Page 121 of Catching Sparks

Dad sighs. “I didn’t dump you on their porch. Both Wade and Brody Steele accepted your stay because they’re good people, and from how good you look sitting here right now, I’d think your time there has been quite enjoyable.”

“You’d have a better idea of how I’ve been if you bothered to call even once since I’ve been gone.”

Crickets could chirp in the silence that falls over the table. I avoid looking at Mom, knowing this is the last thing she would have wanted at the dinner table, let alone in front of a guest. But Poppy isn’t simply a guest, and my feelings regarding my father are well-known to her.

I’ve had six weeks to stew on things. To prepare for the first time I saw my father again. Either we bite this in the ass now or at the office my first day back to work. Two witnesses or two dozen.

“I didn’t think you wanted me to call,” Dad says, voice sad, as if he has any right.

“You didn’t give enough of a shit to try and find out.”

“If I had tried, you would have bitten my head off, still so angry with me for agreeing to Jocelyn’s deal. We wouldn’t have been able to have a real conversation.”

“I have a right to be angry about you agreeing to Jocelyn’s deal! You stripped me of the chance to have a say. We’re equal owners of Swift Edge, yet I wasn’t involved in this at all. I was blindsided. Do you not think that it seems fair for me to be pissed?”

Nobody makes a move to eat another bite of supper. You could use a spoon to cut the tension, but I can’t find it in me to apologize for being responsible for the plummeting mood.

I spread my legs, knee knocking against Poppy’s and resting there as I lean my forearms on the edge of the table. “The board could try and sweep me out of power with every day that I’m not there. You know that just as well as I do. If I didn’t have such firm backing behind me, I’d be gone right now, and you’d have to crawl out of your studio and actually attempt to run our company!”

“Garrison, don’t yell, please,” Mom pleads, eyes tired. So, so tired.

I ignore the sharp slash of guilt and focus on my father. His wrinkled face is crumpled, but I don’t believe the regret swimming in his eyes.

“My hands were tied. I love you, son. I do. But there was only so much I could do. I made the call, and you don’t have to agree with it. You can hate me for it if you want, but it worked. Nathan will tell you the same thing. The press has moved on, and Jocelyn is happy. There hasn’t been a single accident since. Everything is going back to normal,” he says.

“So, I’m gone, and everything is sunshine and fucking rainbows?”

Poppy leans toward me, whether subconsciously or otherwise. It doesn’t matter. Her body heat slips around me. My chest aches. She doesn’t have to speak for me to feel the weight of her support.

Dad glances between the two of us before telling me, “No. One problem is solved, Garrison, but that doesn’t diminish your worth to the company.”

“What would happen if something like this happens again once I get back to work?” I ask bluntly. It’s one question I haven’t stopped asking myself since I boarded the plane to Alberta. “Because it appears a lot like I’m going to be spending the next who knows how long with an axe above my head that’s one misstep from falling. What’s next? A year-long stay on a deserted island?”

Dad pauses, his mouth opening and closing on words that don’t make any sound. My stomach curdles, suddenly the furthest thing from hungry.

“If I can speak for a second,” Poppy murmurs, clearing her throat. Mom tips her chin at her, a forced half-smile flashing. “I want to say that while I can see why you did what you did, Reggie, I also see Garrison’s side. Coming from someone who isn’t tangled with your past with one another and is coming at it from an outsider’s point of view, I can only speak on my own experience. But I know that if I was just forced to spend two months in an entirely different province, with people that I don’t know and didn’t hear from my family, especially someone who played a part in my new situation, I’d be incredibly hurt.

“I know about your history, and I don’t want to come off as naive or rude, but have you ever just taken a moment to listen to why Garrison feels the way he does? I think if you did, you’d have a bit more understanding for his anger right now.”

Her tone is fair and even the entire way through her speech. It’s hard to breathe through the onslaught of emotions rushing through me. I want to pull her out of her seat and take her the fuck out of here, somewhere it’s only us, before dropping to my knees once again and thanking her with my words and tongue and cock.

“I’d be open to that conversation. You’re right, Poppy. I’m ashamed not to have taken the initiative to take care of this myself,” Dad says.

I feel his eyes on me, but I’ve twisted in my seat, no longer looking at him. Only at Poppy. Just her.

I’m still angry. Still bursting at the seams with questions I want to demand answers to. There’s years’ worth of resentment I’ve been holding on to, but I’m aware of the fact that if I don’t take this opportunity to speak with him about it all, I’m going to allow it to eat me alive.

And I don’t want to live like this anymore.

42

POPPY

The rest of dinner is spent mostly in silence.

Cynthia and I chat, trying to fill the quiet with tidbits about my family and Cherry Peak. It’s hard to believe that before today, she didn’t even know I existed.

Garrison dumped our relationship on his mom this morning, but I can’t even be mad at him about that. Surprises don’t bother me, and this has been one of the best ones I’ve had in a long time.

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