“I never would have stopped you from leaving.”
That was news to Trey. He started at his father like he was a complete stranger. Dale raised his head and stared back. They had the same hairline, jawline, nose, and eyes. It was like looking into a mirror.
“I want you to be on board with it. Whatever I choose to do. I’m not just leaving here, I’m going after Ambi. I’m going to do what it takes to win her back because I love her. She’s the love of my life. She’s my everything. I’ve spent years thinking about how I could make it right. Years. Years planning. Planning how to get her back. How to have a life with her. How not to fuck it all up again. I’m not giving up this time. This time is my time. It’s our time. I just wanted to say that you- that you can’t stop me from doing this. I want you to be on board with it, because Ambi is it for me. I love her, or at least, I want to learn how to love her, like you loved mom. Timeless. With my entire being.”
When Trey was finished, he leaned back, drained, like the words pulled the last ounce of strength he had left from him. In reality, they did. He felt empty. Hollowed out.
He expected his father to explode out of his chair, rail, rant, and rage. To tell Trey that there was no way in hell he was leaving. That he’d be ruined if he did. That he’d never speak to him again. That Ambi was just after his money. That he was in puppy love and it wasn’t real, and he was making the worst mistake of his life.
Instead, Dale shocked him again by smiling. Not a sardonic, sadistic smile, but a real, honest, genuine smile that spread across his face. He followed that up with another soft chuckle.
Trey raked a hand through his hair, mussing it all over the place. “What the hell is so funny about all of that? You’ll have to tell me because I seriously don’t think it’s a joke.”
“It’s funny to me that you’re just seeing this now. I’m glad you finally got here. It’s been a long road.”
“What are you talking about?” Trey was growing exasperated. He felt like he was in the middle of a maze with no hope of ever finding his way out.
“All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. I’m sorry that you misunderstood everything I said and tried to do. I made a promise to your mother. That I would always take care of you. You’re my son and naturally, I want what’s best for you, but it goes beyond that. I promised her that I would help you find your way. Five years ago, I gave you a choice. Pick the girl you’d been dating for all of six months or lose your inheritance. Honestly, I hoped you’d pick the girl. Instead, you picked the money.”
“I would have had nothing!”
“That’s not true. I never said choose between her or your family. I told you to make your mother proud of your decision. She would have been proud if you’d have followed your heart. If you would have chosen Amberina, I wouldn’t have given you your inheritance. I would have offered you a job here and let you work your way up. I didn’t want to hand everything to you on a silver platter. I wanted you to learn the value of it.”
“That’s a little fucking cheesy, don’t you think?” Trey snapped.
“No. Well, if it is, then I’m sorry. I did what I thought I should do. I didn’t want to just hand over the money to you. It was a large sum and I wanted you to invest it wisely. Working here, I think, taught you that. It helped you prepare for the world out there. I knew you wouldn’t stay here forever. I wanted you to learn a little before you went out there. Learn about yourself. I wanted to give you the tools you needed to build a life. I was trying to look after you. I would have eventually given you the money anyway when I thought you were old enough and mature enough to use it wisely.”
“That’s not- you can’t just… you can’t just use reverse psychology on me and tell me that I’m the one who made all the mistakes.”
“I’m sorry you see them as mistakes. I don’t. You chose a path. You thought it was what you wanted, but you know now, that it’s not. Your grandfather made me work for your mother. It was true that he didn’t like me. He didn’t like that I came from nothing and had no way to support us. They weren’t rich, but he wanted to know his daughter was taken care of. She was his treasure. She was worth fighting a thousand lifetimes for her. He made me earn her. Earn her respect, her trust, and her love. He made sure that I understood what a treasure I was getting and that I wouldn’t just love her, I would truly cherish her over the years. That I’d never stop. The point is, I wanted you to make your own path. Work hard and appreciate the value of that. I wanted you to work hard earning Ambi’s love and respect and trust and if you weren’t prepared to do that, then to take some time to mature and truly understand what it is you want out of life. Maybe you had to be miserable in order to appreciate the other side of things.”