I didn’t think my father felt the same way about the city he’d left behind more than three decades ago. His nose wrinkled at the sight around him, and he brushed the orange dust off of his suit jacket.
“We’re here. Talk,” I told him.
“I know you’re still mad.”
“Yes.”
“But Jordan invited me here.”
I took a step back. “What?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
I didn’t care that I sounded hurt. Why the hell would Jordan have hidden it from me? He knew how I felt.
“Well, he probably knew you’d react like this.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Get to your point.”
“I want us to have a fresh start.”
I laughed and then realized he was serious. “You believe that’s possible?”
“I do. I’ve changed, Julian.”
“A changed man,” I said slowly. “Wow. You’re really going that route?”
“It’s the truth.”
“And what do you know about the truth?”
My dad sighed. “Please, I don’t expect you to forgive me for all my vices in one meeting. I’m asking for us to try.”
“The inimitable Owen Wright, asking for us to try,” I jeered. “Unbelievable.”
He ran a hand back through his hair. He looked so much like me and Jordan. Just an older version. I could see what he must have thought looked like remorse on his face. I didn’t believe it.
“I know that I did wrong by you and your brother and your mother. I regret many things, but driving you away is what I hate the most. I really would like us to start over.”
I almost believed him. Almost saw the illusion he was creating. A glamour determined to blind me to reality. But the magic spell had burst a long time ago. It wouldn’t cover my eyes to his deception any longer. I saw the truth. Saw who he really was.
“I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“Julian,” my dad said carefully.
My cool vanished. “You left Mom when she had cancer! I’ll never forgive you. I don’t care what you want to say. It will never get over it.”
My father pinched the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t know about her diagnosis.”
“You think that makes it better?” I snapped.
“It’s not an excuse. I was wrong. Your mother and I had deteriorated years before the divorce papers. It should have happened long ago.”
“You are not helping your case.” I checked my phone. “Your five minutes are up.”
I stepped around him to head back inside. He grasped my elbow. I looked down at it as if it were nothing but vermin.
“Let me go.”
He didn’t. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “We both know that you’re only here because you want something. That’s the only reason you ever do anything. So, what do you want? A job? Money? The company? Whatever it is, you’re not getting it. You dug your grave; you can go lie in it.”
Then I shook his hand off of me and strode back inside without him.
My mind was a haze of anger. It so infrequently took me that I didn’t know how to get rid it. Jordan had the anger issues. He was the one who had been working on not being like our father for so long. I’d always been the easygoing, charismatic, younger brother. But if there was anything that riled me up, it was my father. I wasn’t going to be fooled by him.
I found Jordan with Annie. She was seated in his lap, and they were laughing and kissing. I’d never seen Jordan this happy. Too bad I was about to wreck it.
“We need to talk,” I said.
Jordan frowned as his eyes settled on me. “Sure. What’s up?”
“Alone.”
Jordan protested, but Annie was already getting to her feet. “I’ll go watch the show. Find me later.” She planted another kiss on Jordan’s lips before disappearing.
Jordan watched her go like a man dying of thirst. Then he looked back to me and stood. “You saw Dad?”
I pointed toward the back suite. It was being used by the band, but they were playing, so we’d have some time.
Jordan nodded and then entered the room. The band sure was hard on their space. Drinks and clothes and instruments were scattered everywhere. It didn’t matter right now. I shut the door.
“You invited Dad here without telling me?” I snapped.
Jordan ran a hand back through his hair. “I did. I should have told you, but I wasn’t sure if he was going to come.”
“Well, he’s here, and he ambushed me. Said he wanted a fresh start.”
“Is it impossible to believe he wants that?”
“Yes!” I cried. “Don’t you remember what it was like in Vancouver?”
“I do. I remember more than you do,” Jordan said. “But I also know that I’m like him. I’m just like Dad in so many ways, and Annie gave me a second chance that I didn’t deserve. I can’t help but think we should give him one even if he doesn’t deserve it.”