“Oh.” Well, fuck. New alarms sounded in me. “Yeah, I should head back then.”
But when I got there, the two fathers were gone. Adam and Mason remained, and Nate right next to them.
I approached, unsure if I was still needed. “Everything okay now?”
“Sam.” Adam’s chest rose with his head. The regret in his eyes mixed with anger. “I’m sorry for what my dad said. I didn’t know you heard any of that until Nate came out, but he was drunk. No. That’s no excuse. He… I know you think I was coming at you guys earlier, but I wasn’t.”
“Jeff said you’re going into politics,” I said.
“I’m hoping, but with my dad how he is…” He motioned in the direction Steven Quinn must’ve gone. “I don’t know if that’s a possibility. I’m getting ready to take over the family company if he doesn’t stop drinking, and you never know. Maybe he’ll end up going to rehab, too.” His eyebrows pushed together. “Where’s the one your mom went to again? We might need a good referral.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Hmmm?” His head tilted. With his hands in his pockets, his body half-turned away from me, it came off like he was distracted.
Was he? Was that why he was asking for the wrong information?
“My mom wasn’t a drunk. Is that what you think?”
“I’m sorry. What?” He turned to face me, his hands still in his pockets.
Adam knew my mom wasn’t a drunk. I said, “You just asked where my mom went to rehab, like your father would go there for his drinking.” I waited. Would he realize his mistake? “You were there, Adam. I talked to you about her. I confided in you.”
And I waited.
Then I saw it. Realization filtered over his face, followed by regret, and then sympathy. “Sam, I’m so—”
I waved that off, shaking my head. “Sorry. I know. I heard you. My mom wasn’t a drunk and a junkie. She wasn’t an addict at all. She has a mental disorder, and she went to intensive therapy for it. I could tell you where she went, but I don’t think that’s where you’d want to send your dad, if you’re actually going to send him somewhere.”
I’d had enough. Things were fine here. Adam was off in his own head, plotting or planning something. I wasn’t sure why Mason and Nate were still here, but I didn’t care. I started to head back. I needed to hug Becky one more time, and then I was ready to leave.
“I wasn’t lying about my dad.”
Adam’s voice stopped me. I turned around again.
“And I do remember your mom,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. “I’m distracted right now because I do want to go to law school and into politics. I don’t want to stay here and take over my dad’s company, so right now when I asked about the wrong type of rehab, I was wondering if somehow my mom could take over instead. Or one of my sisters. Would that be fair to even ask that? Molly is the next oldest, but she’s just graduating high school. I don’t think that’s a fair burden to place on her shoulders. And then I wondered if that would affect Becky’s decision to marry me. If she’d be okay if we stayed in Fallen Crest for the rest of our lives, if she truly said yes to me because she loves me.”
Stark pain looked back at me.
“So please take my apology because I do mean it,” he finished.
I jerked my head in a stiff nod. I didn’t trust him regarding Becky, but I could recognize another child in pain over a parent. “Becky agreed to marry you. She doesn’t care what you end up doing. Believe that.”
“Thank you, Sam. I will.”
As I turned to go, I heard a voice I hadn’t heard for almost two weeks.
“Uh, yeah…”
I was already starting to smile.
Logan came around the back entrance, hand in hand with Taylor. He pointed behind him. “Just saw Dad helping this asshole’s pops into the car, and they both reeked of booze.” He dropped Taylor’s hand and held up his arms. “Come to me, my big brother. The better-looking Kade is back in town!”
My family was back together again.
Mason hugged Logan, then Nate, and I was last.
After setting me back on my feet, Logan skewered Adam with a look. “What’s that motherfucker doing here?”
I let Mason answer that and moved to hug Taylor. “Hey. How was the trip?”
“Good.” She waved to Nate and Mason, a little shy.
She was the closest to me, but even we weren’t super close. She and Logan had been together for almost a year now, but since she was from Cain, she liked to stick close to her friends there. Logan slept more at her house during the year than ours, which had caused some tension between him and Mason.