“Oh,” I said, taking in my daughter. “Were you always this wise?”
“Yep. Mom says I’m an old soul.”
“I’d really like to see her, just for a quick second. Maybe we could sneak-attack her? I could see her, and then go do what you recommended?” Look, I wasn’t against a little subterfuge.
“She’ll probably get mad.”
Smoothing my hand down Piper’s hair and looking into her eyes, which were so much like mine, I said, “I’ll take the blame.”
Reluctantly, she relented, moving aside to let me in. “Okay.”
“Where is she?” I whispered when I was inside the house. I knew I was pushing it, but I had to see Bexley.
“Her room,” Piper whispered back. “Hey, you didn’t say if you were going to marry her.”
Stopping, I turned back to Piper. “What do you think?”
“Well, I think you guys are getting along for me, but Mom would like to get back together.”
“What about me? What do you think I want?”
“I don’t know.” Her words came out hushed. “You have kids and a life. Maybe I can be a part of it?”
For an old soul, she didn’t know everything.
For the second time today, I pulled my teenage daughter close, this time kissing the top of her head. “Piper, you are a part of my life, and you will always be. I’m sorry I missed those years. But don’t think for a minute that I don’t want it all with your mom, ’kay?”
“Okay . . .”
But our moment was interrupted.
Bexley stepped into the hall and let out a huff. “Ugh, Aston. You had to weasel your way in, didn’t you?”
Piper threw her hands up in the air. “Mom, I tried.”
“I know, baby. He’s like that.” Bexley turned her glare on me.
“I needed to see you for one quick second.”
“Piper, go hang with Tyler. We’ll eat when I’m done.”
“Tacos?” Piper asked. “Only because I know Tyler’ll ask me.”
“Tacos,” Bexley said.
“But it’s not even Tuesday,” I said when Piper left the room.
“Aston, I told you I need time.”
“I know,” I said, walking close. “I had to see you, tell you it’s over. My dad set the whole thing up. He was mad about my divorce. Son of a bitch expected I’d try to get with you. Nan knew about it, and quite frankly, she was sick of his bullshit. She wanted out.”
I took Bexley’s hand in mine. “I know I should go see the other kids, but I wanted to see you first, and then I’ll do what you and Piper want.”
“So, it’s all over, just like that?”
“Yep. Nan went to the judge, and when he heard what she had to say and looked over the evidence she had, he dismissed the charges against me and had my dad arrested. Now I need to decide if I want to press additional defamation charges against him. Personally, all I care about is his surrendering his shares of the business and calling it a day. What I’d really like to do is break more than his nose . . .”
Tugging her hair loose from a messy bun, Bexley tilted her head, providing herself shelter with a fan of hair, distracted me from my wayward thoughts.
“Don’t hide,” I told her. “This is good. Really good.”
Bexley shrugged one shoulder, not looking at me. “Your mom would be happy.”
“I don’t care. For the first time in my life, I’m worried about my happiness. And yours, and all the kids’, and even Seth’s. I’m ready to move forward.”
“I still need time.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m happy for you, but I need some time to get my head straight. I’ve been swept into all this, and it’s been a lot.”
“I still want to see Piper, but I’ll give you a week or two. Then I’m coming in hard.”
“Go,” she said with a smile while shoving my chest. “Start by listening and go.”
A few days later, once Nan was safe in Paris, and my dad had been released from jail after paying a huge bail, I drove by his house.
The sight of the for sale sign outside made me smile. I told myself not to park, but I couldn’t help it. After parking my Porsche into the driveway, I stepped out and walked up the pebbled path to the house for the last time. We were done, my dad and me, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have a few choice words for him.
Using my key, I let myself in and found my dad wearing one of our company’s luxury robes as he sat at the kitchen counter. Rather than drinking coffee, which you’d expect at eight in the morning, he was working on a cut-crystal glass of what I suspected was Macallan.
“What do you want? My kidney too?” he had the nerve to ask me.
“No, I just want to make sure you’re going to stay away from my family. The law will make sure you never step into Federal again. Who the fuck sabotages their own business? Takes a lifetime to build something, and then sets it on fire with the careless flick of a match?”
“Oh, there was nothing careless about what I was doing, son. If it weren’t for that scheming woman I married, I’d be in the clear. She and her brat daughters didn’t have it good enough?”
Gritting my teeth, I clenched my fists. I wanted to break his whole face, not only his nose. “Listen, I don’t care what you did, how you did it, or why. My life is too full to worry about it. What I do care about is how you intentionally tried to ruin my life, to make sure I had nothing, and I’m your son. So, fuck you, Dad.” I spat out the last part. “Stay away from me, and stay even further away from Bexley and all the kids. Hear me?”
He looked up
