Page 5 of Fortunate Misfortune
“Can you at least give me a hint about tonight’s game? I am your best friend after all,” I plead, pressing my hands together.
Cade and Shay take their roles as gamekeepers seriously, which explains why his lips are zipped tight. I thought about bribing him with a cupcake from his favorite bakery because he’s weak for desserts, but I decided against it. I’m competitive. Not a cheater.
“Nope. You’ll have to wait like MalPal.”
“You’ve known me longer.”
He shrugs. “True, but we both know I love her more.”
I flick a puzzle piece across the room at his head and hope it doesn’t disappear forever. Cade and Mallory becoming best friends on the first day of freshman year was a dream for everyone except me. It was assumed they would become the ‘it’ couple, but by the end of the first week, they were nothing more than best friends. Attached at the hip and wreaking havoc on my life.
While Cade snagged a lifelong friendship, I scored a rival.
I refocus on the scattered pieces in front of me. Abstract puzzles are my favorite. A challenge to complete with no solid shapes, only a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns that I must assemble with nothing more than a glimpse of the box and a lot of patience.
The puzzle border is nearly complete when the doorbell rings. Mallory is chronically early, but never this early.
Cade slides off the couch and disappears down the hallway. The silence that follows the creaking door is my first clue that Mallory isn’t standing on our doorstep. If she were here, her wild cackle that she calls a laugh would be bouncing off the walls at a joke Cade made.
I push my seat back and stand, grabbing my wallet from the table. Girl Scout Cookie season just began, so Cade’s likely about to buy the girl’s entire inventory.
When I step into the foyer, there are no cookies and no smiling Cade. Instead, my father’s intimidating aura fills the whole room. His tailored dress pants, white button-down, and perfectly styled copper hair taunt my pajama bottoms, tattered hoodie, and damp hair.
Sharp green eyes snap to me. “Hello, Kenneth.”
Cade awkwardly steps around my father, jamming his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll be in the other room. Nice to see you, Mr. Gray.”
My father’s stoic demeanor vanishes, bright white teeth splitting his scowl. “How many times have I told you to call me Theo, Cade? I’ve known you for years. I think we’re past the formalities.”
Cade gives my dad a polite, tight-lipped smile before making his escape. He gives my shoulder a supportive bump as he moves past me. Part of me is jealous he can get away, but I’d hate to expose him to Theo Gray for any longer than necessary.
The moment Cade’s bedroom door closes, I speak. “What brings you to town, Dad?”
Clear Lake is thirty minutes from Cade’s and my hometown of Bryan, which is too close to my father if you ask me. I should’ve left North Carolina when I had the chance.
“We’re starting a new project in Clear Lake. Thought I’d come by before heading home.” He gives my shoulder a too-hard squeeze before strolling past me into the dining room. He studies the unfinished puzzle on the table. “Can’t a man stop by and see his son?”
Maybe other dads can, but mine would never.
Truthfully, I can’t remember the last time he checked in. Unless Theo Gray needs me, I’m nonessential. I bide my time hiding in the shadows, enjoying the calm until something happens that forces him to reach out.
Which means this random drop-in is not random at all.
I gesture for him to take a seat and do the same. “Sure. How are you?”
His eyes sparkle, elated to talk about his favorite things. Himself and his company. “Incredible. I have a few important meetings scheduled this week, and business is great. Our expansion plan is going well because your brother is doing great with our out-of-state clients. With your sister joining the team soon, it’s all coming together. Gray Construction is growing.”
I hate that I’m upset he doesn’t ask how I’m doing too. “That’s great, Dad.”
“Sure is. Everyone’s excited for you to join us this summer. I can’t believe your internship is finally here.”
A knot forms in my throat, my words crackling on their way over it. “Wait. What?”
Theo leans over the table and picks up a puzzle piece, magically placing it in its spot. “Don’t tell me you forgot. The Gray tradition. Everything you’ve been working so hard for.”
Since I was a kid, my father has been attempting to control my future by forcing me to join the family business. It’s exactly what he did to my siblings. It’s exactly what my grandfather did to him.
The summer before senior year, every Gray spends ten weeks completing an internship to prepare them for the job they’ll begin after their college graduation.
