Page 15 of Out of Bounds
He was borderline nice to me last night but that doesn’t change anything.
The only thing coming up is Quinn and Logan’s anniversary barbeque. After that I won’t have to see him again for a very long time. That’s assuming Liev hasn’t truly screwed me and I end up in prison.
Chapter6
Ethan
“Ithink this business venture will be great for you,” Mom says with a firm nod as we turn on to the country road.
I glance at her, meeting her blue eyes that mirror mine, and offer a smile. I know she’d celebrate if I called her up and told her I wasn’t a cop anymore because she worries about me so much.
“I think so too.”
Today is the big day when we meet with my grandfather, and he transfers the business to me. He wanted my mother to be there too. When it comes to business, Grandpa McKenzie is all about being professional, so we have to be there at nine a.m. sharp at house and he wanted me to wear a suit. I am, but it feels weird because whenever we meet, we’re usually dressed up to go sailing.
I have the whole morning booked off for it and for spending time with my mother after. She wants to have our monthly lunch in Charlotte, so I’m humoring her.
“I’m nervous. I really am. I felt awkward taking over property development business when your dad died, but this is different.”
“I know. I never expected this. I guess we didn’t expect what we got from Dad either.”
“No.”
She got the business which brings in a steady six figures a year and I got a few properties. Most of which I’ve sold off or fixed up to sublet. That too makes me a decent six figure sum I invest in stocks and shares.
Mom didn’t want anything to do with my father’s assets after he died. I couldn’t blame her. I didn’t want anything either, but then I realized we were being foolish.
My grandfather all but forced us to take what his son left behind and I’m certain that was out of guilt. Not on his part. My grandfather was nothing like Dad and sometimes I used to wonder how it was they were related.
Dad used to beat me and Mom every chance he got. I could take the beating once I got older, but it was years before I could stop him from hurting my mother.
That’s when the cheating really took off. Mom loved him. That’s why she stayed and never thought to leave. She kept hoping he’d change. I don’t know what kind of good she must have seen in him but he never changed. It was those same bed habits that killed him.
He had a heart attack while he was in bed with Mom’s best friend’s daughter who was two years younger than me. She came home and heard the girl screaming. When she went up to her bedroom, there they were. The girl naked and my father dead on the bed with his dick in his hands.
“What will you do?” she looks at me again.
“I just want a break. It’s about time I took that trip to Cape Cod and scatter Amelia’s ashes.” I don’t look at her as I say that, but she doesn’t stop looking at me.
“Oh, when did you plan this?”
“Some time ago. I just didn’t know when I’d do it. I’m guessing Grandfather will want me to take some time to show me the ropes of the business. Then I want a month to go sailing.”
“Sweetie, are you going by yourself?”
I nod. “Makes sense.”
“Well, I guess you must be in a better place if you plan to scatter her ashes.”
I’m not sure about that whole feeling better thing on my part but I nod to make her feel more at ease. I don’t like my mother worrying about me, and not for something I should be over.
Amelia was my girl. The girl who changed me. Her father, Jim Gardner, was the cop who grew tired of arresting my ass, and he kicked said ass from here to kingdom come when he found out I was dating his daughter.
I met Amelia when I was in my senior year of high school. She’d previously lived with her mother after her parents divorced. When her mother died, she moved to Wilmington to finish her schooling. We got stuck together when we had to work on a project. That’s how we began.
How we ended was another story few people know.
It was her wish for me and her father to scatter her ashes together at Cape Cod. It was somewhere we both wanted to visit but never got to.
