May 25th #3
She nods her head. “He does, but let me go back to the beginning. You know that your grandparents were wealthy. When each of their three sons turned twenty, they received access to a trust fund. The Archibald family had made millions in the finance industry. Tripp and Van parlayed it into billions in every industry because your uncles were responsible with their money. Your father was not. He dropped out of college, and over the next year, he proceeded to blow millions of dollars.”
My eyes get huge. “Millions?”
“Yes. He bought a lot of toys—cars, boats, a small yacht. He traveled extravagantly and lived a fast life. Women. Drugs. And gambling. In fact, he lost so much money in Vegas that when he couldn’t cover it, he was beaten by …
I guess the people he owed money to, and he landed in the hospital.
His father paid off his debts, brought him back to Kansas City, and offered him a job in the company.
He was working during the day and going to school at night when we met, got pregnant, and were married.
His father bought us an adorable house as a wedding gift, and life felt perfect. ”
“Felt perfect, but wasn’t?” I ask.
“No, because I didn’t know any of what had happened before I met him. To me, he was just a cute guy who worked in the family business.”
“And he never told you?” I ask, finding it hard to believe it never came up.
She drags a fry through some ketchup and seems to contemplate what she’s going to say next.
“No. I didn’t learn about it until much later.
His mother passed first, and when you were six, your grandfather passed.
His assets were split into three equal trusts.
Ideally, when presented with a trust, you want to keep as many of your assets in the trust to protect them for future generations.
Instead, he bought us a beautiful new home.
Your dad showered me with diamonds and expensive gifts. ”
I look down at her hands. “But you don’t have diamonds.”
She lets out a sigh. “Over the years, your father has won and lost millions gambling. And his trust, which was supposed to grow over time and eventually pass on to you, was drained by the time you were eight. It was then when he told me he had lost everything. It’s crazy to think I was married to a man I really didn’t know.
I loved my job as a nurse, and even though he always wanted me to quit, I kept at it, always working at least one shift a week.
“He was desperate. We pawned everything, took out a loan on the house. He said it was enough to cover it and everything would be okay. But it wasn’t.
He owed way more and took the loan money and placed bets in the hope that he could win big.
The big win didn’t come. The loan defaulted.
Your dad was fired from the company, mostly because he never showed up, and I worked extra shifts at the hospital, but we couldn’t get ahead.
“I went to Tripp and told him what had happened. That’s when I learned it hadn’t been the first time. Your father never told me about all the times his brothers had bailed him out in the past. How they had finally had enough and told him it was the last time just nine months before.
“In retrospect, I should have left your father then. But to be honest, part of me didn’t believe Tripp.
Your dad always made his brothers out to be bad guys.
Saying they were selfish and money hungry and all they cared about was business when he just wanted to live.
That he didn’t want them to be part of our lives.
What I now believe is that he purposely distanced me from them so that I wouldn’t discover the truth.
Your father loves me. He loves you. He loves gambling more.
Tripp agreed to save the house if your dad would agree to go to rehab. We told you he was going on a—”
“Work trip.”
“Yes. And for a while, it stuck. He came home. Got a job. And we had enough to make ends meet. But then he started betting again. This time on sports. Heck, he didn’t have to go to a casino, deal with a bookie.
No, now he could do it from his computer at home.
He won big when Danny Diamond won his third ring. And he thought his luck had changed.”
She takes another fry, eats it, takes a sip of champagne, and says, “And I guess it did for a while. Again. I had no clue. Thought he was doing work when, really, he was gambling.
“And this time, I’m going to let them take the house.
I’m not going to stop it. I need to be rid of it.
Of the pressure. I have already filed for divorce.
And I hope very much that you will support me.
I’m not asking you to choose sides because you and your father have always been close, but I do ask for your understanding. ”
I reach across the table and hold her hand. “I will support you, Mom. I’m sorry you went through all that. And I’m sorry it’s happening again.”
She stands up, polishes off the rest of her champagne, and nods her head, seemingly gearing herself up for a fight.
We walk from the restaurant, where brunch was held, to the lobby. It’s busy with a lot of the weekend guests checking out. I don’t see Dad anywhere, and I’m about to text him when I spot him outside, sitting on a bench, smoking.
“He’s out there.” I point.
“You need to prepare yourself, Ainsley. He’s going to beg.
Probably cry. If that doesn’t work, he’ll get angry.
But through it all, we need to stay calm.
We must try to convince him to go to rehab.
Actually, to be honest, he won’t do it for me, he won’t do it for his brothers, but he just might do it for you. ”
“Nothing like a little pressure,” I say with a sigh.
Mom grabs my arm and stops me. “No. No pressure whatsoever. He’s a grown man, and he’s in charge of the decisions he makes about his life. Simply suggest it to him. If he gets angry, don’t mention it again.”
“Okay,” I say, grabbing her hand in solidarity and walking out the door with her.
“Oh great,” my dad says, looking up and studying our intertwined hands. “She’s already turned you against me.”
“I have done no such thing, Rocky,” my mother says very calmly. “I simply told her the truth about what’s been going on in our lives.”
Dad throws his cigarette down on the ground with force and says with venom, “You’re just as bad as my brothers. All you care about is money.”
“If all I cared about was money, I would have left you years ago. The first time this happened,” Mom counters.
Dad stands up, walks straight up to me, and hugs me, separating me from my mom. He reeks of sweat, cigarettes, and alcohol. “I don’t know what your mother told you, but they’re all lies.”
“I heard you last night, Daddy, talking to your brothers. About how you lost a lot of money and need them to bail you out. Or were you lying about that?”
“You heard that?”
“Yeah, I did. Please, take them up on the offer of paying for rehab. Go do that and get better.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me!” he yells.
“And don’t ever listen to them. Tripp. Van.
Even your mother. They are all liars and assholes.
Always have been. Always will be. Money has corrupted them.
And I can’t stand to be here for a single more minute.
I’m leaving. Come with me, Ainsley,” he says, holding his hand out toward me.
I stand in my spot, not knowing what to do.
Dad scowls at me, shakes his head, and yells some more, this time clearly slurring his words, “You’re going to turn against me too, huh? Well, I’m out.”
He walks toward his car in the drive.
“Dad, you can’t go anywhere. You shouldn’t be driving when you’ve been drinking.”
“What? You think you’re the parent now? After everything I’ve done for you?”
“From what I understand, it’s Mom who held things together. Who worked all those extra shifts to try and make ends meet when you weren’t winning.”
“You bitch!” he yells at my mom, rushing toward her.
“Stop it, Dad!” I call out, backing up, then falling into a row of bushes.
Seconds later, Damon and Van show up and move between him and Mom. Dad curses them out and kicks in their direction, like he’s looking for a fight. But Damon isn’t having any of that. In seconds, he and Van have my dad face down in the grass with his arms pinned behind his back.
Not far behind are Tripp and hotel security, who cuff Dad and haul him away.
It’s not until he’s gone that I realize tears have been streaming down my face.
Damon pulls me into a hug, then leans back and gently touches my cheek. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I say, reaching up and realizing I must have gotten scratched by a branch. “I need to check on my mom.”
But I see that Tripp is already hugging her. Telling her everything will be all right.
I join them in their hug.
Mom kisses the side of my face and says, “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry you had to see your father like that.”
“Let’s get you inside,” Tripp says to Mom.
“And, you, come with me,” Damon says, taking my hand and leading me toward a golf cart .
Kiss it.
Ainsley
Damon puts me in the golf cart and drives down to his house, parks in the driveway, then leads me around back to the boathouse and motions for me to sit on the couch.
Then he sits next to me and just wraps me in a hug. And his strong arms make me feel safe.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I shake my head in disbelief. “I literally cannot believe my dad acted that way.”
“I’m glad that Van and I got there when we did.”
“Me too. You were … amazing.”
“I was afraid he might hurt you,” he says tenderly. “I went into full-on mama-bear mode.” He chuckles. “Although I probably need to go back and kick that bush’s ass.”
And that makes me laugh.
He reaches up and gently touches my face. “It’s scratched and swelling just a bit. Does it hurt?”
“Not too bad,” I lie.