Page 3 of Heart of Stone
I scoffed. “And you thought you’d use this opportunity to convince me to take over your retreat?”
He offered a sheepish look in response. Clearly, he realized just how grimy his actions were. My mother was in the hospital, and this man seemed to be worried about only one thing.
“I should’ve expected nothing less from you,” I muttered as I stood from the chair and stared down at him. “You could’ve done all of this over the phone. You could’ve told me a week ago about what happened to her, and you could’ve made this foolish attempt to get me to run your retreat over the phone.”
He shook his head. “If I stood any chance of convincing you, I needed you to be here.”
“No, you didn’t. Because whether I’m here or there, my answer remains the same. I’m not going to do it. My answer hasn’t changed, and it never will.”
“But circumstances have,” he reasoned.
Throwing my hand out to the side in frustration, I countered, “And you thought you’d try to use the sympathy I feel for my mom to get what you’ve wanted all these years.”
My dad sighed. “If only it were that easy. I didn’t suspect you’d jump at the chance, Reid, but I was hoping you might find some compassion and understanding.”
“Compassion? For whom? And understanding? What I understand is that my mom had a heart attack and broke her hip a week ago, and I’m just how learning about it because you want to scheme to get your way.”
He winced, his shoulders dropping. “I know it seems that way, but?—”
“Itisthat way.”
Holding his hands up in surrender, my dad said, “Reid, I’m sorry. I know you don’t like the retreat. I know you don’t want it. But I have no choice at this point. I’ve had to make some tough decisions this week, and the only thing that matters to me is your mom.”
“Oh? So, is that why you waited a week to call her son, her only child, and let him know what’s happened to her?”
My dad stood from his chair, placed his hands on his hips, and stared me down. “I don’t claim to have made all the right decisions in my life. I’m sorry. I should’ve called you sooner. But this hasn’t exactly been easy for me, either. Whether you believe it or not, I love you and her, and I’m doing the very best that I can.”
I lifted my chin as I took in those words. “Right. Well, I’m not sure I can help you out or give you what it is you need right now. I’m going to the hospital to see her.”
Turning, I moved back in the direction I came from.
“It’s yours.” My feet ground to a halt, and I slowly twisted my neck to look back at him. “I’m stepping back, stepping down, from the retreat.”
My stomach clenched, my gaze becoming unfocused. I turned fully to face him. “What did you just say?”
A half-hearted shrug.
For the first time in a very long time, I saw something in him that I hadn’t seen. There was no fight left in him. He was giving up.
And he proved I wasn’t seeing things when he said, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned this week, it’s that life is short. I could have lost your mom. That’s enough for me to take a step back and realize that I haven’t been the husband she deserves. I haven’t been the father you deserve, either. But while I’m wise enough to know I’ve screwed up beyond measure with you, I still have the opportunity to give your mom better than I have. Whatshe’s facing now with recovery isn’t going to be easy, and I need to be here with her. So, it’s yours, Reid. If you want it, it’s yours.”
Even as the surprise of what he’d just said struck a chord inside, I stood my ground. “I don’t want it.”
“Not even if I tell you that you can do whatever you want with it?”
My brows shot up, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’re going to allow that to happen?”
Barrett Erickson looked like he wanted to be anywhere else right now. “I won’t have a choice when it’s no longer mine, will I?”
My father had never been the kind of guy who joked around with me, so I didn’t suspect he’d taken that up now, especially when things were as tense between us as they were. But this felt so out of character, I wondered if he was purposely trying a new approach in hopes it might work.
“What’s the catch?”
Like I’d caught him off guard, his head jerked back. “Catch?”
“Yeah. What is it you’re not telling me about this? Because I don’t trust that you’d ever just give this up, regardless of whatever revelations you’ve had far too late about the decisions you’ve made in your life.”
I wondered if I’d spent too much time away from my parents, because for a brief moment, I could’ve sworn he hadn’t considered doing any such thing. He’d been well and truly defeated. He’d fully surrendered.
