Page 89 of Selfless

“I’m not trying to start one,” I say honestly.

He runs a hand through his hair. “What am I supposed to do?” he asks. “Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it.” He gestures to our apartment and then his hands fall to his sides. “You want me to admit that I’m in way over my head? Yes, I have come to terms that that is the case.”

“No!” I say, shaking my head. “I want you to forgive your dad for something that is out of his control,” I say truthfully. Not caring that he didn’t help me with Vicki last night. She’s the least of our problems.

“See, that is where we disagree. He has every opportunity to fix that. He chooses not to.”

“Did you know that Rosie has left town?” I ask.

He frowns. “Left town? Like she went on a vacation?”

“No. This morning before you woke up, Becca told me that she spoke to her yesterday, and she, Maggie, and Ronald went out of town to hide from your mother. She’s been calling her and threatening her to take Maggie back.”

He drops his head. “No one told me.”

“Did you really need to know that in order to know what your dad is doing, is right?” I ask. “You think everything is black and white, and that’s not the case here.”

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” he admits.

I take a step toward him. “I think you’re mad, and that’s okay, but you have to be mad at the right person.”

He reaches out and touches my cheek with the back of his hand. “Are you still mad at me?”

“I can’t stay angry with you. We both know that,” I say softly.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

RYDER

Monday morning, I find myself sitting in the conference room with my father drinking a strong cup of coffee to try to wake myself up when the door opens and my sister walks in.

“What are you doing here?” I ask in surprise.

“I called her in,” my father says in answer to my question.

She sits down next to me and looks over at him. “Is this a family meeting?” I ask. After what happened at the wedding, I wouldn’t be surprised if he chewed our asses out. It came back to me last night, and I wished it hadn’t. Not knowing what had happened was much better than remembering it.

“No, this is a business meeting.”

Just as he says that, the door opens again, and Jaycent walks in. “I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m gonna make this quick,” my father says, getting to the point.

“Jaycent, do you have what I asked for?”

“Yes, sir,” he tells him, pulling a USB drive out of his pocket. He hands it to my father who places it in the computer that sits in front of him. Then he spins it around to face all three of us.

“What is this?” I ask as a set of blue prints pop up.

“This is what I’m going to put in place of Hahn’s restaurant.”

“A clothing store?” I ask. I’ve seen enough blueprints to know what certain stores look like.

My father nods. “Becca’s clothing store.”

“What?” I ask, looking at her.

Her eyes are wide as she looks between Jaycent and our father. “What?” she repeats my question breathlessly.

My father speaks. “Jaycent and I have been working together on getting this done for you, Becca. It’s a rough draft, and if you want to change anything, just let us know, and we can make it happen.”

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