“He’s sick, Lach,” she said quietly.
“Oh.” I laughed loudly, unamused. “Is he dying? Is that why? We’re the only ones he can leave his empire to, and he wants to make sure we won’t burn it to the ground?”
Mom flinched. “Lachlan.”
“Tell him not to bother. If he wanted us to be his heirs so badly, he would have been there when he was supposed to.”
“I know, honey, and he feels bad that he wasn’t.”
“Mom,” I shook my head with a sigh. She just didn’t get it. “Showing up to celebrate us and ignoring us the rest of the time isn’t enough.”
She waited a moment before saying, “He wants me to move in with him.”
My knee stopped bouncing. I stared at her. I knew my mother. She was only saying this because she’d already made the decision. . .ohmyfuckinggodthismotherfuckingasshole. I was going to explode. I took a large cleansing breath that did nothing to calm me down. I needed to leave before I started breaking shit. I hadn’t done that in a long time, but I felt like I might. This motherfucker wanted my mother to move in with him because he was dying and needed someone to play nurse? Fuck him. I wish I could shake my mother hard and make her see the light, but I’d never do that to her. Even if I did, she wouldn’t see it. Her weakness toward him was so fucking disappointing.
“You could have divorced him a long time ago. You can date anyone you want. You’re a fucking catch, Mom.” I shook my head. “If you’re lonely, cut him off and start dating.”
“I don’t want to date anyone.”
“Of course not, because you’re waiting for him to change. He’s never going to. How do you not see it?” I hit the table with my fist. She didn’t even react.
“Says the guy who suddenly wants todatea girl.” She raised an eyebrow.
“No. Fuck that. I’m nothing like him.” My chair screeched as I stood. I couldn’t do this today. “You know, maybe I’ve been angry at the wrong parent all this time. He never promised us he’d keep us safe. He didn’t promise us shit. You, on the other hand, have been dragging us along on this fucked up journey all our lives.”
“Lach.” She grabbed my arm as I walked by. “Please don’t leave.”
“I can’t be here right now.” I glared at her.
“Just listen to what he has to say.”
“I don’t give a fuck what he has to say.” I yanked my arm away and headed to the door.
I grabbed my car keys and wished I could throw them in the gutter. My car was just another reminder of something he’d done for me. It had been waiting for me outside, the morning of my eighteenth birthday, with a note that said,“Happy Birthday. I’m proud of you, son.”I’d wanted to burn it to the fucking ground. I’d kept it because the car I’d been driving at the time had given out two weeks before, and I’d been borrowing Mom’s car or hitching rides with people.
Now, as I sat in the driver’s seat and listened to the engine roar, I could only think about getting rid of it as soon as possible. It was what I would do with my first paycheck. I closed my eyes and reminded myself of all the good things coming my way. I'd officially sign with my dream team, make the money I'd been promised, add more from sponsorships, and never look back. When I calmed down, I started the two-hour drive back to Fairview. I was lost in thought, still thinking about the NHL and CHL, when my phone started ringing with a call from Liam. I pressed the button on my steering wheel to accept it.
“What the hell, Lach?”
“What?”
“You couldn’t wait thirty more minutes?” he asked. “Did you even eat?”
“Did Mom tell you what she wanted?”
“Yeah, Dad wants to talk to us.”
I hesitated before I asked, “You’re going to talk to him?”
“Nothing wrong with listening to what he has to say.”
I could practically see him sitting at the table I’d just left, playing with his lasagna — my favorite food — as he casually spoke to me about this. I wish I could telepathically tip the plate all over his clothes. I hadn’t been able to eat or take some like I usually did because I’d been riled up, and this asshole was sitting there eating it and buying into our dad’s bullshit. I already knew his reason and didn’t want to hear it. I’d accepted that our father would never be who we needed him to be. Liam always kidded himself into thinking he loved us and would return when the timing was right for all of us. Liam had always been like that, searching for the good in others even when it wasn’t there.
“I can’t have this conversation right now.”
“Lach,” he called out as I was about to end the call. “The lasagna is amazing.”
“Asshole.”
