69. Lucy
Lucy
Idrop off a bottle of hot sauce at one of my tables at the Mile High Diner, then grab the empty plates from another.
I check the time. I’ve got just over an hour left on my shift, then I can head home.
I hate that Leo’s is alone, dealing with the fallout from the video of his fight with Jeff going viral. I want to be there to comfort him and support him, but I was scheduled to work today, and I didn’t want to call in. I knew the diner would be slammed the day after Christmas.
I spend the next few minutes taking orders and dropping off food to customers.
“Lucy, there’s a guy here to see you,” Janice, one of the other waitresses, says.
I turn to her. “Who is it?”
She nods at the front of the restaurant. When I see Leo’s dad standing there, I freeze.
What the hell is he doing here?
“I don’t want to talk to him,” I say.
“I’ll let him know.”
Janice walks off, and I go check on my other tables. A minute later, she comes back up to me.
“He’s insisting that he talk to you,” Janice says in a tired voice. “Do you know him?”
“Yeah. He’s my boyfriend Leo’s dad. He’s a jerk.”
I drop the washcloth in my hand onto the table I’m wiping down, annoyed and pissed off.
“Screw this,” I mutter.
I walk over to the entrance of the diner, where he’s standing, that mean frown on his face.
“What the hell do you want?” I say to him.
His brow lifts, shock etching in his features. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting me to snap at him like that. The last time I saw him was at Thanksgiving, and I was quiet and didn’t make a fuss.
But he’s seeking me out at my workplace now. He’s on my turf, which means I can react to him however I want. I’m not going to be a quiet little flower. I’m going to speak what’s on my mind whether he likes it or not.
“Are you here to insult me again? Make another shitty comment about how I’m bad for your son?”
His face turns red like he’s embarrassed. Good. He should be.
His shoulders slump, and he shoves his hands in the pockets of his coat. “No. I’m here to apologize to you.”
I’m shocked. Why would he do that?
I’m also thrown off by how he sounds. The other times I’ve heard him speak, he was confident and unyielding.
But right now, he sounds…sad. Weak. Defeated.
I push through that surprised feeling. None of this erases what a jerk he is.
“I have a few things I’d like to say to you first.”
He nods. “Go ahead.”
I turn to Janice, who’s walking by. “I’m going on break.”
I grab my coat and motion for Leo’s dad to follow me outside. I walk off to the side of the front entrance and stand in front of him.
“You are an asshole.”
He flinches. I’m guessing not many people talk to Leo’s dad like this. He’s a former hockey star. He’s rich and famous and influential. He’s probably used to people fawning all over him.
Not me though. I don’t care who he is. All I care about is that he’s been awful to Leo.
“The way you treat your son is horrible. Leo is an incredible hockey player. One of the best at Hollis U. One of the best in the country. He’s good enough to play pro. And instead of praising him, all I’ve ever heard you do is tear him down.”
He looks at me, an embarrassed look in his eyes.
“Do you know how many parents would kill to have a kid like him? Do you even know what kind of person your son is?”
Emotion clogs my throat. I swallow it back.
“He’s the kindest, most generous, selfless person I’ve ever met. He goes out of his way to help people. And not just his friends and family, but strangers too. That’s how pure his heart is. He never hesitates to help anyone.”
I tear up, angry and sad that Leo has had to live with such a callous and unkind father for so much of his life.
“The world is a better place because your son exists. But you don’t deserve him. And you don’t even seem to care how much it hurts him to know that he has a dad who doesn’t want to get to know him or spend time with him. Only insult him.”
I turn away and blink quickly to keep the tears away. When I look at his dad, the expression on his face is pained.
“You still want to apologize to me?” I ask, unable to hide the snark in my tone.
He closes his eyes for a moment and nods. “Yes. Because you deserve an apology, Lucy. Just like I deserved to hear you say all that to me.” He looks at me. “I’m so sorry for the way I treated you. I was out of line.”
His jaw works, almost like he’s getting emotional and trying to stop himself from tearing up.
“I should have been kind to you. I regret that I didn’t make you feel welcome. I should have. You clearly make my son very happy, and that’s what should matter most.”
He clears his throat and looks down at the ground for a moment. “I know this isn’t going to mean much coming from me, but I’m really impressed at the way you defend Leo. How loyal you are to him. My son is incredibly lucky to have a girlfriend like you. I’m sorry that I was rude and unkind to you.”
I stand there and stare at him, saying nothing. I’m too shocked.
This contrite, humbled man isn’t the same man I saw at the gala or at Thanksgiving. That guy was cocky, angry, and rude.
“What’s gotten into you?” I ask. “You’re a totally different person from the last time I saw you.”
His eyes go glassy with tears. He blinks a few times. “Earlier today, my daughter Zoey told me something that turned my whole world upside down.” His chin wobbles, and he swallows hard. “I discovered that she was in an abusive relationship.”
He gazes off to the side at the darkened parking lot. “I was so focused on being hyper-critical of Leo that I had no idea that my daughter was suffering.”
He turns back to me, his eyes puffy and glistening. “I wasn’t there for my daughter. I wasn’t there to protect her. I missed all the warning signs.” His voice shakes. “I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
That hard exterior I put up to deal with Leo’s dad starts to soften. I still hate what he did to Leo. But I can’t help but feel bad for what he’s feeling right now. I can’t imagine what it would be like to find out that one of your kids was being abused.
“Leo protected her,” I say softly.
“I know. I saw the video.” He swallows hard. “You’re right, Lucy. My son is an incredible person. And I’ve been too blind to see it. Today was a wake-up call. If I don’t fix this—if I don’t make things right with my kids, I’ll have nothing left in my life.”
“You said all this to Zoey?” I ask.
He nods. “She was gracious enough to hear me out.” He swallows. “She let me apologize to her. We’re going to try to work on our relationship.”
I nod, impressed with Zoey’s ability to forgive her dad.
“I’d like to apologize to Leo too, but he’s blocked me from contacting him,” Rocco says.
Pain flickers in his deep brown eyes. The same eyes that Leo has.
“I don’t blame him for doing that,” he says.
“I don’t deserve the time of day from my son.
I just wish I could apologize to him. I wish I could explain everything to him…
tell him why I acted the way I did. That it’s not his fault.
” He lets out a shaky breath. “I wish I could tell him that I’ve always been proud of him. ”
A faint pulse hits my chest. Just a few minutes ago, I hated this guy. But I don’t anymore.
I don’t like him. There’s still a lot he’s done wrong. There’s still so much he needs to atone for.
But I can tell he’s different. Something about him has changed. He’s sorry. He’s trying. And maybe he deserves a chance to make things right with his son.
I exhale, thinking hard about what I’m about to do. My breath turns into a frosty cloud in the cold air.
“What are you doing in an hour?” I ask Leo’s dad.
“Nothing.”
“You should come with me.”