by Hunter Rose
My mother raises her hand, and the words die in my throat. It’s funny to me that even at my age, my mother can still make me feel like a child all over again.
“Your father and I have talked a lot since you left,” she says. “And he would like to speak with you.”
“They do have phones for that,” I grumble.
Scarlet arches her eyebrow. “And I’m sure you would have taken that call.”
I give her a halfhearted grin. She knows me so well already; it stops me short sometimes. I usually can’t pull anything over on her.
“Orson,” my mother says. “The floor is yours.”
My father sits up in his seat, his back ramrod straight. He takes a sip of his coffee, still avoiding my eyes. Finally, he looks up and meets my gaze. I see that familiar arrogance still burning deep within his eyes, but I see something more, too. Something I don’t immediately recognize.
“Son,” he starts. “Your mother is right; we have spent a lot of time talking since your last visit. Or rather, she spent a lot of time talking and I spent a lot of time listening.”
“Orson,” she admonishes him.
He looks over at her, and my jaw nearly hits the table when instead of some scathing reply, he actually gives her a grin and a wink. There’s an electricity between the two of them I don’t recall seeing in years. Maybe not ever. As much as it galls me to see, it looks like they’re actually flirting with each other. He looks back to me, and his grin fades almost instantly.
“Anyway, what your mother and Scarlet here have made me understand –”
“Wait,” I turn to Scarlet. “You’ve been talking to him too?”
She nods and smiles. “We’ve had a number of very pleasant conversations, actually,” she says. “We’ve gotten to know each other quite well.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m starting to understand how Caesar felt.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, sweetheart,” my mother chimes in.
“Roman, I want you to know that I am proud of you,” he says. “Always have been. I know I’m shit at letting you know these things, and I’m always pushing you –”
“You can say that again,” I mutter.
“Roman!” This time it’s Scarlet who’s shushing me.
“I will say it again. I want you to know – and to believe – that I am very proud of you, Roman.”
My father’s eyes soften, and there really is something like a light of pride in them. When I see that, it feels like a kick straight to the balls. My stomach lurches, and my heart feels like it’s being squeezed inside of my chest. I sit back in my chair again as I’m hammered by waves of emotion. In that moment, I realize that although I’ve spent years telling myself I don’t need my father’s approval, or that I don’t need him to be proud of me, I’ve been lying to myself all along.
“I know I can be controlling. I can sometimes be cruel,” my father continues, “I push you because I know how capable you are of great things, Roman. You’ve always been smarter than me. and I’ve only ever wanted you to reach that potential. I’ve learned, though, that I’ve gone about it the wrong way. I didn’t realize that the great things you were doing were right in front of me. You have an incredible career and a beautiful family. It was foolish of me to think I could mold you into my own image when you have your own life. You are succeeding and thriving, not in the way I wanted you to but in the way you wanted to. I couldn’t see it, because I was more focused on my own ego than on supporting you. And for that, I’m sorry.”
Just when I thought I couldn’t be more stunned by the day’s events; I’m hit hard yet again. In all my life, I’ve never heard those two words come out of my father’s mouth. Never directed to me anyway. The emotions within me are so thick and deep; I feel like I’m drowning. I cling to Scarlet’s hand like a man lost at sea would cling to a life preserver. When I look over at her, she’s got a small smile on her face and a light of understanding in her eyes.
“I love you, Roman. More than I’ve ever been able to express – at least, until these two got ahold of me, anyway,” he chuckles ruefully. “I want you to know that I’m proud to call you my son and that I’m truly sorry for all the hurt I’ve caused you. I know I can’t ask for all of your forgiveness – not yet – and that undoing the rift between us could take a long time. But I love you, and I want to work on it. I want to heal all this pain. So I’m asking you, do you want to work with me?”
The question hangs in the air for a moment. Everybody holds their breath.
I reach into the bag of words inside of me and find that I don’t have any. Not an answer, not even a scathing remark. My word bag is just – empty. Instead, I do the only thing I seem capable of doing. I get to my feet, come around the table, and pull my dad into a tight embrace. It’s stiff and awkward at first, but then he grips me hard, and we hold each other for many long moments. I feel the tears rolling down my cheeks and don’t care if I look like a fool.
Finally, we both step back. I wipe my eyes away. When my father looks at me, I see that his eyes are red as well. For as much anger and resentment as I carried around for this man – and for as many years as I did – it’s amazing to me to see it wiped away in the course of one afternoon together. It’s like he was holding the key to the prison cell I’ve kept myself locked in for so long, and he finally opened the door, letting me step out into the fresh air and light of day.
I take my seat and grab my napkin, wiping at my eyes. My mother and Scarlet are both looking at me, smiles on their faces, their eyes also red and puffy. Clearly, this is an emotional day for all of us.
“Thank you, Dad. You’ll never know how much this means to me,” I tell him. “More than anything, I do want to work this out. And for my part, I’m sorry as well. I know I can be an unyielding asshole at times. And I’m sorry for that.”
“You can say that again,” he says with a laugh and a wink.
I throw my wadded up napkin across the table at him. “I learned from the best.”
He sighs and leans back in his chair. “I suppose you did.”
There’s a long moment of silence at the table as my father and I both try to process everything that just happened and all that was said. Scarlet and my mother both have pleased looks on their faces for a job well done. As they should. Sneaking around behind my back or not, their hearts were definitely in the right place. They did a good thing. They put our family back together. Healed us. I can’t be mad about that.
My father looks over at Scarlet with something like respect and affection on his face. “You have yourself a good woman here. Tough. Smart. Strong,” he says. “She is a fighter, Roman. Tougher than hell. She’s a lot like your mother. You’re lucky to have her.”
I smile softly and nod as Scarlet blushes. I take her hand and gently kiss the back of it. I hadn’t thought of it before, but I guess they are a lot alike in many different ways. Most of the qualities I respect about my mother, Scarlet has in spades as well. I honestly couldn’t have picked a better woman to share my life with.
“I am a very lucky man,” I say.
“So, about the wedding,” my dad starts. “I was thinking we could hold it on the rear grounds back home. During the fall when the colors are –”
“Actually, I think we were talking about holding it on the beach,” I interject. “At sunset. That seems more like us.”
My father frowns slightly. “Actually, what I think you should do –”
“Orson,” my mother cuts him off. He gives her a sheepish smile and a shrug.
“Sorry, old habits,” he says. “It’s going to take a while to break. It’s like smoking. And I’m sure there will be setbacks.”
We spend the rest of the day talking and catching up. There are still cracks here and there that surface and need to be repaired. I suspect it’s going to be that way for a while. Both my father and I need to find a new way of being as we coexist together and move forward in life. But I’m willing to put in the work – something I never would have
believed possible.
Later on, Scarlet and I stand on the deck with my hand around her waist, holding her tightly to me. We’re watching my mother and father playing with Kinsey down in the sand. I can see how much he’s quickly growing to adore her. That fills me with a happiness I didn’t think possible a couple of months ago. This entire day has been surprising and has turned my world upside down yet again. Once again, with Scarlet Carrington directly at the center of it. And once again, all for the better.
“You were right,” I tell her. “This was a big day.”
“Say that again – the first part of that statement,” she says. “I think I can get used to hearing that.”
I laugh and swat her on the ass playfully. And when she looks up at me, I hold her gaze as my expression turns serious.
“Thank you, Scarlet,” I say. “For everything. For making my life a better place and for helping make me a better man.”
She trails a fingertip down my chest and bites her bottom lip, a flirty sparkle in her eye. “I’m sure you can find a way to thank me properly later.”
“Oh, I’m sure we can arrange something.”
“Several mind-numbing orgasms will do quite nicely.”
“Consider it done.”
I lean forward and give her a gentle kiss. My heart has never been so full, my life has never seemed better, and I never would have dreamed that not only would my family be put together but that it would expand to what we have now. I never dared dream I could ever be as happy and content as I am right now.
And it’s all thanks to the woman in my arms.
“I love you, Scarlet,” I say.
She smiles. “I love you too. With everything in me.”
Epilogue
Scarlet
Nine Months Later…
It’s a beautiful day and we’re spending it at the beach. I swear, I’m never going to get tired of having my toes in the sand and the sunshine raining down me. I’m pretty sure that Kinsey isn’t going to get tired of it either, given how much time she spends on the beach at home. I lean back and let the waves roll up to my feet, relishing the feel of the cool water.
Normally, we just head out the back door of our place to hit the beach. Today, though, Roman wanted to go somewhere else. Explore new sandy frontiers, is what he said. And we ended up here, in this secluded little cove in Laguna Niguel that I fell in love with the moment I saw it. It’s like its own private little beach. I totally wish it could be mine. I mean, I love being able to stumble out my bedroom doors and hit the water but being able to stumble out my bedroom doors and into my own private little slice of paradise would be even more amazing.
I look up at the bluff behind me and see the house perched there looking as if it was somehow carved out of the stone. It’s asymmetrical, thoroughly modern and yet, it has a unique charm to it. Despite its sheer size, it still somehow looks – homey. I envy the people who get to live there – and then feel like an idiot for being envious. I’m profoundly grateful for what I have right now.
If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be living on the beach in an amazing house, with an amazing man, and an amazing new family to go along with it, I would have told you that you were insane. Hell, a year ago, I was trying to figure out how I was going to keep Kinsey and I from being out on the street. And now we’re living out my dream of having a house on the beach.
And now I’m envying somebody else for their slice of paradise? God, I need to slap myself. The last thing I want to do is turn into somebody like Violet Webster – somebody who doesn’t appreciate what they have and will always look for the bigger and better thing to come along.
No, I am incredibly appreciative of what I have.
“Hey, you ready to go?”
I look up and see Roman and Kinsey emerging from the water, smiles on their faces.
“How are the swim lessons going?” I ask.
“Good!” Kinsey shouts.
I nod. “You’re going to be an Olympian in no time flat.”
“What’s an Olympian?” she asks. She’s gotten so much bigger lately. She is even learning to read and speak in full sentences by now. Some words are still out of her grasp, but at this rate she’ll be outpacing Roman and me both in no time flat.
“A really good swimmer,” I clarify.
“I’m starving,” Roman says as he checks his watch. “Let’s go get cleaned up and then I’m taking my best girls out for dinner.”
I look up at him and smile. “What’s the occasion?”
Roman pulls me to my feet and gives me a quick peck on the lips. “Do I need a reason to take you out, other than I love you?”
I lean close to him; my lips brushing his ear. “Sounds like somebody’s angling for a blow job later,” I whisper with a smile in my voice.
He laughs. “Well, if that’s on the table, then how can I refuse?”
We laugh together, and then the three of us grab our things and head back the way we came. The tide has come in since we’ve been here, though, and our way into the secluded cove is cut off, leaving us no way out. I look over at Roman, worried, but find him grinning like mad.
“What’s so funny?” I ask. “We’re trapped in here.”
“Nah, we’re good,” he replies. “Follow me.”
I’m tentative but follow him to a set of switchback stairs that lead up to the house I was drooling over earlier.
“Roman, what are you doing? Are you insane? The owners –”
He shrugs. “I’m sure they won’t mind.”
“You can’t know that,” I hiss. “What if they shoot us or something?”
He laughs out loud. “In California? I can tell you that definitely won’t happen.”
Without another word, he ascends two flights of stairs, and we find ourselves on a large back deck that blows my mind. The view from it alone is breathtaking. I risk a glance behind me and can see the Pacific stretched out to infinity, the setting sun sparkling off the surface of the water, making it look like an ocean of liquid gold.
The floor of the deck is done in a beautiful tile and has two outdoor couches set across from each other, a fire pit between them. There’s a jacuzzi on a raised platform to the side of the deck, and the rear wall of the three-story house is made entirely of glass. But I can see the mechanisms for roll-out awnings and curtains, giving the place a modicum of privacy when needed. Off to my right stands what looks like a built-in barbecue and bar area, and a large outdoor dining room table stands near the railing overlooking the cove.
As we’re standing there, a man steps out of the house, his eyes trained on us. Instinctively, I pull Kinsey to me, making her stand slightly behind and then stand nearer to Roman.
“I told you,” I hiss. “What did I tell you?”
“Oh God, I hope he doesn’t have a machine gun in his back pocket he’s planning on shooting us with,” Roman says. Almost mockingly. The nerve!
“Shut up,” I whisper urgently, my heart thundering in my chest. “Not funny.”
Roman looks at me with a quirky smile. “It’s kinda funny.”
The man is tall – six-three, at least. He’s got a thick, bushy beard, dark hair, and crystalline blue eyes like Roman’s. The two could probably pass for brothers, actually. Roman steps forward, and I feel like a cold bucket of water has been dumped over me as the two men embrace. My eyes flit back and forth at them, entirely confused. I have no idea what’s going on. Roman turns and waves us over.
Taking cautious steps forward, I step up beside Roman, still keeping Kinsey slightly behind me. Roman puts his arm around my waist and flashes me a roguish grin.
“You’re not the only one who can keep secrets,” he explains.
“What are you talking about?”
The big man I don’t know holds out his hand to me, a ring of keys glittering in his palm. “I believe these belong to you,” he says, his voice deep and rumbling.
I look at the keys like they’re a snake coiled and ready to strike for a moment b
efore I take them from his palm gingerly, as if expecting some sort of a trap or something. I look from him to Roman and back again, feeling my confusion deepening.
“What? What are you talking about?” I ask.
“Scarlet, this is John Truss,” Roman introduces. “He’s the brilliant man who designed our new house. He put in big work to get our new home ready to roll.”
My head is starting to spin with how unreal this is all starting to feel. I shake my head, trying to grasp the strands of reality whipping around in my head, but can’t seem to grab one. I can’t believe that somehow, Roman managed to have a house designed and built – all without me knowing.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Scarlet. Roman has told me a lot about you,” he smiles, then squats down.
Kinsey peeks out from around my legs and the man – John – gives her a big smile, giving the dizzying effect of a grizzly bear smiling at my daughter.
“And he’s also told me a lot about you, Kinsey,” he chuckles and boops her nose, sending her into a fit of giggles.
John stands up again and looks at Roman before turning and flashing me a grin. My confusion is only getting thicker with each passing minute. He seems to be a friend of Roman’s, which makes me feel better, but he’s also a stranger to me. Albeit a seemingly nice one so far.
“I’m assuming you lost a bet,” John says. “That how you got stuck with this one?”
Despite my confusion and unease, I laugh and nod. “Something like that.”
“I figured as much,” he says. “Well, let me give you a tour of your brand-new home. It’s not quite finished just yet – there are a few things that still need doing – but you’ll be able to move in very soon. I’m thinking a few weeks at most.”
Roman takes my hand as we walk across the deck and into the house. Kinsey immediately streaks off to explore. Roman turns to me and places a kiss on my cheek.
“This is for you. For us and our family,” he says gently and lays a hand on my tummy. “And maybe in the future at some point, our family will even get a little bigger.”