Page 44 of Rough Daddy
"Hey, little brother." Her whole demeanor softens. "Ready for an adventure?"
"Are you seriously doing this?" Richard turns to me, apparently deciding I'm the reasonable adult in the room. "Are you going to let her destroy her family over some... what, midlife crisis?"
"I'm forty-four," I tell him calmly. "She’s eighteen, so definitely she’s not having a midlife crisis. And she's not destroying anything. She's saving herself."
"Saving herself? From what?"
"From you."
Richard's face goes red, and I can see him fighting the urge to take a swing at me.
Bring it. Breaking things is my specialty.
"You don't know anything about our family—"
"I know enough." I step forward, and he automatically takes a step back. Interesting. "I know you turned your children into cash cows. I know you're more worried about your house payments than their happiness. I know Tessa is scared that one of these days you’ll lose your temper and break her instead of her stuff. And I know that boy has been counting the hours until someone came to get him."
"This is ridiculous," her mother interjects. "Ethan is fifteen. He can't just... leave. There are laws—"
"About kidnapping, yes." I pull out my phone, showing them the screen. "Good thing we're not kidnapping anyone. We're here to invite Ethan for a visit. A couple of weeks in the mountains. Fresh air, family time. Perfectly legal."
Richard's eyes narrow. "A visit..."
"That's right,” Tessa says. “Let him see what life can be like outside this goldfish bowl. Then we all sit down and figure out what's best for everyone. Or I’ll start posting again. A few videos of my own this time. From over the years. Mostly of you two. Yelling, berating, telling me to lose weight. That you didn’t care if I was tired or hated the brand, that it’s all about the money. Maybe even the one with Dad hurling a bowl of Mac and Cheese at the wall right by my head because our numbers weretwo percentage points downon the previous day."
Silence follows, and Tessa lets it stretch. Good girl.
"Two weeks," Richard says finally.
"Three," Tessa counters.
"Two and a half."
"Deal." She looks up at Ethan. "What do you say, E? Want to come see some mountains?"
"That was..." Ethan's voice trails off as we pull away from the house. He's in the backseat, staring out the window like he can't quite believe this is really happening.
"Terrifying?" Tessa suggests.
"Awesome." He grins, and I can see the real kid underneath all the performance anxiety. "Did you see Dad's face?"
"I saw it." I catch his eye in the rearview mirror. "How you feeling about all this, Ethan?"
"Like I can finally breathe." He leans forward between our seats. "Is it really true? About the mountains? And fishing? And bears?"
"Real as it gets. Got a whole lake up there just waiting for someone to teach proper casting technique."
"I don't know how to fish."
"Good thing I do." I watch him process this, seeing the wonder in his expression. "Lots of things to learn when you're not spending all your time in front of a camera."
He goes quiet for a moment. "What happens after two and a half weeks?"
The question hangs there. I want to promise him we'll figure it out, that he'll never have to go back to that house, that life. But I can't make promises I'm not sure I can keep.
"We take it one day at a time," I say finally. "See how it goes. But Ethan? Whatever happens, you're not alone anymore. Understand?"
"Yeah." His voice is small, hopeful. "I understand."
