Page 68 of Destined To Fall

“Damn. I was hoping you were kidnapping me and taking me to Atlanta.” I force a smile.

Truth be told. I’m getting a little…uncomfortablewith the game we’re playing here. The odds are becoming less and less in our favor. Not to mentionDanielmakes my skin crawl something fierce. My instincts are rarely wrong. He’s not good people.

“Maybe next time. Mix it up a little, keep you on your toes.”

“Instead of my ass?” I raise a brow, and he chuckles, shaking his head.

“I called Lydia the other day.”

“Wait. Lydia? Your daughter Lydia? The one you yourself told me you haven’t spoken to since before your grandson was born?” I leave out since he kicked her out. He doesn’t know I know that tidbit of information. Still, I’m taken aback.

“Yes.”

These Thatcher men never cease to amaze me. I guess what I said about living with your head in the sand being no way to live hit home.“And? What happened? What did she say?”

“She hung up on me.”

“Oh.” Not surprising. I think he said it’s been nine years.“You didn’t leave it there, did you?”

Max smiles and shakes his head.“No, I didn’t. I waited thirty minutes for the shock to dissipate before calling again.”

I hold my breath, more interested than I care to be. The suspense is killing me.

“She answered.”

“And?”

“And she called me Maxwell.”

I close my eyes and cringe.

“That wasn’t pleasant. But nothing less than I deserved.”

I reach over and take Max’s hand, squeezing it tightly in mine.

“She was civil, which is far more than I do deserve, but brief and short. We Thatchers never forget and rarely let go or give up.”

I’ve seen enough of both Max and Jeremy to believe the truth in that. I can’t imagine Jeremy ever forgiving his father, but I know little of Lydia’s disposition to know how she’d respond. But it doesn’t take a genius to anticipate that when your father kicks you out when you’re four months pregnant…well, I’d be bitter.

“I…after our conversation weeks ago—”

“The one where I called you a stubborn jackass and told you one day you’d wake up and life would have completely passed you by? That one?”

“Yes, the very one.” He smiles, and I wrinkle my nose. I felt bad about that outburst.“I admit I wasn’t in a good place after I lost my wife.”

“Their mother.”

“Yes. I somehow managed to—not forget, but not acknowledge that Jeremy and Lydia had lost her too, and me as well. I threw myself into work and was purposely never home because it was too hard.”

“I get that, I really do.”

“What I’m trying to say is, you were right.”

“I was, was I?” I grin, knowing damn well I was. I always am.

“Yes, yes. Gloat all you like. But I couldn’t even admit to you that I’d made a mistake, or that my sister has been sending me photographs of them both this whole time. I never wanted to push her away, and I regretted it almost instantly. I’m not getting any younger, and I would like to know my grandson, for him to know his grandfather, before it’s too late.”

“Is there something else you’re not telling me, Maxwell?”

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