Page 36 of Pretty Broken Things

“Look who I found at the information desk asking about hiswife,” Shane hints.

Ford’s head snaps up and his eyes lock on my dad. “You married my mom?”

My father pastes a fake ass smile on his face. It’s the one he uses at business dinners when he’s speaking to people he feels he’s superior to. Mostly the family members of colleagues and subordinates.

His eyes flick down to where Ford’s hand is still clutching mine, but he quickly schools his features and extends his hand. “You must be Ford. Camille has told me so much about you. I’d hoped we would get to meet under happier circumstances though. Is there any news?”

Ford doesn’t take his hand, and my dad eventually lowers his. He takes a seat across from us, and once again frowns at the proximity between Ford and I.

“Contessa, I’m surprised to find you here. I didn’t realize you knew Ford,” he says.

I frown hearing my full first name. No matter how many times I’ve begged him to call me Tessa, he insists on using that pretentious fucking name he and my mother saddled me with.

“Know him? They’ve been together for months,” Shane quips. I can’t believe I ever fell for his nice guy façade. He never misses an opportunity to start shit.

My father frowns. “Well, that won’t work at all.”

“I don’t see why you’d care. You don’t involve yourself in my life, why start now?” I snap.

“We can discuss all of this later. I’m going to track down a doctor and check on Camille,” he says.

A doctor enters the waiting room followed by my father. “Ford?” the doctor asks.

Ford nods, and braces himself for bad news.

“Your mother has some broken ribs and a punctured lung. We were able to insert a chest tube to re-inflate her lung, and she’s had to have some stitches to the cuts in her scalp. She’s sedated now, and we’ll reduce the medications tomorrow to allow her to wake up. She’s stable now, son, you did a good job getting her here,” the doctor says.

“When can I see her?” he asks. His voice is gravelly from exhaustion, and probably from the ordeal that ended up in us being in the ER.

“In the morning. You should go home and rest. You put your number on her intake paperwork. If there is any change we will call you,” the doctor assures him.

“Excuse me,” my father interrupts. “She’s my wife, why would you call him?”

The doctor’s demeanor changes instantly. He was warm and caring when speaking to Ford, but he’s cold and clinical when addressing my father. “Sir, I don’t know who you are, but Mrs. Shaw was clearly a victim of a domestic assault tonight. Since her son is the one who found her and brought her in he will be the one we deal with until Mrs. Shaw is alert and can speak on her own behalf.”

“It’s Mrs. James, actually. She divorced her ex-husband, Lyle Shaw a couple of weeks ago, and we got married shortly after,” my father informs the doctor.

“You what?” Ford asks in a voice that is a little too calm. He’s close to breaking, and I need to get him out of here before he does.

“Yeah, Dad, this is a fucked-up way to tell his son you married his mother without even meeting him first. But, why would I expect you’d have any idea how a normal father should behave? You sure as shit haven’t shown me any paternal interest in years now.”

Shane tips his head toward the exit. “Let’s go to my grandparents’ house and crash in the clubhouse.”

I hold my hand out for Ford’s keys. “C’mon, I’ll drive. I am the only one who has gotten any sleep tonight.”

I know he’s tired when he doesn’t put up any kind of protest and hands me his keys. Shane takes his own keys out of his pocket, but when he yawns loudly, I snatch them from his hand.

He narrows his eyes, and I know I’m about to encounter asshole Shane. I’m not in the mood for his mercurial mood swings, so I put up my hand to stop him before he speaks. “Look, I wouldn’t dream of driving your baby. Tomorrow we’ll figure out how to come and get your car. I’m not about to let you die driving back to the Park because you came out to do me a favor. With you guys out of town I went to bed early. The girls and I hung out until Tracy went to meet up with her new boyfriend, and Lydia was being super secretive about where she was going.”

Shane holds his hand out for his keys. “Fine. You’re a pain in the ass, but you’re probably right. I still don’t want you holding on to my keys.”

Knowing he’s not going to try and be a macho idiot, I hand them back. The three of us start heading out to the door. Until my father moves toward us. “Con—Tessa, can I speak to you a moment?”

“It can wait.” I know he’s wanting to argue with me. No one dismisses Wendell James, especially his daughter.

Before Ford crashed into my life I was actively gaslighting myself. I refused to see that my father didn’t really care about me. For so long I’ve placed all the blame on myself for my parents abandoning and ignoring me. I convinced myself that the things my father gave me was love, but it was just his way to assuage his guilt.

Now that I know what love should feel like, I’m unwilling to accept the paltry amount of my dad’s attention. I sure as hell am not going to let him dictate my life. He waited until I was eighteen to show back up, he can deal with the fact I don’t have to listen to him anymore.

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