“Less racist? Look, Mr. Fletcher—” Maverick stammered.
“Son, don’t play with me. I’m too old and too plain for your games. Give it to me straight. Who the hell are you, and what do you really want? Why you come here?”
“I don’t know,” Maverick sighed. “That’s the truth. I don’t know why she gave me a chance, and I’m not sure the real reason for why I took it. I’d like to think she heard my testimony in court when I said all I wanted to do was know my son, and she believed me. Maybe she realized that a man’s love for his son could be genuine. Because that part of me is true. I always wanted a son. Okay. Okay. At first, I was pissed. Royally pissed with her. She was taking what was mine. But I met her, and I realized she was protecting what was hers. And I get that. I understood that in the courtroom. I can’t say I came with the best of intentions. Not at first.” He glanced over to his son as he finished his answer. “Since I met Noah, I feel different. About everything. And I have her to thank for it. I hope that’s a good enough reason,” Maverick replied.
Henry kept eating. He gobbled up his meal in silence.
“What kind of man was he?” Maverick asked.
“Who?” Henry talked with a mouth full.
“Charles?” Maverick replied.
“A phony.” Henry swallowed and then took a sip of his beer before ripping into his steak.
“How so?” Maverick pressed him.
“Charles was like his father and his brothers. He acquired things, then he took the credit for the success of others. That law firm of his never got off the ground until his mother sent him to Massachusetts to meet their young recruit.”
“Delilah?” Maverick asked.
Henry's gaze swung up. “You heard this story before?”
Maverick nodded. “Parts of it.”
“My daughter has been opening up many doors to you. Interesting. Delores said you two were getting closer. I see my wife was right too. Did Delilah talk about how they met?”
Maverick nodded.
“Well, it’s all true. Charles said he wanted to mentor her. After she sped right through law school, he was there to catch her. Brought her into his firm. My little girl is good at what she does. Two years later, that firm is bigger than ever. That I know for a fact,” Henry said. He sat back. He reached for the extra beer Maverick had brought to the table with a burp. It would be beer number three for him.
“Sounds like you didn’t like him?” Maverick asked.
“Not sure I would say that. Charles loved Delilah. I know she can’t believe it right now, and my wife either, but it’s the truth.”
“How? How would you know?” Maverick asked. “ I don’t mean to sound rude, but you can never know the insides of another person's marriage.”
“I knew the same way I know you got genuine feelings for my baby-girl, too,” Henry said.
Noah reached for Maverick. Not to join him but to get out of the chair and roam. He set his son loose and watched as he ran over to his toy trucks. Henry's gaze didn’t lower. Maverick looked back into the old man’s eyes and saw more wisdom than judgment. He found unfiltered honesty. “Delilah special, son. Any man who meets her can see it. Charles had the same look you have when she talks to you, cooks for you. Same look. Charles tried to keep her all to himself. Was pretty selfish about it. Pushed us away at first. Tried to break up that friendship with the other girls, too. But he didn’t control her. No one can control my girls.”
Maverick chuckled. “Does it bother you that I have feelings for her? So soon?”
Henry patted his stomach. He burped again. It was as if he was trying to do all the forbidden things he could never get away with around his wife. “Let’s see. Yes, it bothers me. She’s smart, she’s strong, and she’s a good girl, but she doesn’t understand men. That’s one of the things Charles had over her. We kept her sheltered. He kept her sheltered. So yeah. I’m her father. I’m going to be bothered that you showed up and got close to her so fast. I know it wasn’t all about kindness and Noah. She like her mother. Her beauty makes men weak. A curse and a blessing, I suppose.”
“She is beautiful. I agree. But my relationships with women are just as complicated as hers with men. I met my wife and just knew. Loved her instantly but failed her many times. Too many to count. And Camille took some time, but I loved her after my wife. Maybe as a replacement for my wife. Hurts me deep to say it out loud. It’s probably true.” Maverick paused. He sat there staring into his plate for a long pause as he shuffled the deck of guilt in his mind and pulled out a card of redemption. “Delilah and my feelings for her are happening too fast... I see that. You’re right to be concerned, Queen too. I’m not a hero here or perfect. When I first met Delilah, I couldn’t stand the sight of her. She was trying to take my son, trying to buy me off. And she was good at it. She had me by the balls. Pardon my language,” Maverick said respectfully. Henry waved off the comment. “I really didn’t think there was anything between us but being lifelong enemies. Until the day I came here. One day out of my element and into hers, and I saw through her act. Took one look at her outside of that courtroom away from her attorney and that judge, and it was all over for me. Hit me fast and hard. I know you don’t believe me, but I swear it on my life. It’s true,” said Maverick.
“I want to believe you. For my grandson. I want to believe that you are a good man.” Henry shook his head. “For my daughter, it’s different. She deserves different than what she’s got.”
“And that’s what I want to understand. What she had, what she needs? If I’m pushing her into something that isn’t right?”
Henry stroked his chin. He rocked back in his chair. He brought it down and sat forward. “Charles came to me when Delilah was pregnant. I guess he knew the truth about the baby not being his during that little visit. I didn’t. He told me he’d made some mistakes, some investment mistakes. Said he was going to do his best to fix it. Asked me to support him in case things between him and Delilah went bad. Needed my support. Sounded crazy. Telling me he done something to hurt my little girl, but he thought his money and power meant I wouldn’t help her toss him aside if he asked. Guess he was burying all kinds of secrets and was afraid of what she’d do if she found out he was a phony. I nearly put my fists on him for the disrespect. Then he starts crying like a baby. Grown ass man, crying hard and blubbering all over the damn place. Begging me to understand him because his father never did. Again, I didn’t know the truth then. The worst I could think of was that he had an affair or something. He denied it, though. But his pain looked like guilt to me. He was afraid. I figured it out. He didn’t just want me to side with him against my baby-girl. He wanted me to be a father to him and take his side in any and everything. Can you believe that?” Henry shook his head and drank his beer. He looked at Noah as he finished the story. “I told him to be a man. To face his mistakes and be honest with my daughter. He told me that he’d give it all up to keep her safe. That he always knew how lucky he was to have her. He told me that after the baby was born, they would leave the Cove. Leave his controlling mother behind. He’d take her to New York. They’d have a life of their own, outside of the Montgomery. He would have his family his way.”