“That reminds me—your father is still waiting for you downstairs. Ryan is there, looking more than a little terrified.”
Grady had figured as much. “I see Father’s back on track with his little plan to force me to get engaged. I won’t do it.”
“That’s why you brought Max home? You knew about your father’s plans.”
“Lincoln told me. He and Serena were the ones to suggest the fake engagement in the first place. I asked Max back in Toronto, but he didn’t agree. Not until you’d showed up at the restaurant and he kissed me.”
Justin stared at him for a moment, before slowly nodding. “That makes sense. I thought there was something odd about the whole thing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given the position I’d put you in.”
“It was the only thing I could think of to stop the setup with Bouchard’s son.”
“Bouchard is every bit as strong-willed as your father. That boy doesn’t know how to say no to him.”
The only way this entire mess was going to get resolved was for Grady to step up and assert himself. Max was right. Of course he was. If Grady never sat down and talked to his father man-to-man, then they would never get past this. Even if his father didn’t listen, Grady needed to say his piece so he could get on with his life.
“Where are they?”
Justin frowned. “I know that look. What are you up to?”
“Something I should have done years ago. I need to have a long conversation with Father.”
“Oh dear. I’ll take care of Mr. Bouchard and Ryan, then. Please don’t throw anything this time.”
“I won’t make any promises I can’t keep.” Grady started to leave, but hesitated when Justin didn’t immediately follow. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Raising me. Caring for me when my own father didn’t. I know I never said it and certainly didn’t show it, but I do appreciate it.”
Justin smiled. “They’re in the games room.”
“Thank you.” Then he left.
There must have been a look of something on his face, because every single person he passed gave him a wide birth as he went. The door to the games room was open, and Grady was able to hear everything that was being said before they saw him.
“Don’t worry about my son. Once Justin gets him out of his mood, he’ll do the right thing.”
“He better. Ryan here has been wanting to see more of him since the supper.”
“Dad, I never said—”
“Quiet.”
“Yes, sir.”
God, had Grady ever been that timid, unsure of himself? Probably, but then his rebellious streak had kicked in, and it’d all been downhill from there. Maybe Ryan would end up better off if he had someone like Justin to help him navigate.
Taking a breath, Grady straightened his shoulders, relaxed as much as possible, and sauntered into the room. “Hello, gentlemen. Father.”
Maybe it was the conversation he’d had with Justin, or the fact that Max had been right about everything, or maybe Grady was finally starting to grow the hell up. But as he stood there, his gaze on his father, he didn’t see the indomitable man who’d ruled his world with an iron fist. He simply saw his father, someone Grady couldn’t seem to connect with, even before his mom had taken her own life.
“It took you long enough to get down here.” His father’s cheeks were flushed and his brown eyes looked a bit watery. Maybe he wasn’t feeling well?
“I was speaking with Justin.”
“Is that what you’re calling drinking these days?”
Grady didn’t rise to take the bait. Instead he came fully into the room and walked over to Ryan. “We didn’t really have a chance to speak the other day. Grady Barnes.” He held out his hand.
“Ryan Bouchard.”
Grady kept his back to their respective fathers and made sure Ryan was looking him in the eye. “It seems our fathers want us to get together as a couple. I’m sure it has something to do with merging empires or securing property or contracts. I don’t particularly care, because I’ve never had much of an interest in my father’s corporation. My brother, Lincoln, is more of the business man. He’s quite good too.”
“Grady, stop talking and sit down.” His father’s voice rumbled in the room.
Grady didn’t look back. “How old are you?”
“Nineteen. I turn twenty next month.”
“I’m twenty-eight. That’s a bit of an age spread. Lincoln mentioned that you’ve recently come out.”
Ryan was cute when he blushed. “I’ve known for a while.”
“We normally do. Look, I’m sure you’re a great guy, but despite what these two might want, they are playing with our lives. You’re not ready to get married yet, are you?”
“Hell no.”
“Ryan!”
“I’m not, Dad. I don’t know why you’re doing this.” He stepped past Grady and went to his father. “I know I’m not the son you wanted, or that you’re scared I won’t be able to figure things out, but I’m not a child. I’m not ready for any serious relationship. Grady’s not exactly my type.” He spun around to look at him wide-eyed. “No offence.”
“None taken.”
Ryan turned back to his dad. “I just . . . I’m figuring some things out. I’m sorry if you see me as an embarrassment or something, but you have to trust me that I’ll be okay.”
Les put his hands on his son’s shoulders. “You’re not an embarrassment. Never think that. I just didn’t know what to do. I never thought about you being . . . being . . .”
“Gay, Dad. I’m gay.”
“Right. Gay. I didn’t know how to deal with that. When Theo here mentioned that you would be a good match for his son, I just wanted the best for you.” He pulled Ryan in for a hug. “I love you, son.”
Grady looked over at his father then. He didn’t know what he expected to see—admiration, regret, affection—but he saw none of it. Theo Barnes might as well be made of stone for all Grady could tell. If he’d cared about his friend or his son, rather than the potential business arrangement, then he wasn’t showing it.
When Les pulled away from his son, Grady could easily see the affection he held for the boy. “I think we should head home and continue this conversation in private.”
“Okay.” Ryan smiled up at him. “Thanks, Dad.”
Les turned to Theo. “Thank you. You and your son have been a help. I’ll have my people set up a meeting, and we can discuss finalizing the land sale. Next week?”
“I’ll have Justin get in touch.”
Grady waited as Les and Ryan left, his gaze never leaving his father. Only when he knew they were finally alone did he pick up a pool cue and line up a shot. “So. All’s well that ends well.”
“If you ever go against my wishes again, I’ll cut you off and throw you out on your ear.”
Grady looked up at his father from over the cue, before taking another shot. The six went off the left rail and into the side pocket. “That’s fine.”
“‘Fine’?” His father snorted. “You wouldn’t last a week out there without my money and Justin to pull you out of whatever mess you find yourself in.”
“I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, but I do have my own money. Not a lot, or enough to live on for long, but most definitely mine. I also have ambitions of my own. Dreams, even. Though I would never bother you with something so trivial.”
He lined up his next shot, the two down the table into the corner pocket. It bounced off the nipple, but the side spin was enough to put it in.
“You can have all the dreams you want. It’s the skills you need to make them a reality that you don’t possess. You couldn’t even keep the job that I gave you. A job that most men your age would kill for.”
Grady stood up and put the cue down. “Don’t you want to know what my dreams are? I mean, I’m your son. This is the sort of thing normal fathers and sons discuss.”
The red on his father’s cheeks dee
pened. “Drinking your way through life isn’t a dream.”
Another barb that Grady ignored. “I never said it was, nor is that what I plan to do. I want to get out there, see the world. Maybe go work for a start-up, or a small company. I want to help people. Mother used to tell me that the best thing in life was to—”
“Don’t bring her up!”
Ah, there it was. The venom. “Why not? She’s my mom, I loved her. Still do. We never talk about her, and that’s just wrong.”
“She’s dead. Gone and in the past.”
“She killed herself.”
His father turned away. “She took the coward’s way out.”
“Or maybe she couldn’t handle you controlling every aspect of her life any longer.”
“You don’t know a thing about her.”
“I know that she wasn’t happy.”
For the first time that Grady could ever remember, his father’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t want to discuss this. It’s a pointless endeavor. Your mother died, and we moved on.”
Grady let his gaze fall to the floor. “That doesn’t mean that we’re not allowed to miss her, to talk about how she made our lives better.”
That was the line that Grady knew they’d never be able to cross. The chasm that would keep them apart. It wasn’t his fault, probably not his father’s either. It was life and heartache, old wounds that hadn’t healed.
“I think, after Lincoln’s wedding, I’m going to leave.”
“You’re not getting the condo back. Don’t even try to convince me of—”
“I mean Vancouver. Like I said, I have money of my own. It will be enough to get me set up in a new place, a new city.”
“That’s pocket change. You’ll spend your way through that in a week. Then where will you be? Crawling back here begging for me to give you an allowance.”
“No, I won’t. I’ll look for a job and see where life takes me.”
“You’re right you won’t. If you leave here, consider yourself cut off financially. And don’t think your brother will send you any money. I’ll see that he doesn’t. You haven’t had a proper job in your life. Do you even know how to live on your own? No, you don’t. Without me to pay for your drinking binges, your parties and hotel stays, you won’t know how to function.”
Grady was terrified at the idea of being well and truly on his own. His father was right that the money he had saved wouldn’t be enough for him to live off for long. He’d never had to think about finances or budgets before. For being the age that he was, Grady was way underprepared for life on his own.
It was time he did something about that. “Despite what you think of me, I’m not a fool. I need this, to finally start to live a proper life. To be away from you. Shit, it’s long overdue.”
His father frowned. “Where the hell do you think you’ll go?”
“Toronto. Even if Max wants nothing to do with me after everything that’s happened, it’s a good city with lots of opportunities. I’ll get a job, a place to stay, live my life.”
With a shake of his head, his father walked to the bar and got a drink. “You’ll come crawling back in six months. Less.”
Like hell I will. “I’ll be staying at Lincoln and Serena’s place until the wedding. After that, I’ll be gone.”
“You were always ungrateful to me.”
“No, Father. I wanted to prove to you that I was the type of man who could work in the business. I wanted to make you proud. It took me a long time to realize that would never happen. Believe it or not, I regret that. But you are who you are. And I am who I am. Maybe with time we’ll find a middle ground. Or not. I can’t spend another moment of my life worrying about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pack. I’ll be gone within the hour.”
With a final glance at the man who should have loved him unconditionally, Grady walked away.
Justin was waiting in the hall when he left, an envelope in hand.
“What’s that?”
“Information for when you need it. I didn’t have a lot of time, but it will give you something to start with.” He handed it over, his fingers brushing over Grady’s briefly. “Now, you might want to leave for a bit.” He pulled another envelope from his jacket pocket. “This might get loud.”
“What’s that?”
“Letter of resignation. Something I should have done a long time ago.”
“I guess today is a day of firsts.” He gave Justin another hug. “Thank you. For everything. Be well.”
Grady looked inside the envelope as he walked toward the stairs. Inside was a reference letter from Justin, something he’d need to apply for jobs. It was a start to get him headed in the right direction: away from his father and toward a new life.
“You’re what?” His father’s voice boomed through the house.
Grady smiled as he went in search of Lincoln.
Wedding in T minus one day . . .
Grady sat on Lincoln and Serena’s couch, a glass of Scotch in his hand, staring at his wedding tux hanging from the back of the dining room chair, swathed in plastic. It had been delivered an hour ago by the tailor’s assistant. Grady should have learned his name, but he’d been too preoccupied with the fact that he didn’t have any cash left to tip the poor bastard. He had little money, no place to live, and no Max.
What the hell was he going to do with his life?
He did have a bachelor’s degree in literature—not exactly a high-demand skill set—one failed attempt at working for the family business, and a stint on a reality show. His most valuable possession was his family name, but that was something he wanted to stay as far away from as possible. It didn’t leave him with many options.
The door to the condo opened up and Lincoln came in. “So I grabbed a pizza from Sammie’s down the street, and a six-pack. I figured we can eat on the couch and watch the Canucks game.”
Grady relaxed back against the cushions. “Sounds good. Where’s Serena staying?”
“At Tracey’s. All the bridesmaids are there, and I heard something about a case of champagne.”
“I thought it was the groom who was supposed to get drunk the night before his wedding?”
“You’ve met my future wife, right?” Lincoln dropped the pizza on the coffee table and took a beer. “Oh, good. Your tux came.” He sat on the couch and looked at Grady. “What’s wrong?”
“What makes you think anything is wrong?”
“Well, it’s the day before my wedding, you’re my best man, and you look like this is the last place in the world you want to be.”
“Shit.” Grady finished his Scotch and slid the glass across the table. “Apparently, I’m not good at this either.”
“No. Just stop right there with this whiny, pity-party routine.” Lincoln turned, arms crossed, and gave him a look that was an echo of their father. “We’re going to deal with this shit tonight, because I don’t want anything screwing up my wedding day.”
“What shit?”
“You’re staying here because you had it out with Father. Serena wanted me to be all patient and let you come to me about what happened, but I’m not having your pissing match with Father spill over onto tomorrow. Serena doesn’t deserve that.”
“I know. I didn’t want to do anything to ruin your day.” Grady sat there blinking. “But you know what he’s like. He doesn’t even want to talk about mother. It just pisses me off.”
“I know what you’re like too. So stuck in the past that you can’t see what’s right in front of you.”
The swell of anger hit him so fast and hard, Grady was on his feet before he realized. “Mother killed herself because of him. She’s not here, getting ready to see her oldest son get married, because he pushed her to the brink and she couldn’t take it anymore.”
Lincoln was shaking his head before Grady had even finished the sentence. “Sit down.”
“Link, I—”
“Grady, please.” There was something in his voice that sapped the life fro
m Grady’s anger. With a sigh, he took his seat again. Lincoln’s gaze drifted over to where Grady’s tux hung. “You were young when she was alive. Father hid a lot of things from you. He knew how much you worshiped Mother, and believe it or not, the last thing he wanted to do was to take that away from you.”
His mental picture of his mother had faded over the years. He kept a photo of her in his wallet, though he rarely looked at it. The print was worn, and somehow the smiling face of the woman posed with him as a kid didn’t seem to reflect the woman he’d known. “I knew she wasn’t happy.”
“She’d been seeing a psychiatrist for years. I remember her moods, they’d be up and down a lot. You never seemed to mind, or maybe you never really noticed. I don’t know.”
Memories were a strange animal. They morphed and changed to suit the story you were telling yourself. He remembered loving it when his mother asked him to do things for her. She’d be in bed and he’d treated it like a game. “I would bring her tissues when she cried. She always told me Father had upset her.”
Lincoln shook his head. “Maybe sometimes. I don’t think she really knew what was happening sometimes. She loved Father, and he loved her. But when she got like that, it was hard on both of them.”
“Mental illness requires patience. She could have gotten help.”
“Jesus, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Father got her help. He’d arranged for her to stay at a private hospital before she’d died. The doctors there were going to help regulate her meds and she’d have been in a safe environment. She also drank, and the alcohol was causing problems. That’s why Father had Justin give you a hard time about your drinking.”
He felt as though someone had slapped him. “Father never told me.”
“Would you have listened if he had?” Lincoln reached out and gave Grady’s shoulder a squeeze. “You’re a lot like Mother. He’d never admit it to you, but I know he’s scared he’ll lose you the same way. He tried everything he could think of to help her, but when he told her about the facility, she refused to go. The next day they realized that one of the limos was gone. They found the car near Pacific Spirit Park. She was dead in the back. She’d taken all of her pills.”
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