Page 41 of Galen's Redemption
He blew out a breath. “No, but that’s not the point.”
Andy picked up Galen’s container and spoon, walked them to the sink, and dumped the empties in the recycle bin, then slid the spoons into the dishwasher before he returned to the couch and took a seat.
“I think it’s exactly the point. Why don’t you trust him? Takehim at face value, until such time as he proves he’s not worthy of you.”
That set Galen to cackling. “Him not worthy of me? You’re kidding, right?”
The set of Andy’s lips said he wasn’t before they even opened to speak. “No, I’m not.”
“He’s way out of my league.”
“How do you figure? Not too long ago, you complained he worked with the homeless. Now somehow he’s out of your league? Explain tome how that works.”
Galen wished he had an answer that made sense. He stood and took a step away from the couch, doing his best not to look at Andy’s no doubt reproachful expression. “It’s because he’s done something with his life. He’s given. My job was to take and keep taking until there was nothing left. One day he’d figure that out, and I’d be left high and dry.”
Andy threw his hands inthe air. “Oh God, I want to slap you so bad right now.” He grabbed Galen’s arm and yanked him down on the couch. “Stop talking crap about yourself. You are a good person. Did you make mistakes? Maybe. Do they define you? No.”
Wait. What? “What the hell do you mean,no?”
“You trusted in your father. You did things that you regret, but were any of them on your own? You did the job you were expectedto. You found companies that would fit in with Primal, and when you did, you took those to your father. He made the ultimate decision about whether or not to buy the place. Now, am I right?”
He was, but that didn’t make things any easier. “I guess.”
“No, don’t guess, Gale. Know. You told me that you tried to keep those people from losing their jobs. What did your father do?”
“He made me firethem.”
“And did you agree with that?”
He and Father had argued bitterly over one in particular. Galen had shown him the projections, told him that if he got rid of so many key people, the company would fail. He insisted that if they kept the staff at the levels they were and shifted production into a more cost-effective mode, the company would not only make money, it would need to hire morestaff. All the numbers seemed to bear out what he was saying, but in the end, Father had rejected it outright. It seemed he always….
“Oh, holy shit.”
Andy leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “What?”
“I don’t know why I didn’t see it before! Hewantedto demoralize me. He didn’t make me fire them because the company was failing—he did it because wantedmeto fail. He couldn’t stand thethought that I would have been able to get the business to turn around.”
Okay, maybe it was a lot of supposition, but it made sense. It was why Father hadn’t sat in on the meeting where Galen had effectively closed the company. He had claimed he had too many things going on and that he trusted Galen to handle it.
“Can I ask a question?”
Galen nodded.
“If your father made it a habit of takingover companies, then dumping them, how did he not lose a ton of money?”
“Because he’s shrewd. You pay next to nothing for a failing company, then you turn around, fire the staff, sell off the equipment and property, and make a killing.
“What an asshole.”
The truth was there in Andy’s words, and Galen knew it. Still, it wasn’t easy to turn around and start hating his father, even if he was ajerk.
But maybe it was okay to start liking himself, just a little.
NOEL WASin the middle of a yawn when Robert stepped in the shelter’s back door. “I am so sorry.”
“Why? We told you to go take a walk. Did it help?”
He thought about Galen, the vulnerability and uncertainty. They spoke to Robert, who wanted to help him. Not fix him, because there wasn’t anything wrong with Galen thatRobert could see. The way he felt when he pressed up against Robert, though?ThatRobert understood. He was solid, real. Robert hadn’t had that in too many years. Galen’s presence in Robert’s life was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Just holding Galen had been the closest he’d come to touching another man in… God, six years?
