Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87863 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“Thank you. It’s been a difficult few weeks.”
“I can only imagine,” Charlie replied in a soothing tone before sitting back on the barstool and glancing my way. “Are you okay?”
I gave a half laugh and crossed my arms defensively. Fuck. I wanted out of here. “I’m fine. Just fuckin’ dandy. Why does he want to talk to me?”
Charlie gasped like I’d just exposed myself in church. I thought he might reprimand me, but he squeezed my hand again and waited for Mona’s reply.
“Why do you think?” she retorted. She pulled a tissue from her purse and dabbed her nose. “Listen, there are a few things I need to tell you.”
“No. I don’t need to—”
“I divorced your father three years ago and remarried this past February. I might not have ever known he was sick until it was too late, but…he ended up in the hospital two months ago and my name was on ‘next of kin.’ I won’t bore you with details, but I’ve done what I could to help him. Made sure he had food in the house…that kind of thing. And I advised him to call his children. He told me that he did, but I had a feeling he was lying.”
“Do you think he might be lying about having cancer?” I asked in a low tone.
“Knowing him, it’s possible. We’re friends and I’ll do whatever I can to help. However…what he really needs is to talk to you.”
Fucking hell. I bit my bottom lip until I tasted blood, then took a deep breath.
“That’s a strong word…need. He doesn’t need or want anything from me or—”
“You’re wrong.” She stuffed her tissue in her purse and pulled a few bills out of her wallet, then set them on the table before standing. “You’re a young man, Kyle. You’re handsome, you’re smart, you’re talented, and you aren’t afraid to take chances. You have the world at your feet and you’re in love.”
“Whoa, I’m not in—”
“Things change when you get older. Sometimes you lose sight of what’s important. And just as you realize you might have made a wrong turn, it’s too late to correct it. Tired words and phrases take on new meaning. What you want is no longer what you need. Eventually want and need are useless and the only thing that really matters is forgiveness.”
The word hovered over the table for a moment. I didn’t know how to touch it, but I had to before it took on a life of its own and became a verb instead of an arcane concept.
“He said ‘good-bye.’ No. He said, ‘fuck you’ and a whole bunch of other—”
“And now he’s running out of time, Kyle. He can’t undo the past. He can’t get back what’s lost, and he can’t make it right. Forgiveness is all he can ask for.” She put her hand over mine. “Think about it.”
Sound rolled over me in waves until I couldn’t differentiate the nuances between laughter and random chatter. It blended and melded in a freakish symphony that made my head pound against my skull. I stared a hole in the table, unable to participate in the polite round of good-byes Charlie initiated. I frowned slightly when he jumped up to hug Mona impulsively. Who was he? What the hell was going on? Charlie didn’t belong in the same room as Mona or my dad. He was the sarcastic ballbuster I liked to wind up at the studio. Those worlds were never meant to cross. One was supposed to stay in the past and the other…fuck, I didn’t know what I was doing with Charlie. But I was pitifully glad he was here.
No, that wasn’t good. I shouldn’t want him here. Hell, I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to get the fuck out of there, but I couldn’t go anywhere until Mona was long gone. I refused to hang out at the curb, continuing any portion of that conversation with her while we waited for our rides.
“Christ, that was intense,” Charlie hummed beside me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded lamely, then tipped my glass and drained it. “I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry about your dad. Even if you aren’t close, that’s terrible news and—”
“We’re not talking about this,” I snapped.
I immediately regretted my tone when Charlie pulled back as if I’d slapped him. He didn’t deserve my misdirected angst. I’d practically dragged him over here to provide a buffer of some kind between me and my fucked-up family and ended up exposing the ugliest part of me. I fully expected him to shred me with a withering look or a pithy one-liner to put me in place. But as usual, Charlie surprised me.
“Okay. Do you want another drink?” he asked as he waved the waiter to our table.
“I’m going home. I can get myself there.”
When I pulled out my phone to call for a ride, he covered the screen and scowled. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll take you.”