Breaking Even(88)

“How can I help you, sir?” I ask, wondering why Harvey didn’t even bother introducing us.

The man smiles as he looks at me, almost seeming proud for some reason. And this is only getting weirder.

“He’s a bit of a worm, isn’t he?” the man asks, looking back just as Harvey turns the corner.

I bite back a grin, but I don’t respond. How can I?

“Um... I’m Brin Waters,” I say instead, sticking my hand out for introductions.

He grins slowly as he takes my hand and shakes it. “So you are. You’re exactly how I pictured you.”

Completely, totally, utterly, awkwardly weird.

“Excuse me?” I ask as he walks toward the Egyptian exhibit with curious eyes.

“I’m the largest silent contributor for this museum. They need my money, so that’s why Harvey was so rattled.”

Is he trying to intimidate me? Because it’s working. I just got nervous as hell. I really can’t afford to lose my job right now.

“Is there something I can do for you?”

I don’t know why I bother to keep asking questions, because he’s apparently only saying what he wants to when he wants to.

“Yes. There is,” he says, surprising me when he finally answers a question I’ve asked.

He faces me and smiles warmly, still seeming a little too happy to see me for my comfort level.

“My name is Rygan Clanton.”

Pretty sure I just got sick. I know I’m pale, and judging by the look he’s giving me, I think it appears like I’m close to passing out... Because I am.

“You love the hell out of my boy,” he says with a grin that touches his brown eyes—Rye’s eyes.

How does he know that?

“Why are you here?” I ask in an embarrassing, rasp whisper.

He motions toward a bench at the far corner, and I follow him, happy to sit before my legs give out. He waits for me to sit down first, and then he joins me as he stares straight ahead.

“My son is going to come after you. He won’t leave you alone. When he wants something, he usually gets it. But you can’t take him back.”

Weirdest. Morning. Ever.

“He’s not trying to get me back. He’s only trying to smooth things over between us so that we can be... um... friends again.”

I’m so not laying out the sordid details of my screwed up relationship with Rye to his father.

He smiles weakly. “Ethan called me this morning. Rye is breaking down. It’ll start soon. But until he’s ready to tell you everything—to completely open himself up—this thing between the two of you won’t work. So if you love him, you’ll make him break. Otherwise, you’ll stay in this loop—he’ll hurt you, you’ll cry, he’ll return, and you’ll take him back. It’s a vicious cycle. I’ve been in a loop of my own for years. You’re the only hope that boy has, and I want you to do what no one else can.”

What the damn hell is going on?

“What is that?”

He looks at me with tears in his eyes, and says, “Make him forgive himself and move on.”

He stands suddenly, and he leans down and kisses my head while I sit in a silent stupor.

“He loves you already,” he says on a sigh. But I know this. Rye just won’t admit it. He doesn’t want to love me, and that hurts worse than him actually not loving me. “But he won’t be strong enough to embrace it until he’s strong enough to forgive.”

Damn Miyagi bullshit. What does that even mean?

“You’re wrong. He doesn’t want to love me, and he’s never going to try. It’s not me. I’m not his one person. I tried to be. I wanted to be. But I’m not.” He wouldn’t be able to fight me if I was.

He swallows the knot in his throat as a tear rolls down his cheek, and my heart clenches at the sight. He doesn’t have to worry about me taking Rye back too soon, because I wouldn’t take him back even if he begged me. I’m ruined as it is. I’d be a shadow of myself if I went through this hell more than once.

“If his formative years had gone better, he would probably already be proposing to you, and none of this would be going on. Trust me. He loves you just as much as you love him. He came to see me on his own, and he talked. He didn’t just yell; he opened up and shared something that must have been killing him for years. That’s the first time he’s ever done that. He wants to move on. Until you, he’s never wanted to move forward. For the first time, he sees the future instead of just the past.”

I sit back as he leaves, but I don’t say anything. I’m so damn confused. What is it with the men in their family?

***