Page 62 of Promise of a New Beginning
“I am,” was all he could manage.
Sage shot a look at Jack. His eyes widened, and in that flash, Jack knew that Sage had seen something unnerving. A second later, Rush walked through the door with the same stern look as his father and took his place beside him.
Jack clenched his jaw, wondering why his brothers and sister hadn’t warned him that Rush would be there after all. He felt Siena’s gentle touch on his shoulder, her breath in his ear.
“They didn’t tell me,” she said; then she crossed the tense space between the three men and embraced her father. “Hi, Daddy.” She hugged Rush, though it was more of a fast grab than a hug.
“Sweetheart, thank you for having us all here today,” his mother said, as Siena kissed her cheek and took her place beside her. Jack knew that by standing on the side of the room with him, they were supporting him, too.
The lines drawn in the Remington family weren’t like other families, where lines were faded and the families were unsure if they were imagined or really existed. James Remington made no bones about the lines he’d drawn through the years. He expected high achievements and ethical conduct—and military careers. As the eldest, Jack had forged the path for the others to follow. When he’d chosen not to attend West Point, his father had been livid, but after a few tough months, their relationship survived, and Jack assumed it was yet another one of his mother’s determined battles that had kept him from having the same struggle with each of his other kids.
The decision to join the military had less to do with his father than with something inside Jack—a need to do more for his country than engineering—and it had pleased his father, which was why Jack was so confused now. He didn’t understand why his father had been so angry with him when he moved to the mountains. He thought, of all people, his father would understand, but, then, he hadn’t been thinking straight at that time. His father probably felt that Jack had shamed him on some level, embarrassed the family.
“Isn’t it wonderful that Jack’s really coming back to New York?” Siena’s cheerful voice reverberated against the tension in the room like she’d thrown it at a brick wall. “Daddy, would you like some wine?”
“Yes, please, honey. Thank you.”
Always the gentleman.During his formative years, Jack had tried to emulate his father with his gruff nature and arrogance, but by the time he hit puberty, he’d seen his harsh exterior as unattractive, and he’d done everything he could to avoid becoming the same man. As he looked at his brother and father, two strong-willed opponents, he realized that he was more like his father than he cared to admit. The last two years, he’d hidden behind the stone wall he’d learned from James Remington. Now Jack took a deep breath and did the only thing he could under the circumstances. He opened his arms as the man he hoped to be and embraced first his father, who stood rigid against him, then Rush, whose muscles were so tense they jumped against Jack’s chest.
“Good to see you both,” Jack said. It had been a long time since Jack was the one reaching out. Heck, it seemed like forever since he’d been palatable on any level.
Sage answered another knock at the door, and they turned their attention to the deliveryman as he handed several bags of food to Sage.
“I’ve got this,” Dex said. He pulled out his wallet and paid for the food, then helped Sage carry the bags to the table.
“This looks great, Siena,” Kurt said as he lifted several cartons of Italian food from one of the bags.
His mother put her hand on the small of Jack’s back. “Jack, Rush, why don’t you join us at the table.”
Jack noticed that she hadn’t invited his father, and while he was thankful for the support, he was sick of the ominous stares and the lines that determined sides within their family. Lines caused pain, and Jack had experienced enough pain for one lifetime.
“Thanks, Mom. I’ll join you in a moment,” Jack said.
Rush’s face flushed. His eyes darted between Jack and their father. “Dad?”
Jack watched the exchange and wondered why his thirty-two-year-old brother was asking for his father’s permission to sit at the dinner table.
His father narrowed his eyes at Jack and said, “Go on, son,” to Rush.
While the rest of the family dished food onto their plates and talked among themselves, Jack and his father had a silent battle of wills. Jack gathered his courage like a shield before speaking.
“Want to take this up to the roof?” Siena’s loft was on the top floor of her building, and she had access to a narrow set of stairs that led to a sitting area and garden on the roof of the building. The idea of having it out with his father in front of everyone else twisted his gut and made every nerve in his body burn, but if he’d have it no other way, Jack was determined not to walk away without a resolution.
His father nodded, and Jack led the way.
“James,” his mother called.
They both turned toward her.
“Why don’t you take Rush with you?” she suggested.
As Rush rose to join them, all eyes shifted to Jack.
Jack wondered why his mother was putting him up against the firing squad.
“Jack?” Sage said with a lift of his hand, a silent offer to come along.
“I’m good.” Jack led them out of the apartment and up to the roof. The cool night air did little to clear the mounting tension. He had to hold it together no matter what they said, and he knew that falling right back into anger wouldn’t solve a thing. He felt more like his old self than the angry man he’d become, and he wasn’t going back.
