Page 16 of The Monster I Loved
Laughter erupted from me. “Standing. Lying, on all fours, I don’t care. There’s nothing you can do to stop this. Fitzgerald already has what we want. The building has been stripped of its landmark protection. A sale is imminent. It’s just a courtesy that we’re doing these meetings.”
“You fucking piece of shit.” There go the minutes wasted earlier pretending she wasn’t affected. Summer stood, grasping a knife in her hand. “Fitzgerald would have to ram that wrecking ball through me to destroy that building.”
“You think I wouldn’t give them the go-ahead to do that? I’m a murderer, remember?”
Around the table, jaws dropped. They knew I killed Clive, and many understood my reason, could even excuse it, but the heaviness in the air told me that my threat scared them right now.
Daisy stood, taking the butter knife from Summer. “Let’s go. I’m not hungry anymore.”
Predictably, all the women rose with her. My new friend Mimi hesitated but then joined them. They filed out of the front door. Once it closed behind them, Felix spoke. “Try to put yourself in Summer’s shoes. This is hard for her.”
“Was that what you’ve been doing for the last ten years, understanding Summer?” I hurled.
Felix looked guilty. “Come on, man, this is hard all around. I knew Clive. We all did?—”
“And what? You didn’t know my mother well enough to be bothered about her death?” A red mist descended over my vision. If this man knew half of what I’d been through since that night, he wouldn’t hurl this moral nonsense at me.
Take the higher road, as if I wasn’t blindsided by the death of my own mother at the hands of a drunken coward who could have saved her. The woman I loved betrayed me.
Yet, here he was, grasping for righteousness like Summer hadn’t tossed justice right out the window when it was her father in the firing line.
At least our company was actually building something that’dhelpthe community. Henry looked about to jump in when I shot him a look. “No! I want to hear this. Go ahead.”
Felix couldn’t meet my eyes.
“All the hugging and patting like we’re still friends, what was that?” I stared daggers at Felix.
He looked at the floor. “I’m your friend. I just have a problem with what you did.”
Silence stretched between us, and I swallowed hard. “Oh, really? Then have your mother switch places with mine.”
“Thad,” Henry said.
I snarled at him like a rabid dog. “No. Let Clive run over your mother, and see how it feels when she reaches out her hand for help, and he leaves her for dead. Then you can set the better fucking example.”
Heat stained his cheeks, and his voice cracked. “I’m not saying I don’t understand. I’m just?—”
“Fuck you,” I growled. “You two-faced piece of shit.”
Silence.
The dinner was ruined. I stormed out of the house. Henry followed behind me. Warm lights blazed from Summer’s house, and I assumed all the women had left the dinner to go and console her.
Maybe I was asking to move heaven and earth hoping people would see my side of this issue after all this time.
Guess I was crazy to think that any of these people could truly see the situation through my eyes. We both lost our parents to murder, but we weren’t the same. Summer was a victim, and I was the biggest monster some had ever seen.
“How are you and Summer going to coexist in this town? Is there anyone else who can head the project at Fitzgerald? You two can’t stomach being in the same room,” Henry spoke quietly.
I closed my eyes and raked my hands through my hair. “I’m not planning to walk on eggshells because of Summer. I’m a free man and plan to roam the town no matter her feelings. If shecan’t take me being here, she can pack up and go, but Tarrytown is my home.”
His voice took on a pleading note. “Thad, you used to love her. You both loved each other.”
I paused at his useless words. “So what? I also used to have ketchup with my rice, eggs, every meal. I grew out of that, and I grew out of Summer too.”
Summer
“You see, once a murderer, always a murderer,”I lamented as I topped off the wineglasses in my kitchen. I was going to need a lot of wine to ignore what had just happened. My shoulders were still shaking.All these years, and you’re still the asshole who ignored my cries so you could get petty revenge.
