41. Mike
MIKE
I don’t want to believe it.
I have to believe it.
And I do.
I know that Sylvia is telling me the truth, but it’s not a welcome revelation, not by a long shot.
I’ve always thought of Dad as a tough, uncompromising man who was sure his way was the only way. I know he was unfair to Luke, but I thought that was the exception.
Until now. Until he refused to listen to reason about the firm. Until he brought Ethan in over me, breaking every promise and implication of my life. He lied about all of that. Why not about Sylvia? His disdain for her is undisguised and undeserved.
That he could keep my daughter from me, that he could send away the love of my life, is grounds to despise him forever.
But that he could threaten my daughter makes me more livid than I’ve ever been in my life.
I’m out of town before I calm down enough to think clearly. I call Sylvia but she doesn’t answer. I call Sierra instead who picks up right away.
“Hi Dad. Did you see the dill? It’s growing so tall already.”
I interrupt her, guessing that she’s in the greenhouse, which makes sense since Sylvia is in her studio.
“I need you to do something for me, Sierra,” I say, keeping my voice level.
I pull into the driveway of Dad’s house and park behind the line of luxury cars.
Candace must be having a dinner party. The only thing of importance is that Dad’s Cadillac is parked in front of the garage. “Are you in the greenhouse?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then go downstairs and find your mom, please. Now. I need you both to listen to this.”
“Okay.” The sound changes and I hear the door to the roof clang shut. Her steps are quick on the stairs. “Listen to what?”
“To what’s going to happen next. Do not hang up the phone until I ask you to. Okay?”
“Okay.” She sounds puzzled. “Is something wrong? You sound kind of uptight.”
“Everything’s going to be just fine. Tell me when your mom is with you.”
“Okay.” There’s a pause. “She’s here. I’m in the studio now.”
“Okay. Put it on speaker, please.” I hear the sound change. “Please listen, Sylvia,” I say and my voice cracks a little. “Let me fix this for once and for all.” I don’t wait for her reply but drop the phone into my shirt pocket and get out of the truck.
I take a deep breath, then stride toward the house and a confrontation I wish we didn’t have to have.
The door opens before I reach it and Mrs. Taylor, the current housekeeper, appears. “Mike! I didn’t know you were expected for dinner tonight.”
“I’m not, Mrs. Taylor. Is my father here? ”
“Well, of course. He’s with his guests.” She flutters, obviously aware that Dad doesn’t like to be disturbed at a meal. “I’ve only just served the roast beef….”
“I know the way,” I say and head for the dining room.
I march straight in there and the patter of polite conversation abruptly stops.
Dad is at the head of the table, Candace at the other end.
In between are Ethan and Madison, Elke and Abbie.
I nod to my sister, and she nods back, her manner watchful.
“Michael!” my father says. “You should have told me that you would attend. I was just telling Elke …”
“I’m not staying.”
“If you’re here to discuss Ethan’s appointment in a more reasonable manner, that will have to wait until after dessert.” His voice hardens. “I advise you also to change your tone.”
“The place will go under in six months thanks to your choice. It’s not my problem anymore.”
A ripple of surprise passes around the table and if anything, the room becomes more silent. “But you didn’t mean what you said earlier about quitting the firm.” My father laughs lightly. It sounds forced. “Everyone knows that Cavendish Enterprises is your life, Michael.”
“It has been, and that was my mistake.”
“But you can’t mean that…”
“I do mean it.”
He puts aside his knife and fork, giving me a genial smile. His gaze is hard, though, and I see a vein at his temple. “I have to tell you, Michael, that if you’re here to beg forgiveness, you’re making a bad start. Haven’t I taught you anything?”
“You’ve taught me a lot, Dad. Probably too much.” He straightens, apparently indignant, but uncertain. “You’ve always had opinions, Dad, and you’ve always been certain that everything should go your way. That’s one thing, but you’ve been cruel and unkind as well. ”
“Me?”
“You abandoned Louise Jones after you got her pregnant, after you cheated on my mother. Then you treated her son, your son, Luke, even worse. He exists because of you, but you did everything you could to compromise his childhood. Did you want him to die so the evidence of your infidelity would vanish?”
My father flushes. “Whatever I did about Luke Jones is none of your business,” he begins to bluster.
“Perhaps this discussion could occur at a better time, Mike,” Candace says with a prim smile.
“There is no better time than now,” I tell her.
“Because how Dad treated Luke is my business. He’s made it my business by threatening to do the same thing to my own daughter, unless her mother took her away again.
” I hear Abbie gasp as I advance on my father.
“Tell me the truth, Dad. Did you talk to Sylvia when she called years ago? Did you tell her that I never wanted to see her again? Did you lie to her?”
“I told her what she should have figured out for herself.”
“Did you lie to me?”
“Whatever I said was for your own good…”
“Did you lie to me?”
“Of course, I did!” he roars. “I told her to go away. I defended your interests, Michael, and when you were too much of a fool to see your path, I told you what you needed to believe. Don’t unravel all of that now, for the sake of some woman who is unworthy of you.”
“I love her!”
“Love! What does that have to do with anything?” My father rises to his feet. “You have always had a responsibility, Michael, to me and to the firm and if I had to remind you of it, that’s your mistake. You can’t choose this woman over your legacy. You can’t leave the firm.”
“But I have.”
“Reconsider while you can.”
“No need.” I shake my head. “You’ve gone too far.”
“Nonsense! You don’t need that woman, Michael,” he insists. “You should marry Elke, here, a far more suitable choice. You should listen to my advice…”
“The only suitable choice for any man is to marry the woman he loves. Have you ever tried that, Dad?” I can’t look at Candace. She can’t believe her marriage is anything other than it is, and if she does, if she loves this bitter old man, there’s nothing I can do about that.
“Michael! You’re throwing away your future over some scheming little bit of trash, some trollop trying to trap you…”
I close the distance between us in record time, and seize my father by the shirt collar.
He looks alarmed and so he should, because I’ve never been this angry in my life.
“You will never speak of Sylvia that way again,” I say to him, my voice low.
The room is so quiet that I don’t think anyone is even breathing.
“If I’m very lucky, she will be my wife. ”
“You’re a fool,” my father whispers.
I shake my head. “Not anymore.” I turn to Candace, who is ashen. “I apologize for interrupting your dinner,” I say. “Don’t worry about me ever coming back.”
“Michael!” my father roars as I stride out of the room.
“Michael! You come right back here and apologize to everyone.” His voice rises when I don’t even slow down.
“How dare you interrupt a family meal in this manner? How dare you speak to me this way? How dare you be so impertinent? How dare you abandon your life’s work for nothing ? ”
I glance back once. “I’m not the one who dared too much.” And then I walk out of the house and slam the door behind myself, catching a glimpse of a startled Mrs. Taylor hiding in the hallway .
I’m leaning on my truck when I take the phone out of my pocket. “I hope you heard that,” I say quietly.
“Mike,” Sylvia whispers, and there are tears in her voice. “Mike, I love you.”
“I love you, Sylvia.” I say as a shudder of relief rolls through me.
It’s done. It’s resolved. Sylvia never lied to me and my instincts were right all along.
I needed Sylvia to clear my vision, to help me find a way to a future.
I can only think of sharing every moment of that future with her is the perfect resolution. “I love you.”
“I know,” she says and I hear the smile in her voice. It makes me smile. “Come to the studio,” she says and I don’t need to be invited twice.
I’m putting the truck into gear when someone taps on the window. It’s Abbie, and I lower the window. “Please, Mike, get me out of here. He’s going to have a meltdown and I don’t need ringside seats this time.”
Fair enough. “Where to? I’m going downtown.”
“Perfect,” she says and climbs in. “You can drop me at Cameron’s on the way.”
“Welcome home,” I tease as I pull out of the driveway and Abbie shakes her head.
“BC never looked so good,” she admits with heat. I reach over and take her hand, giving it a squeeze and she squeezes mine back.