“Let’s go,” Easton said through his teeth, guiding me to the door.
This wasn’t the time or place. Mama needed rest. She needed calmness around her, not the tension from our family feud. Resigned, I retreated but not before kissing her cheek. “I won’t be far,” I promised, straightening.
“I warned you to stay away from her,” Dad said as I made for the exit.
I paused, keeping my voice deadly quiet. “And I’m warning you. You won’t keep me from my mother.” I strode into the hallway and stuck my head into a few doors, looking for somewhere to wait besides that lobby. So far, all I’d found was an examination room and a supply closet.
“This way,” Easton said from behind me, leading me to a room that had a bed, a sofa, a chair, and a television. The covers on the bed were wrinkled as if someone had been lying on top of them. “Mulaney convinced him to rest for a while, but you know how stubborn he can be.”
“What the fuck is going on? Why didn’t anyone tell me she was in the hospital? Or whatever this place is.” I gestured wildly, infuriated to have been left in the dark.
“She’s having an experimental procedure. The doctors said it would be rough, but if she makes it through, her chances of recovery are better than with only chemo or radiation.”
“I didn’t know she was considering it,” I shouted, slamming my fist into the mattress. “I should have been here today.”
Guilt flashed in Easton’s eyes, but he didn’t sugarcoat it. “You know why you weren’t.”
“Someone should have told me, goddammit. She’s my mother, and I don’t know how much longer I have with her.”
“Why do you think you’re here now? We both should have realized that time was limited well before now.” He talked to Mama every day or just about. They were close. I’d sent her to voicemail on more occasions than I cared to admit. Seeing her like that made me see what a fool I’d been. My anger had never been directed at her, yet she’d suffered the consequences of it. And now I would too. Fuck.
“I’m not leaving,” I said indignantly. “I don’t care if I have to sleep on the street. She needs to know we’re all here.”
“Just stay out of Dad’s sight.”
“I’ve gotten good at that over the years,” I said bitterly.
“I don’t know if the past can ever be undone. I-I can’t figure out how to fix it.” Easton ran a hand through his hair, at a loss.
“Why is it your responsibility to fix everything? They never do anything wrong. So really, it’s me, you mean, who needs to change,” I accused, not bothering to hide my disdain. Why would I ever bother to change when it wouldn’t matter anyway? I could become a priest or a missionary or devote my life to helping the less fortunate, and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference to them.
“You do need to do some serious soul-searching,” Easton said. “What kind of person steals from his family? I’d get it if it was only a little bit. Maybe you were having financial problems. Maybe you were pissed because we nixed a project you believed in. But I don’t see how you can blame Dad for having a hard time looking at you.”
“It started well before the company went under,” I shouted, immediately wishing I could take it back. I’d given away more than I wanted to, and the addled look on my brother’s face confirmed it.
“You have so much explaining to do. Including what you meant when you said you own Carter Energy. Start now.”
I hated when he took that I’m-older-and-wiser tone. “Our mother is sick. That should be our focus.” All my pent-up energy needed an outlet. I wanted to pace but couldn’t show my hand. Easton was pressing me into a corner. If he kept it up, I’d have to get nasty.
“She’s resting. If you’re determined to stay, we’ve got plenty of time to hash some of this out. I want answers. As I said before, I’m not asking as the brother you deceived. I need to know where this went wrong. When we stopped being family to you. Because, Drew, you never stopped being family to us.” The sincerity in Easton’s voice was like a hand wrapped around my throat. When he spoke that way, it made everything I’d done seem over-the-top absurd. Like a kid lashing out for attention—which was exactly what I’d been. I’d been hurt, so I went after what would hurt them the most.
“The hell I didn’t.” I couldn’t stand still any longer, so I moved around the bed to the small window overlooking the street. A couple pushed a stroller, at a casual pace, carefree despite the cold, almost as if their lives were summertime and there was sunshine all year round. I turned away in disgust.
“You were upset about the pipeline. I know you thought it was a good idea, but it was just too risky—and that’s coming from a family of gamblers,” Easton reasoned.
I smiled ruefully, shaking my head. “That’s just one example in a list a mile long.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s just agree to disagree.”
I shrugged indifferently when I was anything but. Mulaney walked in, and I didn’t bother to stifle a groan. Knowing her, she’d bulldoze her way into matters with little regard for consequence. I steeled myself for the verbal berating she’d be more than willing to unleash on me, but she went straight to my brother, tucking herself against his side.
“We both thought you should have been here earlier, that you had a right to know Loretta was having this done,” she said.
“You’re damn right I should have been,” I said combatively. It would feel good to fight. The unsettledness and uncertainty had me antsy. I’d never hit a woman, but Mulaney and I could have a shouting match with the best of them.
She didn’t take the bait. Instead of being pissed, it looked like she felt sorry for me. That I couldn’t stand.
“I almost lost Ruby, and I love your mother like my own. As much as I don’t like you, it’s wrong to keep you from her. If there’s one thing you care about, it’s Loretta. We’re on the same team. At least on this.”
No. She was so fucking wrong. We’d never gotten along, but when she stepped into the Carter Energy boardroom for the first time, our dislike for one another had escalated. What had started as provocation on my part grew to manipulation. And she deserved every moment of it. Yet she—the golden daughter—was extending an olive branch of sorts to me. Fuck that.
She might have won over my dad, taken every ounce of his pride and admiration, and scored my brother as her husband, but she was not family to me. Never would be.
“We were never in the same stadium, let alone on the same team,” I shot back, and neither of them appeared surprised. “I’m going to get some air. None of you are keeping me out of her room. Dad and the two of you can get over it.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sonya
He hadn’t been around in three days.
I told myself I cared because I wanted another cigarette and nothing more, but his absence was notable. I felt it before I ventured down to the dining room that first morning, swearing my appearance had everything to do with not hiding from the world. The truth was, I was looking for Drew, and now that he wasn’t there, I was finding the reasons to stay more difficult.