I glance up at him and shake my head. “I’m not interested, Dad. I’m really not.”
“That might be true. But you’ve never heard this one. So indulge me for a moment.”
I throw up my hands. “Whatever.”
“Once up on a time there was a man who lived in a big mansion across the lake from a very exclusive school. He had three sons. The first, his own spitting image in every conceivable way. Smart, and talented, and focused on his job.” He kinda drags that last word out, emphasizing the ‘b.’ “The second was not his son.”
I look up at him quickly. Because even though I knew, we’ve never talked about it before.
“Not anything like his son, actually.”
“Whose son was he?”
“It’s not important.”
I scoff. “I’m pretty sure that would’ve been important to Dane.”
“I’m not talking about Dane.”
“What?” I shake my head at him. “Then who?”
“Just listen for once, Cooper.” Then he pauses to shoot me a stern look.
“Whatever. Keep going then.”
“The third son was a lot like the first. In looks, mostly. But they had very different temperaments. The oldest wanted to succeed at everything. The youngest was quite the underachiever.”
I huff. I know he’s talking about me.
“The oldest did everything he was told. He took the wife he was offered and he was happy. Content. The youngest didn’t want anything to do with the girls at High Court. Not the legitimate ones, anyway. You see, he loved a girl on the edge of things.”
My heart thumps inside my chest. Then I force myself to look up at my father.
“Do you want to know what happened to them?” he asks.
“I think I already know.”
“You know nothing, Christopher. Nothing at all. And the reason you know nothing is because I’ve been trying to protect you.”
I laugh. Pretty loud, too. “Oh, that’s funny.”
“The story isn’t about you and your brothers. Not really. It applies, of course. Because you and Jack are both my sons. Real. Sons. But Dane was not. So…” He lets out a long breath and gazes around at the overgrown yard. “So losing him today wasn’t a big deal to me either.”
I think my heart stops for a moment. “What the fuck?”
“That story was about me and my brothers, Cooper. Not you and yours.”
“You have brothers?”
“Not anymore. They both died.”
“Let me guess, you were the overachiever and this is a cautionary tale that I should get my shit together and play along or I’m going to end up like Dane?”
“Cooper, the story isn’t about Dane. It’s about me.”
“What?”
“I know you think the world revolves around you. And that’s my fault. I set you up for that. And I know you think I’m evil. I walk into that tomb every month and condone what happens in there.”
I want to stop him here and ask what does happen in there. What haven’t I seen yet? What is this about?
But he doesn’t give me the chance. Just keeps talking. “But I was you once. I was the youngest brother. The underachiever. I wanted the girl on the edge of things. She was a town girl, not a pretty thing in the woods. And I got her, Cooper. That was your mother. And I still ended up here.”
He’s silent for a long moment. And I am too. I need long, quiet moments to piece together all the words that just came out of his mouth.
He abruptly laughs. “Trust me, no one would be happier if you got out than me.”
“That’s… funny. You don’t want me out, you want me in. You’re doing all this right now to keep me here. To force my hand. To make me go back. A building? Dedicated to Cadee? And all this shit with Isabella? I can’t forgive that. She almost died in my arms that night.” I start to get emotional. Because it was fucking horrible and I have still, to this day, never recovered from that night. “I found her in the bathtub, Dad. There was blood everywhere. And why did that happen? Because she wanted to be her own person? And you people”—I sneer the word—“you people just don’t care. You drag her back. You drag them all back—”
“I didn’t drag them. That’s the part you misunderstand, Cooper. They are not you. They are weak. Isabella is weak. She’s better than she was.” He pauses to point his finger at me. “Because you stayed by her side. But she does not have the strength to stop this. She isn’t the one who will change things, Cooper. You are.”
I laugh. “You want me to believe that you’re on my side?”
“I’ve always been on your side, Cooper.”
“No. You’ve always been on Dane’s side. You never had my back.”
“Not in public.”
“Not in private, either. You blamed me when Mom died. You blamed me! Do you have any idea how unfair that is? I was five, for fuck’s sake.”
My mother killed herself. And I was there.
But the worst part is… I lived and she didn’t.
“I was five,” I say again. “I didn’t know she was going to crash the car.” I pause and look up at him. Meet his cold, steel-gray eyes. “You never had my back. Especially in private. You know Dane was beating the fuck out of me when I was a kid. And you did nothing.”
He sighs. Tired, maybe? Possibly frustrated. “When you came in my office at the beginning of the summer, I gave you that advice, remember? Always have a plan B. And look at you. Sitting here in front of your Plan B. You actually made me proud when you showed up at the tomb and threatened me.”
I guffaw. “Right.”
He shakes his head and looks out at the view of overgrown tulip trees for several long moments, just staring into nothingness. Like he’s reliving something. “I thought that Isabella was a turning point for you.” He looks at me. “When I heard what you did that night, how you stepped up and saved her life, Cooper”—he smiles at me—“I was proud of you. I thought, ‘Well, finally. The prodigal son steps up.’ But it wasn’t the first time, was it?” He pauses again. “I didn’t know about Dane for several more months. I didn’t know that you stepped up for Cadee too.”
I huff. “I didn’t step up for Cadee. I forced her to be quiet. I talked her into getting an abortion.”
“You took control of something, Cooper. You made decisions. For once, you thought of someone other than yourself.”
“You’re wrong!” I insist. “I made her keep that secret so I could use it against Dane later, Dad. What I did was unforgivable.”
He sucks in a deep breath. Then lets it out slowly. “Yes. You were a total piece of shit. And yet she forgave you, Cooper.” He stares hard at me. “Almost no one gets it right the first time. I certainly didn’t. And when Isabella needed you, you performed better.”
“Performed?” I am… incredulous.
“Listen. I made mistakes too when I was young. There is a lot more to this story than you could ever realize. You and I are more alike than you will ever want to admit. But that’s fine, Cooper. I don’t pretend to be good. I’m not good. I play my part. Just like you were playing yours. And I know that you think I hate you, but I don’t. Everything that’s happened between us was for Dane’s benefit. And now?” He shrugs. “He’s gone. We don’t have to worry about him.”