All of a sudden, just how stupid he was hit him like a ton of bricks. He claimed to love her, but he hadn’t given her his trust. Wasn’t giving his trust a critical part of loving someone? If he loved her, which he did, one hundred percent, then he should have listened to her explanation for leaving. He should have known deep down there was a solid reason she went back on her word not to return to Hollywood. Why the fuck hadn’t he listened?
Because he’d been so overcome with the shock of her supposed betrayal. He’d let his emotions rule his thinking and fucked up the best thing in his life.
He owed her a million apologies and would give them to her the moment he landed in LA.
But before that, he had one critical stop to make.
Twenty minutes later, Keith strode into the police station, where the young receptionist cast him a pitying look. Certainly wasn’t the first time he’d been there, usually to drag his father home after a night in the drunk tank. Today, however, he’d be leaving without a second passenger in his car.
“Hey, Keith,” she said as she pulled out the paperwork he’d need to pay the five-thousand dollars in bail. “Fill these out for me, and I’ll have someone get your dad’s personal effects for him.”
“Not necessary, Lisa. I’m just here to talk with him for a few minutes.”
Her mouth formed an O, but no sound came out. As she blinked at him, the police chief strode out of his office. Chuck’s father glared at him with a smug grin, pulling his pants higher up the gut that had grown exponentially since Keith had last seen him. “Thought about bringing you some donuts, but it seems you already get enough of them.”
The slightly hostile repartee wasn’t uncommon on the rare instances they ran across each other as there was no love lost between them. But Lisa wasn’t used to it, and she snorted out a poorly disguised laugh. “Um, Keith would like to speak to his father, Chief,” she said, face turning pink.
“If not paying bail is a matter of money, there are plenty of places that will loan you the cash to bail him out.”
Keith grunted. Christ, how he wanted his fist to meet the police chief’s face. “Nope. Not the money. Doin’ just fine for myself, sir. I’m through bailing his lousy ass out. He’s your problem now. Just need two minutes to tell him so.”
The chief scowled but waved Keith to follow him through the station to the jail cells. The halls were quiet, as was typical for the small station. As they walked side by side, Keith couldn’t keep himself from letting some of his frustration and anger slip out and land on the chief.
“How’s Chucky?” he asked.
Though the chief had and would always excuse his son’s asshole behavior, they had a contentious relationship. How could they not? Chuck would be an embarrassment to any parent, but even worse for the Chief of Police, who’d had to bend the rules more times than he could count for his piece-of-shit son.
“None of your goddammed business,” the chief barked just as they reached the cell. “You’ve got five minutes.”
“Only need two.”
With a grunt, the chief moved out of sight but not out of earshot. Fine by Keith, he had no problem with that. It saved him from having to repeat himself.
“Fucking finally,” his father barked, rising from the concrete bench along the back wall of the cell. His hair stood on end, and his all-black outfit came straight out of a crime drama. Stereotypical burglar attire. “Took your sweet ass time bailing me out of here. I’m your fucking father. Let’s go, Chief, open the door.”
Keith’s mouth spread into a wide grin as he cocked his head, studying his aged father. “Sorry, old man. I’m not here to bail you out.”
“What?” Earl gripped the bars of the cell and shook them as though they’d actually part.
“Yep.” Keith popped the p sound as he rocked back on his heels. “Turns out I’m all out of fucks to give when it comes to you.”
“Get one of your siblings down here now! They’ll get me the fuck outta here.” His father’s face turned a deeply satisfying shade of purple as he continued to shake the bars. Every foul word he could drum up flew from his mouth along with spit as he raged. Keith waited until he ran out of steam, which was only about thirty seconds. Then he moved in for the kill.
“Nah, you burned all your bridges with them, too.”
“This would kill your mother all over again,” he said, throwing out a line that had worked on Keith numerous times in the past. “She’s rolling in her fucking grave right now.”
For the first time, that guilt trip didn’t hit the mark. His mother would have loved Mickie and been thrilled to see her son happy and in love. She wouldn’t have wanted him wasting his life on a man who was pure poison, no matter what she’d said before her death. He’d known his mother and what made her happy. She was a true romantic who believed in love.