It hadn’t been what I wanted to hear, but sometimes life was like that.
Chapter Nineteen
BOB
I may have thrown up on my run, but I would never admit it. I wasn’t sure if it was the booze or the events of the past forty-eight hours that had my stomach roiling.
Katie had called me every five minutes that morning. Marta had called, too. My mailbox was full of furious voicemails. I had over fifty text messages, none of which I’d read.
I took my phone and threw it in the ocean.
Mrs. Delaney was waiting for me when I got back to the house.
“Oh fuck.” I stopped, panting, before I could muster the energy to approach her.
“Language, Roberto.” She was immaculate in a white pantsuit, and she didn’t look impressed with me at all.
“Sorry, ma’am. I didn’t think you could hear me from here.” I wiped the sweat from my brow. “Pryce said you were looking for me. What’s up?”
“What’s up is that you took a call from your ex-girlfriend last night at 3:28 a.m., right around the time I would’ve expected you to be with my daughter, satisfying her needs. Not your ex-girlfriend’s needs, not your needs, Madison’s needs.”
I blew out a deep breath. “No offense, Mrs. Delaney, but I didn’t know you cared.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The first time I met you, you called your daughter a nerd. You made fun of her for her success, the thing that she’s the proudest of. And you treated me like a mechanical bull you might like to ride—in front of Maddy. So forgive me for being confused by your concern. And by the way, it’s none of your business, any of it.”
Aileen squared her shoulders. “How I treat my daughter is my business. How you treat her is my business, too.”
“No, it’s not. And it doesn’t matter because she’s not interested in me. I blew it, all right? I took a call from Katie because I was worried about her. I’ve always been like that—too nice, my mother used to say. I wanted to make sure she was all right. Not because I care about her, but because I like to be a decent human being, and I also enjoy being able to sleep at night with a clear conscience. Maddy overheard me on the phone, and now she’s convinced that I’m not over my ex.” I put my hands on my hips. “So you win. Whatever you put in her ear about Katie and about me not being good enough for her, it finally stuck. So…yay. Find her a guy like Tim with an empire and a country-club membership—and go nuts. I’m out of here. Thank you for your hospitality.”
I stalked away, and she called, “Aren’t you going to listen to me?”
“No,” I said without turning around. “Because I don’t have to.”
I ran into Art in the hall. He was dressed in his tennis whites. I pointed at him. “I’m playing you before I leave.”
He looked taken aback, then wary. “Okay.”
“Where’s Frank?”
Art pretended to think about it. “Church. All day, I’m afraid.”
“Get him over here.” I continued the long stalk back to my room. “We have a match to play.”
“We’re going to miss the ferry,” Madison said as she followed me to the court.
“There’s another one at twelve. I checked the schedule.”
“Okay…” She looked at me nervously. “Why are you playing tennis with my father again? I thought you wanted to get going.”
“Oh, I do. Especially because you won’t even look at me.” I glanced at her, and she looked away. “But Frank needs me. I need to at least do one thing right this weekend.”
“I’m not sure my father’s going to like this very much.”
“So?” The question came out harder than I’d intended. “Who says you get everything you want in life?”
“Um, Bob…are you okay?”