David was surprised to find himself wrapped in a hug just outside Washington Airport by his sister, Brianna. He had sent her his flight details but the fact that she had arrived still surprised him. He and Brianna had never been close. Perhaps it had a lot to do with the fact that she had been daddy’s little girl growing up, the one who could never do any wrong, while he was read the riot act for every single offense.
“Hey, how are you?”
He looked down at Brianna, several inches shorter than he was but still tall for a woman at 5’ 8”. She was beautiful. Model slim, with skin the color of the richest cocoa, and big dark brown eyes. She wore her naturally curly hair, close cropped. She was a lecturer in gender studies at her alma mater Howard University. Like their father, she still had not forgiven him for choosing Harvard, over Howard, the university of choice for every Jones since it was founded in 1880.
Despite the big Dior sunglasses, David could see the pain etched on Brianna’s features. His heart went out to her. It couldn’t be easy, separated from her husband of ten years and now coping with their father’s illness.
She shook her head and ran a finger under her nose.
“Not good. Not good at all. I’m so scared for Dad. He’s been asking to see you.”
David nodded. “Well, I’m here now. I want to go straight to the hospital.”
“He’s home now. He was discharged this morning.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
She shrugged, “I figured it would be time enough when you got here.” She gestured with a thumb. “Tony is parked down there.”
Tony was their father’s chauffeur and if he was driving Brianna around that only meant one thing.
“You’ve moved back home.”
“I did. I wanted to be there to help take care of Dad.”
The family home was just as David remembered it, vast and lavish. Just like the offices of Jones Law, Darrell Jones had spared no expense on his home in Washington or the one in Chicago. It was a huge, traditional, stately house complete with guards at the security gates.
After they had disembarked, Tony made an attempt to offload David’s suitcase.
“No, I’m staying at the Hilton.”
Brianna shot him an incredulous stare.
“Why? David, this is your home.”
He didn’t respond. He continued to walk on. She remained rooted to her spot and then rushed to catch up to him.
“You are so stubborn,” she hissed, “can’t you see that this feud between you and Dad has to stop?”
“He started it,” he replied tersely.
“Yeah, but someone has to end it.”
He stopped and took a deep breath.
“Agreed. But not tonight. I just want to see Dad. Then I’m going to the hotel. I’ll come over every day, but I’m not staying here. It’s not up for discussion.”
He used the tone he made across the table when he was declaring it his final offer. There was no doubt in his sister’s mind that she could not sway his decision. Brianna had always known which battles to fight.
She sighed and rounded her shoulders.
“Fine,” she said wearily, “Dad’s upstairs.”
Their old butler, Earl, a distinguished looking man with salt and pepper, close-cropped hair, greeted them at the front door.
“Master David,” he said with a bow.
“Earl. How are you? How’s the family.”
“They’re all good. Glenda made your favorite meal when she heard you were coming. I hope you plan to stay for dinner.”
David smiled. Glenda was Earl’s wife and the housekeeper. Growing up, she’d always had a soft spot for him. He remembered when he had been banished to military school. She had sent him on his way with a tearful farewell and so many baked goods he had been sure she’d misunderstood the destination and thought he was heading for a concentration camp in Poland. It had served a purpose though. In short order, it had earned him friendships with all the boys. After the initial sampling, they had urged him to write home often and request more cake and pastries.
David smiled at the memory.
“Of course I’ll have dinner here if my Glenda is preparing it.”
Earl nodded with a smile.
“You know she rarely cooks these days, just supervises the new girl, what with her arthritis and all. But she just had to cook for you.”
Brianna, who had stood by and thumbed through her phone during the exchange, knowing from past experience that David couldn’t be rushed, led the way to Darrell’s room.
At the door, she asked, “Do you want me to come?”
“No.”
Following a firm knock, David entered the room.
He was shocked when he saw his father.
Darrell Jones had been an imposing figure. He was a big man, 6’ 1”, just two inches shorter than David was, and he had been heavy set too. Now though, he looked as though he had lost a significant amount of weight.
David remembered that the last time he’d seen his father was a little over two years ago when he had handed over the reins to the company with a lecture so long David had almost dozed off at points.
How had that tall, illustrious, commanding presence been reduced to this slim, frail-looking man in two years’ time? His father looked as though he was a shadow of himself. Had he been responsible? Had the stress of having David challenge his rule at every turn taken a toll? David felt a pang of guilt pump its way through his heart.
“Dad.”
Darrell didn’t move, and David realized that the word had come out as a whisper.
He cleared his throat and began again, “Dad.”
The head turned in his direction. The face lit up.
“Son, Dave, you’re here. I’m so glad.” He lifted a gnarled hand.
Unexpectedly, tears sprung to David’s eyes. He blinked them back and tentatively reached out and touched his father’s fingers. He was surprised to note that the grip was stronger that he expected. There was still strength in the man.
“I was so sorry to hear about the heart attack. I’m sure Brianna told you I’d just returned to Chicago from an overseas trip. I came as soon as I could. How are you feeling now?”
“Better now that you’re here. There’s so much I need to discuss with you.”
He erupted into a cough. David leaped to the side of the bed and got him a glass of water. He helped him swallow a few sips.
“Take it easy. I’ll be here for the next few days. We’ll have time to talk.”
“Yes, Bri told me. I hope you’ll be staying in your old room.”
David didn’t respond. “So…what’s the prognosis?”
“They told me I have to change my diet. No more red meat, more greens and fruits, and vegetables. Exercise. I used to exercise once. Hey, remember when we used to shoot hoops in the backyard.”
David nodded and allowed a corner of his mouth to lift at the memory. Yes, those had been the good old days. Before he and his father had seemed to draw battle lines.
“It’s not so bad. It was just a mild heart attack. A warning, they told me. But I’m glad it happened. Gave me the opportunity to take stock of my life.”
He darted a glance at David.
“My relationship with you.”
“Dad, let’s not discuss that right now. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I need to check into my hotel then I’ll return this evening for dinner.”
“A hotel? But…”
“Let’s not argue about this, Dad.”
Darrell sighed. “Okay, fine. I need to rest a bit anyway. I’m on this medication that makes me a bit drowsy. Hopefully, when I wake you’ll be back, and we can talk some more.”
“Sure.”
Brianna walked him to the door. “I’m glad you came.”
“Why wouldn’t I have come? He’s my father too,” he answered testily.
“Why are you so grumpy all the time?”
“Not all the time. Only around certain people.”
After the bellhop had deposited his bags inside the hotel room and he had fulfilled his expectation of a generous tip, David dialed Ronnie. He missed her and wished he had allowed her to accompany him. She had such an amazing ability to soothe his cares.
“Hi, baby,” he said when he heard her voice on the line. “How’s it going?”
“I miss you, but I’ll be okay. How’s your dad?”
“He seems to be alright.”
“That’s good news.”
This was met with his silence.
“Isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is. Of course, it is.”
~*~*~*~
When David returned for dinner that evening, it was just him and Brianna. Darrell was resting and they didn’t want to disturb him. As they ate, David and Brianna conversed intermittently but the topics were superficial, limited to the weather and current affairs. They were careful to steer clear of subjects that had the potential to provoke arguments between them. Areas like religion, politics, work and Brianna’s marriage were deliberately avoided. This left them with little to discuss and they ended the meal in awkward silence.
The next morning David was back there sitting beside his father. Darrell Jones seemed so different. David kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, kept waiting for him to get up and shout, ‘April Fools’!’
That didn’t happen.
Darrell began to speak to him as though they were his last words.
“David, I have a lot I want to say to you. So much I don’t know where to begin.”
David kept silent.
“When you were born we had so many expectations. You were always such a bright boy and always so bold and charming. Why you could sell ice to an Eskimo. From early on I said to Sadie, ‘This boy is destined for the White House.’ She would laugh and say, ‘His destiny is in the hands of God no matter where he ends up.' I felt in my heart that I had an obligation to all my ancestors to groom you for that role, though. And so I was probably a little hard on you, pushed you to achieve and achieve and achieve.”
Darrell stopped for a second as if trying to make sure he said it all.
“You must have thought that you were never good enough. I’m sorry if that’s how it came over. I just knew your potential. I knew you were destined for greatness and I didn’t want you to waste it. I knew you loved music, fine. But that wasn’t where I wanted you to go. Same thing with sports. They had their place. Military school. I know you were incensed with me, but I did what I thought was right. You were headed in the wrong direction, David. I warned your mother that your mixing with the inner city rabble wasn’t going to do you any good. And then at sixteen, you get in a fight with Judge Clements’ son at his own birthday party. At Clements’ mansion in front of his face no less. You broke the boy’s nose and gave him a black eye.”
“Do you know what happened, Dad?”
“You told me it was over a girl.”
“I was angry. I didn’t tell you everything. I caught him at the party kissing my girlfriend and shoving his hand under her sweater. He was half drunk, but that was no excuse. He’d had an eye on her from the time we started dating in school that year, and he saw his chance when I came to his party. His friends created some diversion by telling me another driver had hit my car and when I left her to see after it, he cornered her. He tried to convince her to leave me, and when that didn’t work, he tried to sexually assault her.”
“I didn’t know all that.”
“You weren’t interested in the truth as I recall.”
“I was embarrassed for your mother, for myself. The man threatened to have criminal charges filed against you for assault. You were old enough. Even with my connections, I didn’t know if I could shield you from that. The man was a judge for heaven’s sake. There might have been a record. I wanted to appease him and also teach you some discipline.”
“And so you shipped me off to military school.”
“Was it so bad, David?” his father asked quietly.
David brooded on that for a short while.
Marmion Academy was a private top-ranking military boys’ school in Illinois. Contrary to popular belief, it was not for troubled teens. In fact, the school had little tolerance for boys who were unwilling to follow the rules. The school, instead, provided a military-style structure to everyday life combined with a comprehensive focus on leadership, problem-solving, academics and athletics.
David believed in the end that the combination of traditional academics with military and physical training and decorum lent itself to a more effective individual who was prepared for college, career, and life. The discipline he learned was something to be grateful for. It had served him well by developing his stamina, persistence levels, and patience. In an era where instant gratification seemed endemic, there was a lot to be said about good old-fashioned discipline as a foundation. No, it hadn’t been so bad.
He sighed. “I thought you were punishing me so I viewed it as a bad thing for a while but in retrospect, it was good for me.”
“Was that why you enrolled in Harvard, to punish me for sending you to military school?”
David smiled thinly. “You could force me to go to military school, but you couldn't force me to go to Howard.”
“I was upset as you know.”
That was putting it mildly. David recalled how his father had threatened to cut him off without a penny, freeze his trust fund, disown him, and finally told him never to set foot in their homes in Washington or Chicago again if he went to Harvard.
“We all went to Howard. Your great-great-great grandfather was one of the founders of that University. It hurt me that you’d choose not to go there. It was tradition. I know when I told you to never return to this house if you went to Harvard, you took it to heart. Truly, I didn’t mean it. Your mother gave me the cold shoulder for about a month after that argument.”
He chuckled at the memory and then sobered.
“I miss her so much.”
David covered his father’s hand with his.
“I do too.”
Darrell Jones nodded and took a deep breath.
“Then when she was killed I got angry at you for visiting that man. I felt you shouldn’t have forgiven him. I was wrong. Forgiveness belongs to God. It’s not for me to decide who does and does not deserve forgiveness.”
David was shocked. His father had mentioned God as something other than a swear word.
“The incident with the intern. I wasn’t really angry because you had gotten involved with someone. You’re a man. These things happen. I was upset because your mother had just been killed. I took out my anger on you. And I never for one moment thought you’d harassed her. Women were throwing themselves at you left, right and center. No, I didn’t believe her for a moment so when she came to me with that story, I fired her! I told her that if I ever heard that story again, I would have her killed. I don’t know why I did it. Like I said, I was angry. Your mother’s death made me angry. I was angry at God for a long time. This heart attack brought me to a place of humility. I see now what a fool I have been all these years. Trying to play God, with you, with other people, with circumstances. Who am I but a man? Living under grace.”
He took a deep breath and was quiet for several minutes. David snuck a peek at him to see if he had gone to sleep. He was wide awake.
“This thing with the company? I want to apologize, son. As soon as I’m back on my feet, I’m making you chairman. In fact, it’s already in my will. The business I bequeath to you. You get controlling shares. The remainder goes to Brianna, of course. But it’s yours to run as you see fit. I trust you, David. I trust your judgment. You’ve been doing a good job.”
David swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He had waited so long to hear those words. He almost didn’t know what to say.
Eventually, he cleared his throat.
“Thank you, Dad.”
“And this thing with the Laney girl…”
&nbs
p; “I’m no longer seeing her.”
“Good. I don’t want you to marry someone you don’t love. I loved your mother with all my heart. I want you to experience the same thing. Maybe, hopefully, you’ll find someone who appeals to you.”
“I already have,” he said tentatively, remembering his last conversation with his father. He couldn’t believe it was just a few weeks ago. His father seemed like a different person.
“Who is she?”
“Ronnie Dickson, my legal assistant.”
There was silence for a long time. Then Darrell sighed deeply.
“Well, follow your heart. You know, your grandfather didn’t want me to marry your mother.”
David’s head jerk backward. “No, I never knew that.”
“He didn’t. Sadie came from a poor family. Her father was a penniless preacher man. Her mother was a housewife. She was one of eight children. She was bright, though. Got herself a scholarship to Howard, which was where we met as you know.”
David nodded.
“Yep. Dad felt that I could do better. Called her trash.”
“Grandpa?”
David couldn’t believe that his beloved grandpa, the man who had fought against racial prejudice would discriminate against someone that way.
Darrell nodded.
“Don’t get me wrong. He’s a great man. I respect him very much. He just thought he was doing what was best for me. Protecting me from ‘unsavory elements’ as he called them. But guess what? I saw that man come to love my wife like she was his own daughter. When Sadie was killed, he took it almost as hard as I did. He’s a good man, but I guess we all have our prejudices. I should know.”
David looked at his father.
“Son, what I’m saying is that nothing is more important than being with the woman you love. No job, no position in society. Nothing. Do what’s best, but be upfront with people about it. I have found that people are willing to forgive most things if you’re just honest with them.”
David looked down at his hands.
“Ronnie and I got married last weekend.”
Darrell Jones looked so stunned for a moment, David berated himself for not preparing him for the news first. Then Darrell broke out into a laugh.
A Case For Love (Royals Series Book 3) Page 28