Page 113 of Cookout Carnage
He let out an involuntary huff and looked out the window at the sunshine. Midway refused to match his mood.
‘Why are you here?’ Heavy with emotional exhaustion, he wanted to go to bed and sleep until this all became a distant memory. Or just never wake again at all.
Lynne put her glass on the table in front of her and clasped her hands together.
‘We haven’t spoken to Sherri-Lynne yet, but we wanted to talk to you. We need to understand what’s going on. Our daughter keeps us out of her life, but the fact you’re here means you must be very important to her.’
He sunk his head, shaking it.
‘We also want to apologise. This is not how we’ve brought our kids up to behave.’
Tristan looked at her. Lynne was gripping her husband’s knee as if to keep him quiet.
‘We want to start out on an honest footing with you,’ Lynne continued. ‘Would you please tell us what is going on?’
He sighed and rubbed his face. What the hell? He had nothing else to lose.
‘I joined the London office of Fitzpatrick & Doyle sixteen months ago and work on Sherilyn’s team. She’s sweet, funny, easy to work with and we became friends pretty much immediately. Soon I didn’t leave the office till eleven, just so I could hang out with her until the Chicago office shut.’
He took a big breath in.
‘I fell in love with your daughter and hoped she felt the same. Back in February I told her I had an interview for transferring to the Chicago office, but it wasn’t true. I already had the job. I just wanted to meet her in person, to see if I had imagined everything. She seemed so excited and planned out all these things for us to do. But when I arrived, she said she was sick and couldn’t meet me.’
Lynne and Ford looked at each other as if having a conversation only they could hear.
‘So, I told her I wasn’t moving, and things slowly went back to how they’d been before. But I couldn’t let it go. One night she told me she thought I was her best friend and I thought, f—screw it. It didn’t matter if she didn’t love me. I’d rather have my best friend in the same city than thousands of miles away. So, I sold my flat and arranged to transfer to Chicago. Sherilyn always talks about how important the Fourth of July is for her and she once said that if I was ever in the area I should come and celebrate with you. My friend is getting married in Fairview tomorrow, so that was my excuse. She had no idea I was moving to Chicago. I didn’t tell her any of this until the day before I arrived. It was stupid.’
‘No, don’t say that,’ Lynne cried.
‘I never felt good enough for your daughter, but I wanted to try. To be someone she deserved.’
‘Ha!’ interjected Ford.‘Right now, she don’t deserve—’
‘Ford!’
He took a swig of his beer and looked away, his jaw set, his knee bouncing up and down.
‘Tristan,’ said Lynne gently. ‘Why don’t you feel good enough for our Sherri-Lynne?’
He swallowed. ‘I’m too old for her.’
She looked surprised. ‘How old are you?’
‘Thirty-six.’
She smiled. ‘You’re the same age as Fender. You ain’t too old. Ford’s got ten years on me and he’s still sprightly.’
Ford snapped his head to look at her and she gave him a wink. He grunted and took another drink.
‘Is that it?’ Lynne seemed confused.
He shook his head, feeling blood roaring through his brain. He had to tell them what he never had the chance to tell Sherilyn. He cleared his throat and looked her in the eye.
‘I’ve been to prison.’
To give them credit, they barely flinched, but Tristan saw the shock freeze their faces.
‘What did you do?’ asked Ford, his voice gruff.
