Page 60 of The Grumpy Billionaire
Dad stared at me with rapt attention as I continued.
“But whether they know it or not, Bax and Bowieneedyou right now—desperately. And they do love you. Even when I was mad enough to refuse your calls, I listened to all your messages. I’m sure they do, too.”
“I’m so sorry, Mimi. I never wanted to hurt you,” Dad said. “Before, you accused me of thinking only of myself and my political ambitions, and honestly, that’s partially true. I did get a little obsessed with the polls.”
“A little?”
“Okay, well, I got my priorities pretty mixed up. But like I said before, I never meant to hurt you. Call me crazy but dating a mobster’s kid isn’t exactly a recipe for happiness.”
“Iwashappy. I would havebeenhappy with Reid.”
The rightness of the words sank in as I said them. “And if we’d stayed together, maybe he wouldn’t have turned out to be such a ‘hard man,’ as you put it. But that’s ancient history. We’re talking about Bowie and Bax. Do you have any thoughts on how we can, I don’t know… scare them straight or whatever?”
Dad rested his elbows on the table and folded his fingers together, thinking. “I have a friend from college who owns a cattle ranch in Central Texas. When we talked a few months ago, he was telling me he runs a program out of there for troubled teens. Sort of like a cross between a dude ranch and boarding school. He says it’s a better alternative than a teen boot camp for a lot of boys.”
“Sounds interesting. What do they do? Make them muck out horse stalls and stuff?” I asked.
“That would go a long way toward erasing any entitlement issues, wouldn’t it?” Dad said. “My buddy said they use a combination of equine therapy, clinical therapy, academics, and nature. They do chores around the ranch, go to classes, do some self-reflection work, help take care of the horses in addition to learning to ride. They do some fishing on the lake there, hiking trails, and they have regular group therapy and individual therapy meetings. Family therapy, too. I could be there for that.”
“Do you think you could get them into the program—soon?”
He smiled. “I know I can. All this political clout does have its advantages.”
“Right. How silly of me,” I quipped.
I’d spent the past few days witnessing what money and power could get you if you really wanted it. Reid had quite handily hijacked my job and my life to suit himself.
“I’m not sure the boys are gonna like it, though,” Dad warned. “It’ll be hot as hell and damn hard work. They might hate me for it.”
“If it works, they’ll thank you for it later.”
“Yeah,” he snorted. “That’s what I thought about you, and all it got me was a decade of the silent treatment.”
“This is different. And there may be no other choice. They’re about an inch away from getting expelled—again. I’ve tried talking to them. Mom’s out of answers—she’s pretty much given up. What else can we do?”
At the mention of mom, Dad leaned forward in his seat. “How is she?”
“Sad. Angry. But I don’t think she really thinks Ricardo is the answer.” I hesitated but then added, “She misses you—the old you, the one she fell in love with.”
His brows shot up, and his eyes brightened with hope.
“Do you think she’d let me talk to her? Let me apologize? You think she might give me another chance, too?”
I shook my head, grimacing as I tried to picture that conversation. “I don’t know. I mean, miracles happen I guess, but I don’t think she’s interested. You had thirty years’ worth of chances.”
“Some of those thirty years were pretty damn perfect. I’ve got to try,” he said. “If I can just get her to listen to me.”
As for myself, I was surprised to discover that listening to Dad had helped me. Not to the point of buying the Team Dad t-shirt or jumping on the old true love bandwagon again—that just wasn’t going to happen—but something inside of me had loosened a notch.
I didn’t know if I could ever completely forgive Dad, but I did understand him a little better.
And being with him again, there was no mistaking that the father I’d once idolized and loved so much was still in there. Just like my mom did, I missedthatguy. I wanted to keep seeing him.
Wasn’t it better to have an imperfect father in my life than no father at all?
Before we left the restaurant, I decided the answer was yes. We promised to see each other again soon, and this time I hugged him. It felt good to be in his comforting arms and to let him back into my heart.
As for Reid—he wouldn’t be getting anywhere neareitherplace tonight.
