Real Men Don't Quit(28)

“It’s her birthday. And I thought you’d talked to her already, to all of them.” He nodded at his other daughters.

Helen’s fingernails dug into Luke’s arm. “What’s he talking about? Luke, have you been seeing this louse behind our backs?”

Taking a deep breath, he faced his incredulous sister. “He’s visited me a couple of times, yes.”

“How could you?” She pushed his arm away. “Why did you keep it secret?”

“Because I knew you’d react like this. I was going to bring it up at the appropriate time, but it appears I’ve been preempted.” He shot a glower at his father. Damn him. Why couldn’t he have waited? Now he’d distressed Helen and made Luke out to be one of the bad guys.

“Bring what up?” Helen demanded. “What exactly does he want?”

“He wants” Luke paused and shrugged at his father. “Why don’t you tell everyone yourself?”

Patrick smoothed back his hair and cleared his throat. “I only want what any father wants,” he began, looking humble. “To be with my family—”

“You forfeited that right when you walked out on us,” Helen snapped.

“And it was wrong of me, very wrong.” Patrick bowed his head. “I regret it to this day. But that happened a long time ago. Can’t we let bygones be bygones? Can’t we forgive and move on?”

“Liar. Hypocrite.” Helen hurled the words at him like stones. Her fury shook Luke. Was his sister this unforgiving?

Patrick staggered back as if he’d been hit, sweat coating his forehead.

“Are you okay?” Moving forward, Luke caught his father’s arm and lowered him into a nearby armchair. The old man’s face was like dough.

“I’ll get him some water,” someone said. Someone else opened a window to let in more air.

Patrick gripped Luke’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Tyler and Karly were holding Helen’s hands. His eldest sister looked devastated. He pulled his arm free. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

His father winced. Before Luke could add anything, Rosie bustled up with a glass of water and a clean towel. “Here you go,” she said sympathetically.

“Thank you, my dear.” Patrick accepted the water and towel. “I’m not as strong as I used to be. Still recuperating from the operation.”

Luke caught his breath.

“What operation?” Rosie asked.

“Had half my liver removed. Fortunately, the tumor was benign.”

“You never mentioned this before,” Luke broke in accusingly.

His father leaned back in the armchair and dabbed his forehead with the towel. “I don’t want to be a bother, son.”

So why mention the operation at all? And in front of everyone? Disquiet crawled in Luke’s gut. His father had always been a liar—a charming liar, yes, but still a liar. Disguising the truth was second nature to him, to the point where he himself wasn’t aware he was lying. He had used Luke to weasel his way into Helen’s home, and now he was using Rosie’s sweet sympathy to his own advantage.

“Is this why you’ve come back?” Luke asked. “Because you’re sick and you want someone to look after you?”

An injured expression came over his father’s face. “When did you become such a cynic? If I need someone to look after me, I can always hire a private nurse. I came back because I want to make amends before it’s too late. Is that so hard to believe?”

Rosie clucked, her face softening as she patted his hand. Patrick gave her a faint smile, but his gaze returned to Luke, a question in his eyes. Luke didn’t know what to think or say. He backed away and turned to Helen. She was still clutching onto Tyler and Karly, deep lines etched on her face.

“Come on.” Luke pulled Helen away and led her into the kitchen.

Once there, she pressed her hands to her cheeks and exhaled deeply. “He took Mum’s engagement ring when he left. Did you know that?”

Luke filled a glass with water and handed it to his sister. “No, I didn’t. Mum never mentioned it.”

The glass rattled against her teeth as she took a sip. “Of course she didn’t. She never stopped loving the rat.” Helen lowered the glass. “He would have left her a lot sooner if it weren’t for you.”

Luke gaped at his sister. “I don’t understand.”

“Before you were born, he left and returned numerous times, but once you came along, he stayed put. You were his boy and the apple of his eye. He doted on you.”

Luke’s gut ached. “But he left anyway.”

Helen shrugged. “Eight years was a long time for him to hang around. Now, he’s still doting on you, looking to you to save him.”

What could he say? Helen had every reason to despise their father, but try as he might, he couldn’t muster the same blind outrage.

“I’m sorry, Helen. For everything, especially for ruining your birthday. I’ll get him out of here.”

He went to leave, but she put out a hand to restrain him. “It’s not your fault. I know that. I tend to lash out sometimes. And I had a lovely birthday before all this.” She paused, her expression softening. “Did you and Tyler have a nice visit at Mum’s place?”

He blinked in surprise. “Yeah.”

“I like Tyler a lot. I hope you’ll bring her here again soon.”

He made a noncommittal grunt. The kerfuffle with his father had pushed the rest of the day aside, but later on he would think back on Tyler in his old bedroom and everything she’d said to him.

“Talk to you later.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek and returned to the living room where both the twins were now sitting and listening to their father. The old man had perked up, no doubt because he had a more sympathetic audience, Luke thought sourly.

Tyler and Karly, who’d been hovering in the background, moved over to Luke.

“I’d better go see if Helen needs me,” Karly said before disappearing toward the kitchen, leaving Tyler to give him an inquiring look.

“Helen’s okay,” Luke told her, “but it’s best if I get my father out of here. Are you ready to go?”

She nodded swiftly. “I’ll get Chloe.”

When Luke told his father it was time to leave, Patrick sighed and heaved himself upright. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll let Helen calm down a bit before giving her a ring.”

“It won’t be as easy as you think. You’ll have to work for her forgiveness.”

“And you? You’ve forgiven me, haven’t you, son?”

The hopeful look in his father’s eyes made Luke wince inwardly. He saw Tyler coming in from the garden with Chloe in tow and ignored his father’s question. “Let’s go,” he said in an implacable tone.

Outside the sun was still shining, but the beauty of the day had completely vanished for Luke. He just wanted to see his father drive off. Handing his car keys to Tyler, he told her to see to Chloe before walking with his father to the dated Mercedes. Up close, he noticed it was more decrepit than he’d first thought. There were rust spots, dents, and the tires were worn. His father also looked worse for wear on closer inspection. Thin, gray strands of hair blew in the breeze, and his eyes were bloodshot.

“You okay to drive all the way back to Sydney?” Luke felt compelled to ask as his father unlocked the car.

“I’m still staying locally.”

Luke’s mouth tightened. “Where?”

His father hesitated. “Look, son, you wouldn’t happen to have any spare cash, would you? It’s Sunday, you see, and I can’t access my account until the bank opens tomorrow.”

Luke stared at his father, a sick feeling curdling in his gut. “Where are you staying?” he insisted through gritted teeth.

His father wilted. “The Rocking Horse Motel.”

The Rocking Horse Motel was a flea-bitten dive on the outskirts of town where rooms could be rented by the hour. “If that’s the only place you could find, you should go back to Sydney.”

Patrick’s shoulders appeared to sag even farther. “Actually, I don’t have a place in Sydney.”

Luke drew in some air. “So the harbor-front apartment with the view of the opera house was all a lie?”

“No, it existed, but I had to sell it when I became ill.”

Luke thrust his fingers through his hair as his temper finally broke loose. “I’m so sick of your damn lies. You ferret yourself into my life, you spread all these half-truths like manure, and you leech on your entire family. You don’t care about us. All you care about is what we can give you.”

He whipped out his wallet from his back pocket. His fingers trembled with rage as he yanked out all the notes he had and smacked them against his father’s chest. “There, take it all and get the hell out of here.” His father didn’t make a move to take the money, just stared at him, so Luke shoved the notes into the top pocket of the old man’s jacket. “Get going.”

Patrick fumbled his way into the Mercedes and started the car. Luke slammed the door shut and stood with his arms crossed, waiting until the car finally pulled off. He took a few deep breaths, telling himself to get a grip. He didn’t want Chloe seeing him in such a rage. Finally he calmed down sufficiently to walk over to the Range Rover, where Chloe grinned at him from the backseat. Somehow he managed to return her smile.