He stared back at me with a blank expression then took a deliberate puff on the cigar that was hooked beneath his index finger. Finally letting a cloud of smoke curl slowly from his mouth, he reached up to smooth his hair back then allowed his hand to fall down to his neck and begin working at the muscles.
After a moment he asked, “She okay?”
“She’s distraught,” I told him. “But given the circumstances I think that’s to be expected.”
“Yeah, well,” he mumbled. “She made the choice.”
“You should be there, Ben.”
“No. No I shouldn’t.”
“Damn you, Benjamin Storm!” Felicity spat, unable to contain herself. “Your father is dying.”
“Yeah, well, it’s about fuckin’ time” was his only reply.
CHAPTER 15:
“You don’t mean that,” I told him.
“Hell if I don’t,” he spat.
“Look, Ben, I don’t know what went on between you two…”
He didn’t let me finish. “That’s right, Row, you don’t, so just stay the fuck out of it.”
Felicity brushed past me and stepped toward him while exclaiming, “He’s your father!”
“Not as far as I’m concerned he ain’t!” he shot back.
Our friend started forward as if to stand then huffed out an angry sigh and fell back in the chair. He went silent; shaking his head as he grimaced, he then reached up to massage his temple. After a moment, he focused back on us and held up his hand. “Listen, I understand what you two are tryin’ ta’ do here, but you’ve got no clue what’s goin’ on. Ta’ be honest, it’s none of your business, and Helen never shoulda gotten ya’ involved.”
“That may be true, but she did,” I told him.
“Well, I’m un-involvin’ ya’.”
“Aye, it’s not as easy as all that,” Felicity replied.
“Yeah it is.”
“Monar!” she spat. “He’s your father!”
Ben didn’t even bother to ask for a translation of the Gaelic epithet. He simply shook his head at her and said, “Yeah, whatever. Just trust me, Felicity, let it go.”
“Let it go?” she barked as she started toward him.
I reached out and took hold of her arm, stopping her dead in her tracks. She whipped her head to the side, looked down at my hand with absolute contempt, and then locked on to me with an incendiary stare. I knew immediately that I had just joined Ben as an object of her ire, but I didn’t let go. Instead, I simply held her fast and shook my head.
“Back off, hon.”
“Why?” she grumbled. “Someone needs to wake his sorry arse up to reality.”
“Awww, Jeezus fuckin’…” Ben groaned at her comment.
“Why don’t you let me talk to him,” I told her.
“Aye, what if maybe you hold him, and I’ll beat some sense into him then,” she countered then shot her glare his direction.
Still holding her arm, I turned to face Patrick who had remained perfectly silent through the entire exchange. “Do you still have some of that imported chocolate you were telling me about?”
“Yes, Rowan, as a matter of fact I do,” he replied without hesitation.
“I think Felicity would really like to try some if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” he replied with a knowing tilt of his head. “Dear lady, if you would like to accompany me downstairs.”
“Chocolate? Fek! Damnu ort, Rowan! What are you?…” my wife sputtered angrily. “I don’t want any goddamned chocolate!”
“Yes, Felicity, you do,” I told her sternly.
“No, I don’t!” she argued.
“Felicity, please…” I appealed. “Let me handle this.”
“Why don’tcha’ both go have some,” Ben chided.
“Rowan…” Felicity widened her eyes at me as she almost snarled her protest.
“Please…” I repeated. “Just let me handle it.”
We were all tired, time was short, and I simply couldn’t afford to let Felicity continue to go off on a tear right now. I wasn’t sure if it was the rum finally affecting her or a combination of it all, but somehow Ben’s disdain for his father had struck a serious nerve with her. My wife’s legendary temper was fully alight, and she simply wasn’t going to help the current situation at all.
She drew her lips into a thin frown and remained silent. The fact that her glare hadn’t softened in the least was more than enough to tell me there was going to be some form of retribution in my near future. However, that was something I would have to deal with when the time came.
I just hoped Patrick was correct, and the chocolate really was that good.
Felicity jerked her arm from my grasp and brushed past me, starting out the door ahead of Patrick. He gave me a quick nod and followed along behind, drawing the door shut in his wake.“You’re in trouble, white man,” Ben announced as I stepped farther into the room.
“Uh-huh,” I agreed with a sigh. “And not the good kind I’m afraid.”
“Yeah, well, ya’ brought it on yourself for nothin’,” he told me. “I already told ya’ I’m not goin’ ta’ see ‘im.”
“Okay,” I replied as I found a recliner opposite my friend and perched myself on the edge of the seat.
He shot me a puzzled look. “Okay? That’s it? Ya’ mean you’re not gonna try and convince me I should go?”
I shrugged. “Seems pretty futile.”
“Yeah, well I told ya’ that before.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Okay, so what’d’ja step in the shit with Firehair for then?”
“Just saving you from an ass beating at her hands is all.”
“Yeah, right…” he chuckled.
“Seemed like the thing to do at the time,” I offered.
“Yeah, maybe so, but man… She’s pissed.”
“Yeah, she is, but it’s my problem now.” I leaned back in the chair but continued watching him. “You have to admit, the tension level is quite a bit lower now.”
“In here,” he nodded. “But I sure’as shit wouldn’t trade places with ya’ later.”
“Yeah, well, she’ll calm down. I hope.”
I remained silent after that, trying to find a segue into what I was really here to do. My attempt at defusing the situation had worked, for the most part anyway. He had actually chuckled at my comment about Felicity, and the tension truly had moved down the scale perceptibly. Unfortunately, now it was my turn to dial it back up. If nothing else, the call from Helen had impressed upon me the urgency of the situation, and it was weighing on me along with everything else. I didn’t have the luxury of leading him down the garden path to an enlightened realization. I needed to take a shortcut straight through the thorny hedgerow, and I suspected it wasn’t going to be pretty.
As long as Ben and I had been friends, I had made it a point not to press him when he didn’t want to talk. If he wanted me to know something, he would tell me, sooner or later. It was a rare occasion when I would break that unspoken rule, but now was just going to have to be one of those times.
“So. You want to talk about it?” I finally said.
“No. Not really.”
“Why don’t you do it anyway?”
