"You caught me," my father said. I could practically hear him roll his eyes as he said it.
"What do you need now, ol' man?" I asked.
"I need to know if you are at all interested in this business," he said.
"This one? I absolutely am. I want to grow it properly."
"This is just one small aspect of what I do. You know that." He was serious this time. Not biting or sarcastic.
The pressure to be his son had never been comfortable. It was always something. Build his empire. Build his fortune. Fulfill his legacy. It was almost too much pressure for one man to take.
I didn't want any of it. I didn't want the fortune, the money. Sure, it made things easier for a little while, but it wasn't who I was anymore.
It wasn't who I wanted to be.
"I like what I do now, Dad. I don't need the rest of the business." I shook my head. It was the last thing I wanted. I wasn’t his fucking crony.
"You have an MBA, son. It's what I've spent so many damn years training you for," he sounded tired. Not angry. "You have all the qualifications and expertise."
"I do, but I'm not interested. My life is here in Montana." Everything I wanted was here. The land. The people. Rose.
Rose was here. That was the real reason. I'd been the guy he was talking about. The player with all the women on my arms, the one who would've taken over the business.
Hell, if he would've asked me just a couple months ago I might've taken him up on his offer.
“You need to think about it. This is your future you are talking about,” my father said. He wasn’t angry anymore, he wasn’t yelling.
He was concerned.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Are you still seeing Rose?” he asked. It was his way of changing the subject. To jump from a tense one to an even more contentious topic.
“I am.” I gritted my teeth. “We’ve been seeing a lot of each other.”
“And her mom, how is she doing?” he asked. It was a gentle probe, but I had a feeling it was what he was more interested in. Everyone knew he loved her, even after he married my mom, had me. Even after all these years. It was why he helped Jack out when he had cancer. Why he was so protective of her and Rose.
It had been more than thirty-five years since they’d been together, but he still carried a torch for her. She would always be the one that got away. I could completely identify with that.
“Not so great. She’s had a scare. They found a lump,” I said as I swallowed. Just like with mom. A lump in her breast, one that took her life.
“Did she tell you?” he asked.
“She did.”
Silence passed between us.
“I know you don’t want my advice, but I think its time you bury the hatchet with her. I think you should go talk to her, dad. Let her know you are thinking about her. She’s scared and honestly, she could probably use a friend.” My father and I were a lot of things, but loving was never one of them.
That didn’t mean I didn’t love him. I did. And he loved me. In his own way.
It hurt to watch him be so angry with her. So angry that she made her choice. It was why my mother left him. She swore he loved someone else. That he didn’t really care for her. She watched her relationship wither and she put it out of its misery.
I understood exactly what she meant. Because no matter who I was with, once Rose touched my life I couldn’t just replace her.
But she walked back into town and into my world, and I couldn't imagine anything else. It might be hard as hell to convince her, but we belonged together.
Even if she didn't want to believe it. I just needed time. I could make her see.
Hell, I could swear by the way she looked at me that she already knew.
“I’ll think on it, son. I really will. It’s been a lot of years since she and I really talked. Hell, since before you were born.” He and I had never opened up like this. It was almost frightening.
We were actually talking to one another like adults. With respect.
It was almost enough to make my jaw drop.
“Well, son. I better get on down the road. You think about what I said, I don’t want you to waste this.” He stood and whatever spell had come over the two of us dissipated and Branch Graves was once again the angry bitter man who was hell bent on forcing me to follow in his footsteps.
I watched him go and I put it out of my mind.
I had a date to plan.
Chapter Thirteen
I looked in the china cabinet door, glancing at my reflection in the glass before I hurried outside to the truck waiting in the driveway. Wyatt just pulled in, but I wanted to get out there before my mother could stick her nose in my personal business.
I’d been staying at her place off and on since I heard the news about the possibility of cancer. I just couldn’t bring myself to go home, really. I hadn’t had enough time with my father when he was ill, and I regretted every moment of it.