Page 51 of A Family Affair: The Ring
Urgent?He’d heard from his old man once in eight years.He’d called four years ago, asking for a meeting so they could talk about what happened.Of course, Will told him what to do with his talks… There’d been nothing since then, until now.Was the guy sick?Dying?Broke?
“Will, I know it’s none of my business and I certainly understand how you feel about your father, but…something’s wrong.”Those brown eyes grew wide.“I could tell.”
Janice didn’t reach his shoulder and her shoes looked like they belonged to a ten-year-old, even though she was fifty-two.Most of the time she did anything Will asked.She treated him like she was his mother…a kind mother who didn’t ask for favors unless she really needed one—or thoughthedid.“Get a number and tell him I’ll get back to him.”Or not.
“Will, please?”
Big sigh.“Okay, if he’s still on the line, put him through.”
“Will do.”And then she disappeared from his office, closing the door behind her.
A minute later, his phone lit up and Will reached for the receiver.“Hello.”
“Hello, son.Been a long time.”
Not long enough.His old man’s voice had a raspy quality to it, probably from cigarettes or alcohol, maybe both.“Do you need something?”
“I know you never wanted to hear from me again, but I promised I’d get in touch with you, try to make things right.”
“How do you intend to do that?And who did you make the promise to, and…” Will clamped his mouth shut.He didn’t care what promises his old man had made or what he planned to do.Nothing mattered but what he didn’t do.
Silence filled the line, made Will wonder if the guy had hung up.And then he spoke.“I got a call from Harry Blacksworth.I used to think the guy was full of hot air and arrogance with his fancy suits, big cars, and wads of cash, but he’s decent…and he cares about people.”Pause and a rough “He cares about you.”
“Why would Harry call you?”WhywouldHarry call Joe Callahan?
“Harry told me I’d made my choices and screwed up my life, and that was on me.But you were my son and if you didn’t wake up, you were going to end up just like me; miserable, bitter, disillusioned.”He coughed, the hoarseness in his voice deepening.“I can’t let that happen.”
“So, what did he want you to do?Tell me how to live a good life?Make better choices?Be a decent person?”Will rubbed his left temple, closed his eyes and wished he hadn’t accepted this phone call.“You failed on all of those.”
“I did, no denying it.And all the apologies I could offer aren’t going to change the fact that I was a terrible father.It’s hard to be a decent one when you can’t find anything to be grateful about, so you shut down and refuse to change.I did that with you kids and your mother and I am sorry about that.”
“Okay then.Is that why you called?”
“No, I called to tell you Harry says you and Melanie Russell belong together.”
“Not sure she’d agree with you.”
“Maybe she just needs a little convincing.”Another cough, a clearing of his throat.“At least that’s what Harry says.”
“The man’s a dreamer who doesn’t like to give up even when he should.”
“Maybe so, I can’t say either way, but I don’t want you to end up like me—in love with one woman…married to another…”
“Did you really just admit you never loved Mom?”Will fisted his hand on the desk, tried to block out those words.
“I loved your mother in my own way, but she wasnotthe love of my life.The woman who owned my heart and will always own it didn’t want me, refused to marry me… She said I was too reckless and wild, and I’d get bored with her.She wanted stability and someone who would stay.”A deep sigh and then “Ward Russell gave her that.”
“Ward Russell?Are you saying you and Melanie’s mother were together before either of you were married?”
When his father spoke, there was no denying the pain in his words or the mounds of regret.“Oh yes, we were together.I wanted to marry her, but she wouldn’t have it.I was the bad boy in town.Susannah didn’t even want anyone to know we were seeing each other so we had to sneak around.When I asked her to marry me, she flat-out refused.It broke my damn heart and then one night your mother walked into O’Reilly’s Bar & Grille, and the next thing I know she’s pregnant and we’re walking down the aisle.It happened so fast, I never saw it coming.I resented having to marry her, especially when she’d told me there was nothing to worry about in that department.”Big sigh.“Until there was.”
“Mom trapped you?”
“I wouldn’t say exactly trapped, but she led me to believe certain things were not an issue.”
She’d trapped him.“You must have really resented having me.”
“Resented?”Surprise covered his words, sifted through the line.“Of course not.I loved you…I love you.Your mother had certain ideas about family and what she would and wouldn’t accept.Somehow, she figured out how I felt about Susannah, and she could never let that go.”
