Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
It definitely had. Tracy must have felt abandoned over and over again, by the stepmothers and mother figures who disappeared from his life when they broke up with his dad. I knew from personal experience what those feelings could do to a person.
But I didn’t say any of that, of course. Instead, I told him, “You should talk to your son about this.”
“I don’t think he wants to hear what I have to say.”
“Sure he does.” When Hector didn’t reply, I said, “Come to our apartment for brunch tomorrow. It can just be a nice, casual meal, no pressure. Even if neither of you is ready for a big heart-to-heart, it’ll be good for you to spend some time together.”
“You two live together?”
“Yeah, as roommates.”
He’d already convinced himself that Tracy had sworn me to secrecy about our relationship, so he murmured, “Uh huh.” Then he said, “Tomorrow’s going to be pretty busy. I don’t think I have time to come over.” I thought that was bullshit, but I didn’t call him on it.
Tracy returned to the table and asked us, “Are you ready to go?”
“We just need the bill,” his father said.
“I already paid it.”
Hector sounded annoyed as he asked him, “Why did you do that? Dinner was going to be my treat.”
“For exactly this reason, so we wouldn’t argue over who was going to pay.”
Tracy picked up the gift bag and brought it with us to the lobby. When we were about to go our separate ways, he handed over the present and said, “Merry Christmas, Dad.”
His father pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it over. “Merry Christmas. Should I open this now?”
“No.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon, then.”
When they shook hands, I wanted to yell hug each other already! I doubted that would go over big though, so I just took my turn shaking Hector’s hand as I told him, “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
“You too, Everett. I hope to see you again.”
He headed to the elevator, and Tracy practically bolted for the door. Once we got outside, he took a deep breath and whispered, “Thank god that’s over.”
While we waited for the valet to bring my SUV around, he tore open the envelope and showed me its contents. It held a generic Christmas card signed only with “Dad,” and a fifty-dollar bill. As he stuck it in his pocket, he said, “I think I’ll use that to buy the ingredients for sugar cookies, along with a lot of fun sprinkles and cookie cutters. Then I’ll bring everything to the shelter on Monday. The residents will probably enjoy doing some baking and cookie decorating.”
“That’s a nice idea.”
He didn’t say anything else until we were almost home. At that point, he murmured, “I’m sorry about all of that.”
“What are you apologizing for?”
“I didn’t mean to make it so awkward. I thought we could just chat for an hour, eat a meal, and go our separate ways.”
“I feel awful. I didn’t realize I was bringing up a sensitive subject when I asked you about London.”
“Don’t blame yourself. My relationship with my dad is full of land mines. If it hadn’t been that one, it would have been something else.”
He turned his head, so he was staring out the passenger window. After a while, I said, “I tried to invite him over for brunch tomorrow.”
“He turned you down, didn’t he?”
“He said his day was too busy.”
“The event he’s in town for is actually a banquet that takes place in the evening, but whatever. He obviously feels like he fulfilled his fatherly obligation with this dinner, so why inflict more of me on himself?” After a minute, Tracy glanced at me and asked, “What did you two talk about while I was gone?”
“He told me you both struggled when your mom died, and he said he remarried quickly because he wanted you to have a mother again.”
“I wasn’t even gone for ten minutes. How did the conversation get that personal, that fast?”
“I don’t know, and I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
“It’s my fault. I’m the one who dragged you into the middle of my family drama.”
That was the last thing he said until we were in our apartment. I told him, “If you want to talk, I’ll make us some tea.”
“Thanks, but I think I’m just going to go to bed.”
We said good night, and I felt a twinge of disappointment as I watched him walk away. I knew he was hurting, and I really wanted to help. But I couldn’t make him open up, not if he didn’t want to.
13
Tracy
Two days before Christmas, I got off work at ten p.m. and walked a few blocks to visit Vee at his new job. He was working the front desk at an art deco-style boutique hotel, and as a new hire, he’d been assigned the overnight shift.