldn’t hold her attention for long. Even when she was with me, her mind was elsewhere. I later found out that she was in love with someone else—another musician. He’d died in a boating accident just before we met. It’s probably why she agreed to marry me. It didn’t change how I felt about her. I’d hoped one day she would love me…”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. “It’s why I buried myself in my work during those difficult times. And after her death, it was the only way I could cope with losing her…”
Damn Cecilia and her deceit. How long had she planted lies in my mother’s mind? Anger unfurled, but I tamped it down. Guess we’d never know. Unless my father had Cecilia strapped to a rack and tortured to get the truth out. But the damage was done. It wouldn’t bring Mom back.
I was so damn grateful Logan loved me the same way I did her. I understood my father’s pain, but too much had happened in the last four years for me to walk over and hug him, comfort him. At least the antagonism between us had eased.
“You brought her joy,” he said after a moment. “As a pianist, you would have made great strides. But I didn’t want you on a path that would take over your life—you would have lost her.”
Logan? My heart faltered at the thought. Something else struck me. With any orchestra I ended up with, I would have travelled. And if I became a household name like Mom had, there would be tours. Worldwide. Logan wouldn’t leave, not with her mother’s health on the line. Hell, she gave up her dream to travel.
I nodded in acknowledgement.
“I’m not marrying Cecilia.”
Much as I disliked the woman, I put that aside. “Look, if you love her—”
