Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Her surprised expression slowly turned endearing. “Son, this is my usual look these days,” she explained, her hands gently smoothing down the front of her pants.
“I’ve never seen you look like this before. I prefer you this way,” I explained, leaning in to give her a spontaneous hug. I missed her.
“Dasham,” she said quickly, her hands going to my chest, blocking my affection. “We don’t purposefully wrinkle our clothing.”
The reprimand made me chuckle. While her attire might have changed, certain habits never would. “Where’s Dad?”
“He’s in the den. We’ve been expecting you,” she said as if I weren’t right on time.
But no matter her words, I’d guess she truly appreciated the compliment. Her hand floated around my back, guiding us toward my father. Glancing back, I noticed Beau’s entry. He shut the door behind him. With a practiced move that appeared effortless, he swept his hair back in place. He was undeniably handsome. Pride rushed over me. I couldn’t wait to share him with my family, and nodded for him to follow.
“Father.” I beamed, genuinely happy to see him. It had been years. I took strides across the large room, a space where he and I had had many long conversations. I felt a rush of emotion, realizing how much I had missed him. A set of open blueprints held his concentration.
As I approached, he switched gears, removing his readers to give me all his attention. His arms opened wide. I was pulled into a warm, fatherly embrace. He gave the best bear hugs.
“You’re looking sharp, son. I heard about your success at the mock trials. It made your siblings green with envy.”
I smiled and leaned back. He held on, apparently unwilling to let me go. He always had a way of brightening my mood and upping my self-esteem.
“I have someone I’d like you to meet,” I said. My mother had meandered close by, now leaning against the table my father worked from.
“You’ve finally rid yourself of the silliness?” she asked. Her words were sharp even if the delivery came with a smile.
“Margot,” my father scolded my mother, but added his own judgmental thoughts. “We never have to utter another word of that nonsense again. We’ll be able to spend more time with you.”
My stomach knotted, but I put it aside to dissect later. “Well, father, mother, I didn’t rid myself of anything.” I beamed happy, full of pride, my smile spreading wide. “My guy came back to me. Meet…” I turned, sweeping my arm out to…no one. I scanned the entire room. Beau wasn’t there.
Perhaps a sudden bout of anxiety got the best of him, and he’d hightailed it out of there. That worry had me retracing my steps in order to find him.
At the door of the den, I turned and bumped straight into Beau. “What’re you doing?” I whispered.
“Y’all were havin’ a moment. I gave you space,” Beau answered quietly.
“Come on.” I reached out a hand to hold Beau’s, guiding us back into the room. “This is Beau. He came back, just as I knew he would. Beau, this is my mom, Margot, and my father, Jack.”
I couldn’t have been more pleased. My family was complete. Beau rooted in his spot a step or two behind me. He didn’t budge when I tugged him forward, making me look back at him. I spotted the nervousness in his expression, but there was something more there as well.
I tilted back toward my mother and father, trying to see what he saw.
“Jack, you said you took care of this.” I couldn’t make sense of the words as my mother stared at Beau, reaching for the armrest of the closest chair to sit. My father looked business angry. The stern face he gave to his enemies.
“I believed I did.” His entire focus was also on Beau. “Boy, where’s your father?”
“His father died.” In that second, everything became clear. Time froze. The blood seeped from my face, my body tensed, and my thoughts turned harsh.
My mother lowered her head into her hand. My father’s mouth was moving while he reached for the landline telephone. While I couldn’t hear all of his angry outburst, I did catch phrases like “contracts in place” and “money transferred” and “that degenerate bastard.” As those watchwords filtered through my brain, my anger increased. Reality zipped back into place.
“Are you implying you’re responsible for keeping us apart?” The words were absurd, barely out of my mouth before I rejected them. These were my parents. They witnessed my pain firsthand. They’d promised to help me.
“Son, you can’t be serious,” my mother said, tossing out a careless hand as if I were being ridiculous. “You’ve always tested us at every turn.”
With my father still on the call, he pointed a finger at me. “We will not have our family name tainted with trash. It’s past time you grew up and stopped flaunting your irresponsibility and ludicrous world views in our faces.”