At Peace (The ‘Burg #2)(142)
Author: Kristen Ashley

Joe grinned at me right when we heard Gary ask, “What in the hell?”

I looked in his direction. He’d moved to stand at the back of the couch by Keira but he was looking out the window.

“Granddad!” Keira shouted and jumped off the couch as I stared through the window at my father walking along the front of the house.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, my body solid, hoping my mother wasn’t with him and also wondering what was next. The sky falling? The earth standing still? Perhaps a meteor would crash into the Atlantic Ocean and a tidal wave would wash half of the continental United States into the sea.

“What the f**k?” Joe muttered tersely but his body was not solid. He was not thinking of meteors. His thoughts were something else entirely.

He surged up, his arms still around me taking me with him. He planted me on my feet, let me go and stalked to the door.

By the time he got there, me hot on his heels, Keira had it open and she was giving my father a big hug.

“It is a family reunion!” she cried with excitement then asked, “Did you bring Mel with you?” and she looked beyond my father out the door. I noted she didn’t ask if Dad brought my Mom but instead she asked after Mel. My girls weren’t big fans of my mother. No one was, of course, since my Mom was a bitch. But Madeline Riley had been a cold, hard, disapproving mother and she was no less of any of those things as a grandmother – even not having been around very often.

Joe came to stand behind Keira and the second she cleared my father, his arm hooked around her chest and he stepped back, taking Keira with him and not letting go. His eyes were on my Dad and they were far from welcoming.

I moved to stand by them. “Dad, what’re you doin’ here?”

Dad was looking at Joe then his eyes came to me and I noticed belatedly that something wasn’t right about him as in really not right. He didn’t seem to process that Joe was looking unwelcoming and pretty much no one but a blind person could ignore Joe’s unwelcome look.

Therefore, I braced.

“Left your Mom,” Dad announced, straight out.

“What?” I whispered.

“Fuck,” Joe muttered.

“What!” Keira shouted.

Dad yanked an agitated hand through his hair, shaking his head from side to side, not even aware he had a further audience than just Keira (who shouldn’t be hearing this), Joe, (who he didn’t even know) and me (who didn’t want to hear this).

“I… I can’t take it anymore, Vi. She… with Sam… and when Tim…” His eyes shot to Joe then came back to me and I watched as his face crumbled and he whispered, “Jesus, sweetie, I lost my son.” Then his hands covered his face and he dissolved into shoulder shaking sobs.

My heart right back in my throat threatening to choke me, I moved forward and wrapped my arms around my father.

“Dad,” I whispered.

“I lost him, I lost Sam,” Dad moaned into his hands, not taking them from his face. “And because of her I didn’t have you, I didn’t have the girls, my boy was gone and I didn’t have anything.” His head came up and his watery eyes caught mine. “You kids, both of you, living with that woman, you were my shining lights. The way she was when you… with Tim…” His breath hitched. “Then you were gone and my world dimmed but I still had Sam. Now I don’t have Sam and you come to the funeral and you don’t even look at me and my grandchildren are nearly grown and I barely know them!”

He ended on a shout and ripped out of my arms.

“Dad,” I muttered, trying to get close again but he took two angry steps into the house and turned with a jerk to face me.

“This morning she found out about the money, that money I gave Sam to give to you and she went berserk,” Dad yelled. “Sam’s dead not even a month and she finds out I gave you and the girls a little something and she acted like I sold State secrets!”

“Dad,” I put a hand to his arm but he shrugged it off and walked further into the house then started pacing.

“Who does that?” he shouted. “Her son is dead and what? What’s important to her? How obvious could it be that you’d made the right decision just at the wrong time? Tim was a good kid, he became a good man. He took care of you, the girls. How much proof did she need that she was wrong and you were right? How hard is it, when what lies in the balance is something you love, to admit you’re wrong? How much more proof does she need that life’s too damn short to be such a ridiculous, screaming bitch!”

“Pete,” Joe said coming close to me but Dad stopped pacing and glared at him.

“And you! Who are you?” Dad bellowed, throwing an arm in Joe’s direction.

I heard the sliding glass door open but couldn’t tear my eyes away from what was happening in front of me.

Keira burrowed into Joe’s side as she answered, “Granddad, he’s Joe.”

“I know he’s Joe, sweetie,” Dad yelled at Keira and at my father’s angry words aimed at her, Keira burrowed closer to Joe and when she did I watched with no small amount of concern as Joe’s face went so hard it looked carved from stone but Dad was on a tear and he kept talking. “My daughter has a new man in her life and all I know is that he’s Joe.” Dad looked at Joe and demanded to know. “Where do you come from? What do you do? How did you meet? Can you provide for my daughter? Can you take care of her? Protect her? Protect my grandchildren? The only ones I’ll ever have!” He was shouting when he was done and Kate, in from outside, edged around him and pressed into my side as he did it.

I put my arm around my daughter and opened my mouth to speak but Joe got there before me.

“I appreciate this is an intense time for you, Pete, but you do not come into this house and shout, not in front of the girls and definitely not at the girls. Not during an intense time, not… fucking… ever.” Joe still had Keira at his side, his arm was around her and he was holding her close but he was leaning threateningly toward my father. “You need to go somewhere and pull yourself together and you need to do it now or you’ll find yourself not in this house. Do you get me?”

Dad stared at Joe, tardily realizing that he should have paid closer attention and I opened my mouth to speak again but Vinnie was there.

“Pete?” he asked, his hand on my father’s back, “I’m Vinnie, Cal’s uncle. Let’s you and me take a walk.”