Page 147 of Sapphire Sunset

“Why? I mean, you had me arrested so…”

“You got yourself arrested, Rodney. And for a lot more than breakinginto Sapphire Cove.”

“Still, you know I was on the property. Why’d you need toreview the footage? What, you thought I was there to steal something?”

“And again,” the lawyer said, “we’re here to discuss thecontents of your conversation at Sapphire Cove this week and not anything—”

“It was not aconversation. Your client preventedme from calling for help and barricaded me in the bathroom while I was halfnaked. It was an assault, and you should be grateful I’m not bringing charges.May we continue, please?”

“Carefully,” she said.

Connor returned his attention to his uncle. “I had troublebelieving you came onto the property just to talk to me. That’s why I reviewedthe footage.”

“And now?” Rodney asked.

“I think you’re more capable of feeling guilt than I wantedto believe. A man changes when he hits the end of the road. That’s what Logansaid to me the other day. About you. Is it true?”

“It was the look on your face,” Rodney whispered.

“When?”

“In the lobby. When I said that stuff about your dad. Thelook on your face was…” Rodney swallowed and studied the metal table betweenthem. “I always saw you as just some kid. Maybe that made it easier to push youaround. You know, like, you’d eventually grow up and get over anything I did,and so why was it a big deal?”

“A dazzling approach to child rearing.” Connor’s fake smilehurt his cheeks.

“But when I saw the look on your face that day… I knew if Ididn’t say something I’d be seeing it every night. In jail.”

Connor hadn’t been prepared for this answer, and apparentlythat was clear from his expression, but his uncle was studying him closely.

“You believe me, sport?” Rodney asked.

Connor couldn’t fight his wince. “Why do you call me that?It always sounds like an insult.”

“You don’t know the story?”

Connor shook his head.

Rodney smirked, and Connor prepared for a story moreinsulting than the nickname.

“You were about five years old and we were in the backyardof Dad’s old place in Dana Point, and I was trying to teach you how to throw afootball and you weren’t getting it. I was giving you a hard time and Dad cameout and said, ‘Knock it off, Rodney. That kid’s already a genius. He’s notgoing to need sports like you.’ That’s how it always was, Connor. You camealong and they let you be whoever you wanted to be, but me, I had to stay inthis narrow lane to keep their respect.”

“The luxury resort you had control over for decades would bethenarrow laneyou’re referring to here?” Connor said.

Rodney nodded.

“You’re making it sound like you never wanted the job,”Connor said.

“It was the only way they’d see me. It was the only way Icould exist for them. Without it, I was a fuckup. Your dad was the brains. Yourgrandpa was the heart, and I was just everything they didn’t want to be lumpedinto one thing. Person. Whatever.”

“But you stayed on after they died.”

“Yeah.” Rodney’s grin was a leer. “And my love for the placeis really shining through now, isn’t it?”

Connor wasn’t there to question Rodney’s version of thepast, no matter how self-serving he thought it was. He wasn’t even there forRodney.

Or himself.

He reached inside his blazer pocket and removed a foldedpiece of paper he hadn’t touched since the day after he landed at John WayneAirport. He placed it on the table but kept his hand atop it so it wouldn’tdrift open. His palm felt hot. It twisted his gut, bringing this last gift fromhis father, this private message his mother had guarded and protected foryears, within his uncle’s reach. The alternative, he knew, would feel muchworse.

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