“With your permission, Luke, I’d like to suggest we focus on a few themes in our upcoming conversations. Firstly, we need to reset the view you have of your father. Secondly, I think we need to address that what you were asked to do, while still a teen yourself, was unreasonable to ask of a child and was always going to set you up for failure. Third, I think your addictions and your situation are more entwined than you perhaps realise. And finally, we need to find a way for you to forgive yourself.”
“What am I forgiving myself for? I fucked up.”
Neil huffed and shook his head. “You didn’t, Luke. You were still a teenager. And what you did was more than anyone could ever ask of a teen. You did so much more than you gave yourself credit for. You held your family together. Your sister is fine. Your mum is fine, although you may want to talk to her about your father and ask her about his flaws. What you did was incredible, Luke. I wish you could see yourself as I see you.”
“But I complained. I hated having it forced on me.”
“Because back then, you didn’t have the maturity. You were still a teen. My teens complain because I ask them to take the bins out on a Friday morning. They complain when I ask them to unload the dishwasher. Punishment still felt unfair because you didn’t have the maturity to understand the value of the lessons yet. Of course you complained. None of it was fair. None of it was your fault. You need to forgive back then Luke. Now Luke needs to apologise to that kid who did his absolute best, who tried his hardest, who made all those sacrifices. You need to love him and hold him and cherish him for doing everything he could to walk a mile in shoes he was too young to fill.”
While Luke had no fucking clue how to do any of it, just hearing the words spliced his heart into two pieces. And a decade of grief spilled out onto the floor of the mill building.
Willow looked at the clock. Luke should be wrapping up his early-afternoon session in the next few minutes. She’d offered to go with him, to wait at a nearby coffee shop while he had his appointment, but he’d been pretty clear.
He needed to do this step alone, and he’d wanted the time on the tram home to process his thoughts.
Instead, she’d focused on what she could control. The bathroom shone. She’d found a whole heap of content on Shamaze by content creators whose entire platform was house cleaning. The bedding in the bedroom was changed. And she’d found a whole new appreciation for taking care of what was hers. In Malibu, they’d had a housekeeper, but there was a simple satisfaction in making the apartment look nice for when he got home.
She’d tried to call her mom. Again. Five times since she’d gotten back from Mallorca. Luke’s powerful honesty had reminded her that she needed to be honest with her family. And that included talking to her mom about what was going on. It would fester forever if she didn’t know how much her mom knew, or didn’t ask her to take her side.
As she put the ingredients she’d bought for dinner into the fridge, her phone rang, and she glanced at it hoping it was her, but it wasn’t.
“Hi, Sasha. What’s up?”
“I wish I was the bearer of better news, but I received a torrent of legal suits against you from your father. He’s contesting the freeze placed on all your funds and his until this is resolved. He’s suing you for breach of contract. Apparently, in the depths of your legal contract with him, it says you need to give him twelve months’ notice. He wants paying for last month and this, plus emotional damages and a whole bunch of other bullshit.”
Willow placed a hand on her bump and rubbed it in circles. “I expected him to be angry. But I honestly thought he’d negotiate. I didn’t expect him to go on the attack.”
“They’ve asked to see everything you have. I think it’s a reach on their part while they try to figure out how much you actually know. I’ve just reiterated our line all along. That they need to assume that anything in the office of the house we are contesting is yours, is known.”
“I don’t want to negotiate or share a single thing we don’t need to, at this point. Let’s just proceed with legal action. There’s precedent for cases like this, right?”
“There is. Parents have been siphoning child actors’ money since the start of film. But in your case, we have to untangle a few things. Your dad’s egregious management contract that you signed before you were old enough to know what you were signing is separate to his responsibilities as a parent to look after your income. Could you look through all those records you have? Specifically email. I know you’ve already sent me everything you thought was relevant. But send me everything. Double-check the emails between your dad and the accountant to look for language about how best to siphon and filter money. I want to make sure we nail all of those who are complicit.”
Willow sighed. “How long does something like this go on for?”
“I don’t want to mislead you here, it could be a couple of years.”
Willow thought about the baby. Did she want to be dealing with this with a newborn? But there was much money at risk. “What if we decided an amount of money I’d be willing to settle for? See if he’ll take it?”
“I mean, is it possible to have some kind of without prejudice meeting whereby we flesh him out, sure. But your dad’s lawyers have made it clear that he feels there is no case to answer to. And the tone is exceptionally vigorous given the stage we are at with the suit. My gut tells me, if we offer something less than our original starting amount, they’ll smell blood in the water.”
She sighed and wandered to the small coffee table and lit a couple of the candles she’d put on there. “Fair point. I was just thinking of the baby, when it comes in November and being in the middle of all this.”
“How are you feeling, by the way? How are things with you and Luke?”
Thoughts of Luke made her smile. The way he’d taken her that morning. “I’m feeling great. It’s a boy. Everything is healthy. And Luke and I are headed down an unexpected path.”
“You didn’t need the contract?”
“No, I did. But having it gave us time to get to know one another. And that’s been . . . more than I hoped for.”
“Listen, I know you are a client. But I find it hard to not want to tell you to be careful with your heart, because too many people have taken advantage of it.”
“I know. You’re right. But this isn’t what you think. The more I learn about Luke, the more I see who he is.”
“And who is he?”
“Someone who just needs to be loved.”
“Maybe it’s the lawyer in me, but that sounds a bit motherhood and apple pie.”
Willow shrugged. “Maybe.” Keys rattled in the lock. “Luke just got home. Did you need anything else?”
“Just another look through all those emails. Perhaps even pop them all into the folder I set up so we can scrutinise them too.”
“Will do.”
“Take care of yourself, Willow.”
She placed her phone down on the coffee table just as Luke came through the door. He looked drawn and windswept. “Hey,” she said, walking over to him.
“Come here,” he said, tugging her to him and sliding his arms around her fully until their bodies were flush. His hands spanned her back as his mouth sought the side of her neck. “I missed you both,” he muttered against her skin before pressing kisses along her shoulder.