Page 82 of The One Night Dash
I do what I have to—take pictures, sign bib numbers from the Trot, and Rick stands there, holding purses and coats, talking with people about football and hockey and how beautiful his daughter is. He never once corrects them by saying “stepdaughter,” and even though I’m caught up in this, the spotlight Noelle expressed she hated, which made me not her type, I get to hear this man talk about her with the pride of a father.
Once finished, he asks, “You mind?”
“You want a selfie with me?” I laugh.
“Yeah, kid, I would love one.”
“Fuck,” I sigh. “This isn’t gonna be easy, is it?”
He smiles. I smile. He takes the selfie and looks at me. “No, not for any of us.”
I sentJoel back to the city in a vehicle someone else was driving for a change because, yeah, I wasn’t gonna hold him hostage any longer. I’m in the driver’s seat, and Rick’s riding shotgun.
I pull away from the curb. “So, how do I know you?”
“I grew up here. Your grandparents and my parents were in business together. This means your uncles and father were my best friends.” He forces a laugh. “Understatement. As an only child, they were more like my brothers. We went to boarding school together, traveled together, got up to a lot of no good together.”
I feel sick to my stomach. “I gotta ask …”
“I was with them when your father died.”
“Fuck.” I grip the wheel tighter.
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Your uncle Timothy was at the lodge with a Swiss snow bunny, and Davidson”—my dad—“Leon, and I were snowboarding.”
His pause pisses me off.
“Go on …please.”
“We were all adrenaline junkies growing up. Your dad mellowed when he met your mom. We gave him shit, but it was all in good fun. Leon was ahead on the slopes that day. He took a turn, and we followed. We always did, no matter who was leading. It didn’t take long to realize it was a difficult trail, but nothing we hadn’t ridden before. It happened so fast—the avalanche. It buried both your father and I.” He pauses to clear his throat. “When I woke up in the hospital, I had broken ribs, a broken back, and a broken left leg, along with a few other minor injuries. David was in surgery; his third, from what I was told.” He shakes his head. “I’m so sorry you lost him, Dash. He was genuinely the greatest guy, the best friend you could ask for, and he loved his family, all of you, deeply. He didn’t ever stop talking about you.” He forces a laugh. “I bet he’s still talking about you as we speak.”
“We were told it was instant.” My grip tightens, along with the thickness in my throat.
“It was four days. He never woke up.” He shakes his head. “Leon and Timothy were livid when Geraldine showed up.”My father’s bitch of a mother.“They told her to get you four there. She wouldn’t allow it.”
“So, what I’m hearing is a bullshit story? Did he wake up!” I demand.
“I swear to you, I was told he never did. That they tried everything possible to save him.”
“What the fuck are you not telling me then, Rick?”
I catch him swiping at a tear from my peripheral. “I don’t know. All I know is I was pissed. I still am. As soon as I couldwalk, I moved to Michigan because I was pissed I couldn’t get Serena to David, you kids to your father. I was so pissed at my parents, because some old bitch married a great man whose children were great men, who probably died in his fifties because God thought he’d had enough of her getting her way.”
I can’t help but chuckle at that.
“I will dance on her grave one day. I swear to you, Dash. She’s vile.” He wipes the tears from his face. “She drove wedges in everyone’s happiness. Couldn’t stand her own children, let alone anyone else.”
“I remember thinking she looked like that old lady from?—”
“The Goonies,” we say at the same damn time.
“Fuck,” he exhales. “Your dad was so pissed when I told him that. I couldn’t understand why, and he said because, one day, he may have daughters, and if they look at all like her, that’s all he’s gonna see.” He runs a hand over his face. “How are Briar and Celeste?”
“Both stunning. Celeste is the coolest little chick. Briar was, too, until college, and now she’s a pain in my ass.”
“And your mom?”
“She was able to stop working three jobs and has a kick-ass place in the Catskills.”
