Page 50 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

Just a crazy realistic one that he’d never had before.

Jesus, his mother was so close to him. So lifelike.

But it was only a memory of her. One of the better times in his life.

He didn’t want to say there were no good times in his life. That’d be a lie.

His father was a dick. He always knew that but let it go most times.

If Adam Harlowe was getting on his mother’s case or talking down to her, he’d jump in and defend the woman who loved him unconditionally.

The one thing he’d hated about moving out of his parents’ house was that he wouldn’t be able to do that for her.

And when his mother got sick, his father had stepped up, letting him know that the man might have been a jerk at times, but he did love his wife and could be depended on.

Which only showed Van what a horrible judge of character he was to later find out about the affair his father had been having.

That had been the beginning of the end of their father-son relationship.

Things only got worse to the point they hadn’t talked much in years.

When he’d woken up in the hospital, his father was there by his side and he thought, okay, he could step up and they could make amends.

The first words out of his father’s mouth were that he never should have been on the force. He’d told his mother she was stupid for encouraging it and that Van wasn’t smart enough to get out of harm's way and not get himself killed.

He didn’t hear much more after the insult to his mother and told his father to get the fuck out of his room.

Here he dreamed of his mother and it felt good and now the rest of his morning was turning to crap thinking of his father.

The man who didn’t know he’d moved thousands of miles away and most likely wouldn’t give a shit either.

He made some breakfast, looking around the house that was his now.

Talk about something out of a dream.

It should have been his mother living here.

Which just pissed him off more than made him calm.

That her life was gone.

She never got to experience any of this pampering. As if it was withheld from her by the man who just handed it over so freely to him.

His mother told him to have an open mind and that was what he’d do when he met with Kyle Raymond this morning to go over the hotels.

He felt as if he were in school again and studying. Only this was real life and had a huge price tag attached to it.

When it was time to leave, he grabbed his keys and went out the door, setting the alarm and pulling out of the garage.

“He’s in his office,” the woman at the front desk said. “You can go right in. I’m Rosalind, by the way. Not sure if you heard that last time.”

“I did,” he said, shaking her hand. “Sorry I left so abruptly.”

“It’s fine,” Rosalind said. “Your grandfather was a funny man, but he could be moody at times too. More so when he was under pressure or stress.”

Van just nodded. It’s not like he could agree with an assessment of a man he didn’t remember meeting or knew nothing about.

“Morning,” Kyle said. “There is coffee over there if you need some. Food too.”

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