“You don’t hate him for forcing you to sign away the family business.”
“He didn’t force me. Besides, it was his anyway. He put in the time and it didn’t mean to me what it meant to him.” We both mulled that over for a moment. “I remember when he brought Moira home.” I heard that name before. “My father nearly shit himself.” Uncle Ted chuckled to himself. “She didn’t come from a wealthy family, your grandfather argued. Hell for the first time I admired Roy for once doing something he wanted to do. And Moira was a stunner.”
“Moira is Kalen’s mom?”
“Yeah. His first wife. He loved her, that’s for sure. But he gave in to the pressure after he brought her home.”
“Pressure?” I asked.
“She was Scottish. Her accent was very thick. And while that would be accepted of a man without family money, people looked down on her for not having money and not being American. Because Roy didn’t want anyone to think he’d been pussy-whipped, he cheated on her often and openly.”
“No wonder she left.”
“I would have helped if she’d talked to me.”
“Why didn’t she?”
This time his laugh was humorless. “Roy did love her despite his actions. Because of what he was doing, he didn’t let any man get near her for fear they’d steal her away. He kept her in a gilded cage. I was shocked to learn she’d left him without him knowing. That came at a high price. She left with nothing in order to leave.”
I sat thinking about it. Mom had dodged a bullet with that man. Burrowed deep in thought, it was my uncle who spoke again.
“I know you had to do this, but don’t break your mother’s heart over this.”
“Break her heart? I’m doing this for her.”
“Are you really?”
I was tired of everyone doubting my motive. “Yes.”
“Money can be seductive, my boy. Your mother is afraid they’ll lure you away.”
“It won’t happen.”
“Yet, you’re still there in New York.”
“I have a job.”
His sigh was heavy. “Have I ever told you the story about my ex-wife?”
“No. Grant’s told me some.”
“I met her a short time after Roy brought Moira to town. I figured if he could fall in love, maybe I could too. Our parents weren’t the shining beacon of love.” He paused. “Anyway, I met her in college. We clicked. She’d grown up as the daughter of caretakers. I was the son who hated money. Together we could blur the lines of wealth and poverty.”
All I’d ever heard about the woman had been bad. Grant hated his mom with a passion so deep he vowed never to fall in love.
“What I didn’t know or failed to see was her deep desire to be one of the people being waited on and not the one doing the waiting. She thought my idea of moving her to start a business was just a temporary thing I needed to work out to be my own man. I’ll give it to her. She hung on playing the long game, I guess. But when I told her my brother wanted me to walk away from the family business, she made other plans. The right man showed up at my airstrip at the right time and whisked her away.”
“You don’t sound mad? Grant still seethes when her name comes up.”
“I’ve had a lot of time to get over it. There’s also the fact that I let her go. I cared about her, sure. But I realized I was in love with the idea of her. I was sad for my boy. He was the one who lost when she walked away and never looked back. But she regrets that now.”
That was a surprise. “You still talk to her?”
“Occasionally. I sent her pictures of Grant every year on his birthday. I wasn’t going to let her forget. And when she gets them, she calls.”
“Grant never mentioned that,” I said.
“That’s because she didn’t call for him. She wanted to tell me what a mistake she made. That I was the better man. She’d say that all her husband wanted was someone to put on his arm like a prop.”
“She didn’t ask about Grant, though?”
“No. When I’d ask if she wanted to talk to him or know how he was doing, she’d have to get off the phone.”
“What a bitch!”
“Like Roy, she’s not all bad. Guilt kept her from talking to him. If she did, she would have to acknowledge that she’d chosen money over him.”
“A selfish bitch. Are you defending her?” I asked.
“Hell no. I told you the story as a cautionary tale.” He shifted gears. “You’ve got an apartment, I hear.”
“Mom told you,” I said, stupidly. No one else could have told him unless he’d spoken to his brother.
“She did. And she’s scared. She doesn’t understand why you don’t come home.”
I hated feeling like a shit son. “It’s not just about them. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do.” I kept the possibility of me reenlisting to myself.