Page 14 of Shephard

“Don’t you do this. No. I will not allow you to ruin this. Just talk. They are your sons. Goddamn it.” She turned away, obviously even more upset.

More so than I’d seen her.

I glanced at my brothers, both with concerned looks on their faces.

“Go on, Pops,” Hunter said. At least he didn’t have contention in his voice. He was the happier one, the kid who had always smiled. Today was the first time I realized how much he’d changed. What surprised me the most was the darkness in his eyes. I’d never seen it before.

My father appeared more uncomfortable than I’d seen him in a long time. Like me, he’d never been a big talker, but he was having a rough time.

“Dexter,” my mother encouraged.

“Here’s the bottom line, boys. I’m offering the three of you the resort or I’m going to sell. If I sell, you won’t get a dime of the proceeds. It’s as simple as that. If you accept my offer, your obligation will be for one year. One year from signing the contract I had my attorney prepare on the off chance you’d care about accepting your legacy.”

My mother sighed.

The three of us didn’t catch on to the severity of what he was saying for a few seconds. Jagger laughed first.

One year. That was more like a prison term.

“How could there be any profit anyway, Dad?” he asked. “Going bankrupt again from your bad business handlings?”

I gave him a harsh look, shaking my head. There was more to this. I felt it. “Why don’t you allow our father to explain his rather interesting demand.” And that’s what it sounded like. Why would I want to leave my life to come run a resort with two men I couldn’t tolerate?

“We are making money. Your father doesn’t want to brag, which is why I brought the full set of financials and before one of you dare says the books have been doctored, we’ve had an audit every single year. Every year. We are worth millions and our business is only growing. We want you kids to have something in your lives, something tangible.”

She was holding out the folder and Hunter was the one to take it.

I felt our combined shock in the air. Was she serious?

“She’s right. You can do something honorable for a fucking change in your lives. All three of you left respected jobs to become what?” Father was on a roll. “A construction worker,” he snarled, glaring at me. “A fucking shoddy business in commercial contracting,” he told Jagger. “And you,” he hissed at Hunter. “You’ve had more sales jobs than anyone I’ve ever known. Cars. Campers. Insurance. What’s next, Avon?”

“Stop it,” Mother begged.

“That’s it,” Jagger hissed. “I’m leaving.”

“Stop,” Hunter hissed while handing him the folder. When Jagger’s eyes opened wide, my curiosity was piqued. “Just stop. All of you. We finish this damn discussion. Period.”

The shock was instant. While I’d need to go through the financials for longer than a few seconds, if what I was reading was correct, what they’d done with the resort was nothing shortof miraculous. I glanced from Pops to my mother, trying to weed through his bullshit. What wasn’t he telling us?

“I don’t understand. Are you retiring? Is that it?”

My question seemed to fall onto deaf ears at first, but I noticed the look my mother and father gave to each other. I was right. There was more to this.

“We do want to take some time. Traveling. You know?” The forlorn look in my mother’s eyes was concerning.

“Okay, why do you think any one of us let alone all three would want to run this resort?” Hunter was calmer, which was good at this point.

My father’s face was red, but not necessarily from anger.

“We thought Shephard could run the resort, Jagger could handle the accounting and office management. And Hunter, since you’re good with sales, you could handle the winery and the restaurant. Perfectly matched to your skills.” My mother was now practically beaming.

And hopeful.

It was obvious all three of us were shocked. We even glanced at each other, not one of us certain how to respond. It would never work, but giving away our share of millions of dollars was… What the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t give a shit about money.

“You see, Sally. They’re worthless just like I told you they were,” Pops huffed.

“Goddamn it,” Jagger snarled. “Same old shit. I am leaving this time. Have a nice sale.”

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