Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Ben
M y parents’ house is quiet when I walk through the front door. It’s a big old brick house in the North of Forbes part of Squirrel Hill, one of the residential neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. My parents have lived in this house my entire life. Every inch of it, from the living room with vaulted ceilings and soft old leather furniture, to the big bright kitchen where I spent so much of my childhood, is warm and familiar and will always be home to me.
I considered going back to sleep after Hallie left, but the unsettled business with Stonegate was poking at my brain. Even though we have months to give them our decision, I don’t want to wait. I know what I want. But I also know it won’t feel final until I have this conversation. My dad is working at home today, so here I am. My mom was right when I talked to her at the lake, and Hallie was right last night. My dad wants what makes me happy. But it still doesn’t stop the nagging feeling that my bar isn’t enough. That I should do more and be more. Like him.
Frustrated with myself, I walk down the hall and knock on my dad’s closed office door.
“Come in.”
I open the door and walk into the office that has changed very little since I was a kid. The big mahogany desk. The shelves covered in books ranging from real estate law tombs to paperback thrillers. The mini-fridge stocked with the lime seltzer he can’t get enough of. Walls covered in family pictures. The whole office gives laid back family man. No one would guess that multi-million-dollar deals happen here almost every day.
My dad’s face lights up when he sees me in the doorway.
“Hey, Benj,” he says, as he gets up to wrap his arms around me in a bear hug. It’s the only kind of hug Steven Parker knows when family is concerned. My parents have always been easy with their affection, to each other and to us. Everything I know about being a good partner I’ve learned from them. I hope I can take care of Hallie even half as well as I have seen my dad take care of my mom over the years.
“What are you doing up and around so early on a weekday?”
I sit down on his office couch, and he joins me. “Hallie had an early meeting. I got up to make her breakfast and got started with my day when she left.”
My dad grins at me. “Breakfast for Hallie, huh?”
“Yeah, dad, breakfast. You might be familiar with it. I’ve seen you make it for mom every day for my entire life.”
“Smartass. I like that you’re carrying on the Parker tradition of men making breakfast for their girls. And I like even more that your girl is Hallie. So, things are going well? You both seemed happy at the lake.”
This, at least, is comfortable territory. I have always talked to my dad about relationships, even though none of mine have ever amounted to much until now.
“Really well. I love her, dad. I want to make breakfast for her every day. She’s it for me. I’m just waiting for her to catch up. I know it happened fast, but it feels right, you know?”
My dad smiles, but his eyes get a little misty. “Ben, Hallie has been it for you since you were kids. Your mom and I have been waiting for you both to figure it out. I don’t think there is such a thing as too fast when you’ve known someone your whole life. Enjoy the ride. She’ll get to where you are.”
“It’s not a little weird for you that it’s Hallie?”
“Watching one of my children fall in love could never be weird. You are the best man I know, and I have loved Hallie like one of my own for her entire life. I couldn’t be happier for you.”
Deep down I’m still a little boy looking for his dad’s approval. Because at his words, every part of me that has been worrying that Hallie and I are moving too fast quiets. Nothing that feels as right as Hallie and I do could be wrong.
“So, did you just come by to hang out, or is there something on your mind?”
Now or never, I guess.
“There is something, actually.” I take a deep breath and dive in. “It’s a business thing.”
My dad’s eyebrows shoot up. I feel a raw edge of guilt at how surprised he is that I’m coming to him to talk about business. It helps me push on.
“Someone from Stonegate Restaurant Group came to talk to Jeremy and me last month. Before the lake. They made us an offer.”
My dad nods but says nothing.
“It’s a big offer. Huge, actually. They want to put a Fireside location in every stadium they are contracted with for food service. They’ll foot the bill to get the locations up and running, and then we get a percentage of the sales from each location. It would make us famous. Well, it would make Fireside famous, and I guess Jeremy and me by extension. Like I said, it’s big.”
“So, why don’t you seem excited about it?”
Here goes nothing, I guess.
“Because I want to turn down the offer.” I let out a long, slow breath, feeling my tension ease at having said the words. Because I didn’t feel the whole truth of it until now.
“And Jeremy?”
“Jeremy left it up to me. He has his work at the foundation, and he really doesn’t care one way or the other if we do this. But I care. I’m not built to be famous, dad. I don’t want to have my business known by every sports fan in the country. I’m happy with what I already have. And maybe one day we’ll open another location or two, but I want to do it on my terms. Not because a big company wants to come in and explode my career. I want what Jeremy and I have already built. What Hallie and I are building together. That’s the life that makes me happy. I know it must seem weird to you…”
“Hang on,” my dad cuts in. “I know you weren’t just about to insinuate that I might look down on your career because of my business. I’m sure I wasn’t about to hear that come out of your mouth, Benjamin.”
I look down at my hands, unable to meet his eyes.
“Ben, look at me.” I look up, and his eyes bore into mine. “All I have ever wanted is for you and your sister to find what makes you happy. I don’t need you to be me. Hell, I don’t want you to be me. I love my career, but it’s my career. Mine. Not yours. Over the past nine years, I have watched you and Jeremy build Fireside from the ground up. I have watched all the love you both pour into it every day, and I see how happy it makes you. If you want to turn down the offer, then you should. If Fireside on the South Side is all you ever want, you never have to justify that to me. You are my son. Your mom and I raised you to be a good man who knows his own mind. If this deal doesn’t offer you the life you want, then you absolutely should turn it down.”
“Really?” I say, relief pouring through me at my dad’s words.
“Yes, really. It’s your life, Ben. I couldn’t be prouder of how you have chosen to live it.”
The door to my dad’s office bursts open at that moment, and my mom struts in with a huge smile on her face. She walks straight to me and slaps me across the back of my head.
“Ow, what the fuck, mom?”
“I told you I would give you my opinion after you talked to your dad. That’s the first part of it. It was stupid to spend all these years not talking to your dad about your business. Jesus, Ben.” Then she leans down and wraps her arms around me. “And obviously, I was listening at the door, and I agree with everything your dad said. We want what you want, Ben. Just be happy, baby boy.”
“I am happy, Ma. Really, really happy.”
“Good. And your dad’s right about Hallie. She’ll get to where you are. But if you want to give her a little nudge every now and then, a date night is always a good idea. There was this one time when your dad and I were dating when we…”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” I cut in, knowing that my mom’s stories of her and my dad’s dating days usually end in a way that makes me want to bleach my brain. “I’m taking her out tonight.”
My mom grins at me. “That’s my boy. Now, tell me everything.” She plops down on the couch on my other side and looks at me expectantly.
With the weight of my career crossroads off my shoulders, and my parents on either side of me, I tell them all my plans for sweeping my girl right off her feet.