Chapter 34
Let them eat cake!
Devyn
“Ready to go?” Heston called into our bedroom.
“Yeah, just a minute.” I’d been dawdling.
We were going to see my father for lunch.
Not that I wanted to, but I was trying to work on our relationship.
I’d much rather spend my Saturday hanging around the house with my mate.
This was the right thing to do, though. So freshly showered me was going to go, put on a happy face, and make the best of it.
One thing was for sure, it was going to be better than the last time I was with him at the country club.
There had been so much hurt between us thanks to a combination of Roy’s recent betrayal, the way Father and my half brothers treated me, and the situation had been festering since the divorce from my mother so long ago.
Basically, it was years in the making. There was no way the resentment would fade because Father declawed my brother or made good on giving me the funds he promised.
And really, a lot of this wasn’t our fault.
Divorces happened and Roy was going to do what Roy was going to do.
And we could have communicated better, but we both did the best we could at the time.
I still didn’t trust Father completely, and he probably had some residual resentment toward me.
I hadn’t always been the nicest, especially after my mother died.
We were getting to a better place though and while I never thought I wanted it to happen, I was pleased it was.
I pulled a sweater over my head. It was far from fancy, but it would have to do. I grabbed my wallet, and before I stepped into the next room, Heston stood in the doorway looking sexier than ever.
My eyes instantly fell to his belly.
“You can’t come in here looking all sexy when we’re about to meet Father.” I was only half teasing. He did look sexy as sin and growing more so each day. There was something about watching his body change as he grew my pup that just did it for me.
He rolled his eyes. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah. I was hoping we could stop by the gallery on the way to drop off my new piece.” I glanced at my watch. “Probably best to do it after lunch.”
I also wanted to see if Roger knew anything about the commission I’d been offered. I had a feeling my father called in a favor to get it for me and if that was the case, thanks, but no thanks. I wanted to get work because of my skill. Being a nepo baby wasn’t my style.
It had been ages since I’ve been to the country club. But the last time was when I’d scented my mate so it was memorable. Technically it had been Heston’s and my first “meeting” even though I’d scented him and then stared at him from a distance.
“This is weird.” I said as we drove into the parking lot.
“Coming to the country club? Yeah, it is. I shouldn’t be able to afford to come in here.”
“I never could, not really.” I parked the car. “If my mom didn’t have that pass, I’d have never been allowed in here. And even then, they don’t really want me.”
I shrugged off the memories, not wanting to let what other people thought of me mess with my head. We walked inside and they looked at us pretty much the same as they always had, but at least this time, their words didn’t match their glances. They knew we were Father’s guests.
We were led to a private dining room. Father wasn’t there yet, and the two of us took our seats. They already had water on the table, and a waiter came in with bread and a couple of bottles of wine.
“Why did your dad order wine? I’m pregnant.” My mate stared at the bottles.
“Not sure he did. Sometimes they just do snobby shit here.”
While I enjoyed that we were financially free now, I’d never fit in this world. Fancy name brand clothing, being seen at all the right events, making others feel like they needed to do stuff for us simply because of my name—none of that was me. And I liked it that way.
Father apologized for being late. He had his satchel with him, which meant this wasn’t just lunch. This was business. I was not up for business.
“Hey.” I got up and gave him a hug. It was weird, but also less so than last time. We were making progress.
The server came in and said they would be back with our order in a few minutes. But my mate and I hadn’t ordered anything.
“I had them bake something special for us.”
Both Heston and I stared at him.
“I gave them the recipe for the coconut chocolate cake your mom used to love. She ate it every day when she was pregnant with you and I… I don’t know… I thought with your mate being pregnant it might be a nice idea.”
She did love that cake. I remembered sitting on the stoop with her on a hot summer’s day and stuffing the cake in my mouth. I also ate it with a cup of cocoa in the winter. Even when she was at her sickest, it was one thing she still enjoyed.
“Thanks.” I choked up a little. I hadn’t expected him to be so… nice. It was a little odd that we’d come for lunch and were getting cake instead but who cared.
“There are some things we need to talk about.” Father emptied his satchel containing a laptop as well as a thick file folder.
I hated that this wasn’t about us spending time together but rather a business meeting.
“What’s that?”
“I was thinking I could train you both so you could take over what’s left of Heston’s dad’s real estate company. What do you think?”
I looked at my mate. It was up to him. It had been his father’s, not mine. He squeezed my hand hard.
“I’m not going to school for real estate.
” And currently he wasn’t going at all, but he had plans to go once the baby was born and we had settled into a routine.
I’d never ask him to give up his dream of being a lawyer to run a company just because Father wanted us to.
“I don’t think that’s the direction I want to go. ”
“Okay, I understand.” Father closed the laptop. I wasn’t sure if he did, but he was being nice about it. “And you, Devyn?”
“And you know my true love… I want to be painting.” Sure, I filled in for Dean at the motel on days he needed the help, but that was because they were short-handed, not because I was looking for a job outside of my art. What I really wanted was to paint.
“Is this because of the commission you just got?” That took me aback. I’d suspected he’d been a part of it. I’d just been hoping I was wrong.
“How do you know about that?” I’d only gotten the offer the day before and hadn’t fully agreed to it yet. But something about it didn’t quite feel right. So, I was thinking it over. “Did you arrange it? Is that why I got it? Because if it is, I don’t want it.”
“I played a part in it only in that they saw your piece here and they fell in love with it. I gave them your information so they could contact you. That’s it. I promise.”
“So, you didn’t call in favors?”
“Nope, I did not. If you had asked me to, I would. But I’d never do that behind your back. You’ve had enough family backstabbing.” Wasn’t that the truth. “I wouldn’t want you to think that I didn’t have faith in your skills.”
“And that’s exactly what I’d have thought.”
“If we say no, what happens to the company?” my mate asked in almost a whisper. “It was my father’s and I don’t want it to disappear, but also it would never be my passion.”
“I can take it over.” I brought Heston’s hand to my lips and gave it a kiss. “Problem solved.”
“But you—”
“Someone from my company will run it.” My father cut me off. He was in business mode. “I have people who live and breathe real estate. They’ll make sure that it becomes profitable again. You shouldn’t have to change your life for someone else’s dream.”
The server came in with a tray filled with cake.
“Looks like business time is over.” He slid everything away. “It’s time for cake and family.”
Cake and family. I liked the sound of that.