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“I’d have to disagree as well, sir,” he defended. “I happen to think there is and Jack is there and he cares about you.”
I stood up, mouth open, gawking at an incredibly beautiful boy who apparently had lost his mind. Whatever mumbo-jumbo he was selling had no value to me.
“I’m sorry, Chad, but I’m going to need you to leave. In fact, I won’t be needing your assistance after all.”
“Should I go back to washing the cars, sir?” he asked.
“No. You should go home, actually. I don’t think you’re a good fit for the sort of assistance I need here. Of course, I’ll pay you for the day.”
He appeared surprised at my reaction and stared directly at me. He might have been a bit odd, but he wasn’t intimidated by me, that was for sure. “Because I know Jack?”
“Because what you’re talking about is crazy town. I don’t need that energy at this point in my life.”
“You don’t need love?”
I pointed to the bedroom door. “Please leave.”
He stood there for a moment, studying me carefully, like he knew something I didn’t. After just a few moments, he left the room. The downstairs door closed, so I moved to the French doors facing the beach and saw him walking down the sandy trail toward the water. His smooth skin glistened in the sun as the bright rays set his blond mane on fire with reflections of white and gold. He was a breathtaking vision of youth.
I walked to the table and picked the frame up, staring at me and Jack. He was laughing his spectacular laugh. The laugh I’d first heard when we’d modeled together, best friends immediately because neither of us wanted to fuck the other.
“He’s just like you, Jack,” I whispered.
CHAPTER SEVEN: Chad
“You what?” Dad asked, his reaction seeming like his head would split in two. “Let me guess. You actually started right up with the things I warned you to avoid at first, didn’t you?”
“Chill, Pops,” I stated, rolling my eyes.
My father set his bottle of water on the kitchen island, quickly glancing at Mom, and then turned back to me angrily. “You want me to what?” he asked, returning his eyes to Mom. “Did you hear that, Maggie?”
“Relax a second, dear,” she cautioned, raising her hand to Dad. “You know how our son is,” she defended.
Dad walked to the sliding glass doors and stared at the ocean, his way of taking a breather and calming down. “That is precisely why I advised Chad to take a few days before expressing his uncommon thoughts to a stranger, Maggie,” he stated, relaxing his shoulders and taking a deep breath before he turned to face Mom and me. He motioned toward Cole’s house. “That man is a multi-million dollar client of mine, son. I urged him to give you a shot and hire you.”
“He’s a broken man, is what he is,” I replied.
“A rich broken man, let me remind you.”
“Always about money with you, Dad,” I said, sliding onto a bar stool and grinning at him. I glanced toward Mom and she gave me the not today, Chad, look.
Too late. “Look around you, son,” he began, waving his arms around the room and gesturing to the waterfront view outside. “All this doesn’t happen because of stardust and groovy feelings.”
I rolled my eyes again. “Groovy?” I asked. “Welcome to the future, Pops.”
“I can’t do this, Maggie,” he announced to my mother. “He doesn’t listen to me.”
I stood up, heading toward him. “You asked me for a favor, Dad. I’m sorry that I can’t stand by and ignore a poor soul who is obviously lost or hurting.”
“You are not listening to me, son,” he began. “I know you care about others, but give a person two minutes to get to know you first before you go off on one of your intuition campaigns. You’ve lost a good opportunity here.”
“I’m sorry I disappointed you,” I replied.
“He’s sorry,” Mom chimed in.
Dad wasn’t caving so easily this time. He led me back to the island and forced me to sit across from him. “You cannot spend your entire life doing these things, son. I love you. I love your unique sense of being, but you are an adult now.”
I stared at my father and let him vent. I knew he worried. I knew he thought I was a dreamer. I was aware of all that he did for me, but he didn’t understand that the core of who I was, was exactly what he saw.
