Chapter Twenty-Five
Wednesday morning came with rain. Gus listened to it pelt the windows as he sipped his coffee and contemplated his day.
He had a meeting with Ford at nine a.m. As far as he knew, the meeting was to tie up loose ends for the cottage project.
It would be done by Friday, with the last bit of electrical and painting on the books for today and tomorrow.
Once he closed out the project and his family situation was squared away, he’d be gone.
He was due to fly to Dubai the following Monday, and then on to Germany and France.
Gus would be away most of August and would be busy as hell.
There would be no time to overthink. To wonder about the woman who slumbered across the hall. The woman he’d left an hour earlier.
They’d spent the night eating pizza and having sex. She was going to be hard to forget.
“If at all,” he murmured, emptying the remnants of coffee into the sink. He decided not to think about Faith Winters-Brooks because she was a rabbit hole he would have a hard time digging himself out of. He had shit to take care of, and it was time to move on.
He hopped into the shower and got dressed.
He figured he’d make an effort and pulled out a pair of dark-navy slacks along with a cream-colored shirt.
His tobacco-brown loafers and a belt completed his outfit.
He grabbed his keys, and as the sunlight broke through an overcast sky, he drove out to the lake.
He had fifteen minutes to spare when he pulled up, and with no reason to stay put, Gus hopped out of his truck. Out of respect, he rang the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to answer. After a few moments, Porter’s nurse answered, looking more than a little harried.
“Sorry, the maid is out sick today and I’m doing three jobs.” The woman grumbled though she did give Gus a smile. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes.” She pointed. “They’re expecting you in Mr. Boone’s office. It’s the last door down to the right.”
So, this was a team effort. Gus made his way down the familiar hall and gave a small knock before letting himself inside. He spied Sunday sitting in a chair by the window. She glanced up when he entered but quickly looked away. Ford sat behind the desk. Porter was nowhere in sight.
“Can you close the door.” Ford looked about as serious as he’d seen the man. It wasn’t a question.
After he closed the door, Gus faced his brother and sister. “I’m assuming you’ve talked to your father?”
Ford glanced at his sister and then settled onto Gus. “Take a seat.”
Gus bristled at his brother’s tone, and if this were any other time and place — any other situation — he would have told the guy to go fuck himself. Politely, of course. Instead, Gus took the chair opposite Sunday and looked at Ford expectantly.
“Our father had an interesting story for us.”
Gus didn’t reply as Ford sat back, his hands triangled in front of his face.
“I see the resemblance now. Surprised I didn’t see it sooner, to be honest. You look just like Uncle Marshall.”
The dig wasn’t subtle, and Gus felt every word of it.
“You came to Fire Lake nearly three months ago. And not once did you indicate to me or to Sunday your true self. I don’t understand the subterfuge. Why wait? Why now?” His brother was angry and made no effort to hide it. “What’s your end game here?”
“I didn’t have a plan when I came here. Wasn’t sure this conversation would ever happen.”
Sunday muttered something, but he couldn’t quite make it out. She got to her feet and walked to the window, giving him her profile. Her complexion was off. Too white, and he felt like a shit for being the cause.
“Then why did you?” Ford’s lips thinned, and the look on his face was anything but friendly. Gus sank back into his chair. He considered his words carefully. He knew it was crunch time. Only the truth would work. There was no room for anything else.
“I was in New York on business and read an article in the paper.”
“An article brought you to Fire Lake?” Ford didn’t believe him.
Gus nodded. “It was about the Catskills. It mentioned this estate and it got me to wondering. I guess I was curious to see the place I spent the first seven years of my life.”
“There’s a big gap between the age of seven and thirty-three.”
“Thirty-two. Technically, I’ve got a couple of weeks before the big day.” He kept his tone light, but the look on Ford’s face darkened.
“There’s nothing here for you.” Ford tossed a pen onto the desk. “The family estate and business belong to Sunday and me. You and the others have no claim on any of it.”
“None of us need a fucking dime, got it? We don’t want any of this, and I’m not here to heal a fucking rift that I never made.
This is on the old man.” Angry, Gus got to his feet.
His hands were fisted, but he kept them at his side.
Enough of the bullshit. He faced his brother so that there would be no mistaking his words.
“But there are a few things you need to know. First off, the others have names and they are your siblings. You share blood with them, for fuck’s sake.
They have faces. Lives that matter. Oliver is on track to become a surgeon.
He’s gifted. Works at County in DC. He’s serious a lot of the time, but when he lets loose, his humor is something else.
” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his slacks.
“Harry is the dreamer in the family. He wants to save the world one country at a time. He could have played pro ball, he was that good. Man, his arm was something else. But one summer spent in Africa changed his life, and he gave up football for a bedroll and a tent and the desire to make a difference. He looks a lot like you.”
Ford was silent, and he felt Sunday’s gaze upon him.
“Now Iris, she’s the one who is going to surprise us all. She’s got a lot of fire and spunk along with a healthy dose of attitude. She constantly gets into trouble and listens to no one. She’s here in town because of that attitude. Because she wants to meet you.”
“Iris is here?” Sunday’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“What about her?” Ford bit out, ignoring his sister’s question. “What does she think about all this?”
“I think our mother would like the chance to speak to you herself. To tell her side of the story. Neither one of our parents is clean in all of this.”
“What is there to tell?” Sunday took a few steps toward him, and Gus saw her pain. “She abandoned us. She split our family in two and now she thinks because she’s sorry that we’re all going to play family and be nice and forgive her for being a shit mother?”
Gus gave her a sharp look. “I think that there are three sides to every story. Porter’s.
My mom’s. And the truth is somewhere in the middle.
I grew up thinking that Porter Boone was the kind of bastard I could never reconcile with.
The kind of man who didn’t fight for his family.
The kind of man I could never respect or even have a conversation with.
But I was wrong. He’s flawed. Our mother is flawed.
Both of those things are true but there are six of us who are linked by blood and that means something. ”
“No,” Sunday whispered. She turned to her brother. “I can’t, Ford. I won’t ever forgive her.” She looked at Gus one last time and left them alone.
“I’m sorry for upsetting Sunday, and I know this a fucked-up situation, but our brothers and Iris deserve the right to heal this rift if they want to . . . and you must want closure. Don’t you?”
“That’s a big ask, August.”
“Is it?” He was curious. “What did Porter tell you?”
“Not much.” Ford got to his feet. “He told us who you were. Said something about the past coming back to haunt him. He talked about his brother and our mother.” Ford glanced at him.
“Looking at you, I can guess the rest.” He sighed.
“Then he suffered a series of strokes. They were small and he should be okay, but now he’s heavily medicated while his brain tries to heal itself. ”
Gus clamped his mouth shut. “When did that happen?”
“Monday night.”
“I’d like to see him.”
“That’s going to be a hard no.” Ford reached for a large envelope on the desk.
“The crew’s last pay was deposited into their accounts this morning.
This is yours. Cash as usual. I guess now it makes sense why Ronald agreed to that when you were hired.
” He paused, eyes direct. “I’d like you off the estate and out of Fire Lake as soon as possible. ”
Gus bristled at his brother’s tone — he wasn’t the kind of man who took orders — but he didn’t want to get into a pissing contest with him either. This mess was his fault.
Ford gazed out at the lake beyond. “I’m a good judge of character, and I think you’ll do the right thing.
” He turned and nailed Gus with a look. “And the right thing is to leave us alone. The right thing is to let Sunday be. She’s fragile.
This has already set her back. You don’t know what she went through back then — what our parents’ choices did to her.
She grew up in a house of unhappy men. She didn’t have a mother to talk about all the shit young girls need their mothers for.
Hell, I took her to buy her first box of tampons.
I took her to get birth control. She had friends, but they can’t replace a mother.
And while I’m willing to acknowledge our father’s part in all of this, there is no getting around the fact that Clarice abandoned us.
That was her choice. I learned to live with it but Sunday took it harder.
It’s unforgivable. You don’t have a kid, so you don’t know. I would do anything for my son.
“There is a pain inside our sister that will never go away. And if you truly care, you’ll back off and tell our mother to stay in California, where she belongs. As for our brothers and Iris, I’m glad they’re well, but I’ve no need to get to know them. Not now. It’s been too long.”