Page 92 of When the Storm Breaks
Patrick planted his hands on his hips. “I had to question everyone.”
Ridge huffed out a laugh. “But you didn’t, did you? You automatically assumed it was me. You accused me in front ofeveryoneon that building site. So fuck that. I’m done with you.” He stalked away, his shoulders squared.
“Hold up.” Patrick grabbed his arm to stop him. “You mind telling me where you got the money to buy all that sound equipment you had delivered this morning?”
Sound equipment? This was news to me. Patrick picked up Ridge for work every morning so that must have been when he saw it.
Ridge shook off his hold. “Yeah, I do mind. None of your goddamn business. I told you I didn’t steal anything, that I’d never steal a goddamn thing from my own family. You should have taken my word for it. That should have been good enough. But you’re just like all the rest of them.”
Ridge strode away and I didn’t try to stop him. This time, he had every right to walk away. I glared at Patrick. My jaw was clenched so tight my molars felt like they might crack. “Why the hell would you do that to him?” I gritted out.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you know where he got the money?”
“No.” Although I had some idea. “But you should have taken him at his word. You should have put your faith in him.”
“He’s been known to steal in the past. And he’s Shelby’s boy, through and through. Looks just like her.”
As if that justified his actions. I shook my head, disgusted with this conversation. “Now I remember what it was like growing up under your roof. Funny how Kate had never made me feel like I was my mother’s son, but you always did.”
“Hey now. That’s not fair. I raised you the same as I did my three sons.”
“Keep telling yourself that. I wasnevertreated the same. And the only reason you took me in was because Kate insisted on it.”
“That’s a goddamn lie. As soon as I got the call, I drove out to Odessa to get you.”
“When I was ten years old. What about all the times before that? When Shelby called you asking for help but you told her to sort herself out? Where the fuck were you then?”
“You were too young to remember any of that.”
“I heard and saw a lot of shit when I was a kid. I wasn’t too young to remember. I remember it all. But this isn’t about me. It’s about Ridge.” I pointed my finger at him. “You owe him an apology and I want you to do it in front of all the people you accused him in front of. Until you make this right, you’re not welcome on my land or anywhere near my house or Ridge.”
I strode away.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” he called after me.
His words stopped me in my tracks. I could have kept walking. Could have kept my mouth shut. But fuck it. I had plenty to say and I’d been holding my tongue for far too long. Growing up, I was scared that if I confronted him, he’d kick me to the curb so I’d kept my mouth shut, harboring a resentment I’d thought was long gone by now. But nope, still there.
I wasn’t a kid anymore and this was as good a time as any to get this off my chest. Slowly, I turned to face him. “I’m talking to my Uncle Patrick. My mother’s brother who never lifted a finger to help until the social worker called and forced his hand. I’m talking to the man who brought his Marine buddy home for a visit and introduced him to his younger sister. My mother and Ridge’s mother. She was only fifteen. You want to talk about that? You want to talk about how nobody in your family called it what it was?Rape. You think that might be the reason Shelby turned to drugs? You think that might have had something to do with how fucked up she was?”
For a few seconds, he stared at me. Too shocked to speak. Until he pulled himself together. “How do you even know about that?”
He couldn’t even deny it because he knew it was the goddamn truth. This would have been laughable if it wasn’t so fucking sad. “Like I said, I heard a lot of shit when I was a kid.”
“I never wanted anything like that to happen to Shelby.”
“But it did. And you and your asshole Marine father covered it up so your asshole Marine buddy wouldn’t get in trouble. Oorah fucking rah.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Bullshit.”
Patrick shook his head. “I didn’t find out about that until years later.”
“It doesn’t matter. You could have done something to help her. She was your sister. You were always preaching the importance of family and yet… you turned your back on her.”
He stroked his jaw, considering my words. “You’ve never forgiven me for that.”
Whenever I thought about the hell he could have saved me from by coming to my rescue sooner, and maybe even Shelby, no. I’d never forgiven him for that. “If you were in my shoes, would you have forgiven and forgotten?”
