Page 45 of Everything Has Changed
“I’ve given you plenty of time to pout. It’s time to start playing your part.”
“Didn’t I just follow you into the city to kiss ass and put on a show? Feels like I am in gear already.”
My father huffs. “That was nothing. You need to be putting in more time and effort than that.”
I keep my expression as blank as possible. He didn’t need extra ammunition to light him up or use against me. That was an early lesson I’m still not sure he actually meant to teach me. One would argue that keeping your composure was necessary in politics, but he wasn’t the best at that himself.
“I’ve been back for a week.”
“You had years, Logan.” Camila lashes out.
I raise an eyebrow in her direction before turning it on my father. “Did you rehearse this?” Pointing my finger between the two of them, I keep my hand close by as not to tempt her to bite at it.
“You need to grow the fuck up, Logan. She’s right. I have given you years to play around. Pretending you are something you’re not.” He crossed his arms on his desk and leaned forward. “You are my son. The one destined to head this town. And you need to start acting like it.”
I adjust in my chair, my body tensing with every word he spews in my direction. “And if I don’t want to? To be honest, I’m not sure how to live up to your standards.”
He shakes his head. “Too fucking bad. Like me and like my father before and so on, you have a legacy to uphold. This is our town, and I’ll be damned if I let you ruin this. Especially everything I am building.”
I snicker. It’s sad and barely audible, but he hears it. His face burns bright, anger physically fighting against his naturally light tan skin.
“What?” he bites out, teeth clenching around the word. “Something to say?”
I shrug. He knows where I’m taking this. Hell, he’s leading me into this argument like a horse to water. Unfortunately, we both know this is where we can hit the hardest.
“You left some words unspoken. Go ahead, Dad,” I exaggerate the word. “Say the quiet part out loud. I know how much you love to.”
His nostrils flare.
“Say his name.” I goad.
“Jake would never have fought me this hard.”
I purse my lips, nodding my head slowly as I watch my finger grip my knee so hard it pushes the fabric of my pants roughly against the skin. I release it quickly before I let it take hold too much and tap my fingers on the edge to keep my anger in check. Looking over at Camila, I find her staring at me with her arms crossed—still with that same fucking smug look pasted on her face. I wonder if that’s just its natural resting place these days.
“How does it feel knowing you could have had perfect little Jake instead of a fuckup like me?”
Camila rolls her eyes at me and sighs. “You’re making this harder than it needs to be, Logan.”
“How hard do you expect me to fight for my own life, then?”
“You act like this is a prison sentence, you ungrateful little shit.” My father abruptly steels his spine, pointing a fat finger in my direction. “I have built a wonderful life for you, and you toss it in my face like it’s nothing.”
“No,” I jump to my feet. I don’t miss how Cami flinches to my right, but I’m too far gone to care at the moment. She knew what she was getting into when she walked in here. “You built this wonderful life for Jake. I’m just the spare you didn’t even care about until I was needed.”
His voice drops low, warning me that I was reaching the end of the line with him, and I already know his next threat. “Do you want me to bring your mother in here? We can hash it out in front of her if you’d like. Though I can’t imagine she would enjoy hearing you bring up her deceased child in such a way.” It’s a low blow, and he knows it. He also knows it’ll bring me to a stop. “Now, sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up for once.”
We hold in a stare-off for a moment before I relent and drop back into the chair.
“I expect you to be here every day from now on. You will be attending every meeting by my side until I see that you can start taking my place at them completely. People need to start seeing you take this seriously so they will take you seriously. You haven’t lived here in years, so you have a lot of growing that needs to be done to connect with this town.”
I open my mouth, but he holds his hand up to stop me. “This isn’t up for discussion. You knew this would be coming.”
“I’ll be honest, I hate this bullshit with having you help plan the festival. We only have seven months until the election, and while you are running unopposed, we still need to show a good face. Give faith to the town that you are the right choice.”
“I’m the only choice for them,” I mutter.
“You’re damn right. But I have to admit your mother is right that this will show a better side of you. Help you reconnect. However, the only way I will allow this is if you let Gwendolyn run the show behind the scenes while you are the face of the operation.”
