Page 50 of Hard Deal
“And you came out kicking and screaming like you were already fighting a battle. Every night you’d yell and yell until I seriously thought the house was going to come apart at the seams. Your mother was exhausted from taking care of you and your brother, and I wasn’t ready to do it again.” He squared his shoulders and looked Caleb dead in the eye. “I had wanted her to terminate the pregnancy.”
“I know that.” Caleb nodded. “She told me once.”
“I put a lot of pressure on her and I regret that every day. But I wasn’t ready for you, for how...all-encompassing you would be.” He sighed. “For how much like me you were.”
“Are you kidding me?” Caleb raised a brow. “Everybody knows Jason is your carbon copy.”
“On the outside, maybe. But you’re me through and through, Caleb. You fight, you’re proud and stubborn and hot-headed like me.” He came around the desk and Caleb stood rooted to the spot. They’d never spoken like this. Not with such honesty and vulnerability. “I was certain you were my punishment for the hell I put your grandparents through. And unfortunately, I did about as good a job with you as they did with me.”
Caleb’s grandparents had passed away over ten years ago, but they’d always had a strained relationship with the family. His grandfather had been a formidable man who’d run the company with an iron fist, much like Gerald.
“I wanted Jason to take over the company because it’s time they had a leader with a different approach. He’s going to be an amazing CEO, and I stand by my decision.”
“Like I said, it’s not about that. I know Jase will be great and I’m still leaving regardless of anything you have to say.” He sucked in a breath and finally released the chair that he’d been gripping like it was his only tether to earth. “But I do want to know why you didn’t tell me you were sick. Do you think that I care so little that I could brush that off?”
“It crossed my mind.” He hung his head for a second, before the stoic expression was back in place. “The doctor tells me the survival rate is high. Your mother is making sure we see the best oncologist in the country. She’s taking good care of me.”
“Then you should take good care of her, and I don’t mean with money.”
Gerald nodded. “I’m looking at things...differently now. I know what it’s like to be in her position.”
He never talked much about his first wife, but Caleb’s mother had told him once that the woman had experienced a very drawn out and painful passing. And it was obviously playing on Gerald’s mind now.
“Mum really loves you.”
His father cleared his throat, the rough noise sparking something deep in Caleb’s chest. It stirred memories, not all of them good. But this was a step forward. The right step forward.
“I can put a good word out for you,” his father said. “I have some contacts—”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t.”
Gerald nodded. “I accept your resignation, then.”
“Good, because you don’t have a choice.” Caleb stuck his hand out and his father took it. For a moment, he wondered if the older man might pull him into a hug. But instead they stood stiffly. Awkward. Like always.
Baby steps.
* * *
“You what?”
Imogen cringed at the eardrum-shattering pitch of her sister’s voice. It took a lot to rattle Penny. The woman wrangled a classroom of six-year-olds on a daily basis, so she knew how to deal with drama. She hadn’t even gotten annoyed that one time Imogen borrowed her fanciest dress without telling her and then proceeded to spill red wine all over it.
But this...this was something else.
“Pen, if your head starts to spin around I’m going to call a time-out, okay?” She tried to laugh but the sound came out like more of a croak. “I’m sorry. I messed up and I see that now. It’s why I’m coming clean.”
“Coming clean does not immediately absolve you.” Her sister’s face pixelated on the screen for a moment as the internet stalled. Spilling the beans via FaceTime wasn’t exactly ideal, but Daniel had whisked her away for a surprise getaway since it was school holidays. Imogen hadn’t been able to hold on to the guilt any longer. “I can’t believe you did that. Actually I can, you’re like...like...Bridesmaid-zilla!”
“I know it’s not an excuse, but I wanted to protect you. And I totally went about it the wrong way.”
“No sugar, Sherlock.” Penny sighed. “I asked you at the beginning if being involved in the wedding would tear open all those old wounds, and you said you’d be fine.”
“I know.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “I guess it was more difficult than I thought it would be... I didn’t want you to go through what I did.”
“All because you saw Daniel have a drink with someone?”
She wasn’t going to tell Penny that she thought they’d been flirting, because in hindsight she wasn’t as sure as she’d been at the time. Was it her past overlaying this lens of distrust like Caleb had said? Perhaps. Maybe he had been flirting and it was nothing but harmless fun? In any case, it was none of her business. Penny and Daniel didn’t need her intruding on their relationship. She knew that now.