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His friends weren’t telling all that they knew. And that bar had been owned by a friend of their dad.
Another link to Joel Winslow.
16
In the forty-five minutes that Zack had been in Lucy’s home, he’d knocked back a whiskey and was nursing a second. He looked sad and exhausted, his head resting on the back of the sofa while he stared blankly at the ceiling. If she was pressed for a guess, she imagined that his brain hurt from everything that had gone on since the moment he’d stepped back into his hometown.
“I should be at home with Cooper tonight,” Zack finally said with a heavy sigh. “I should be with my brothers and sisters.”
“You were with them,” Lucy pointed out. “And you tried to call Cooper and Tate. No one knows where Cooper and Frankie even are, and Tate is working behind the bar tonight.”
“I should be looking for them then.”
“They’re grown-ups,” she reminded him gently. “We already know that Cooper found out from the sheriff’s receptionist. I’m sure he talked to Frankie, and we know he talked to Tate, Sam, and Piper. Maybe he and Frankie decided to go for a drive or get out of town for the night.”
“I’m the big brother. I’m supposed to take care of them.”
Bless him, Zack truly believed that. It wasn’t a bad motto to have…when they were kids. But they were adults now, and he couldn’t be responsible for what a thirty-four-year-old man decided to do.
“I think that they’re supposed to take care of themselves. In a day-to-day manner,” she replied. “But yes, being there for support is important when something like this happens. You’ve sent texts to both Cooper and Frankie that you’re here. If they want to see you, they know where you are.”
“Cooper and Frankie are probably livid.”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t argue that statement. They didn’t like their father much on his good days. And now? They probably despised Joel Winslow.
“They have every right to be, and so do you.”
“I don’t feel guilty anymore,” Zack said. “I’ve always felt guilty in the past about his behavior but not anymore. This was one bridge too far.”
“Are you going to confront your father?”
Zack sat up, resting his elbows on his knees and cradled his whiskey glass in his palm.
“I’ve thought about it, but it might be more productive to bash my skull repeatedly with a cast iron skillet. Dad isn’t going to suddenly become another person and be remorseful for his actions. I’d love to ask him if Mom knew, but he’d never tell me the truth. I think at this point in his life, he’s not even sure what that word means. If he ever did, that is.”
“How is it possible that he’s our father?” Zack continued, shaking his head. “All six of us have nothing in common with him. Not a thing. Everyone says that I resemble him, but I think that I look more like Mom. Cooper looks like Mom. Maybe we’re all adopted. Or by sperm donors. That would explain why he was an absent parent when we were growing up.”
“You have your father’s chin,” Lucy said softly. “Tate looks a lot like him, especially around the nose and eyes. Frankie does, too. Sam and Piper are more like your mom. I think he’s probably your dad though. I’m sorry about that.”
She truly was sorry. For Zack, it would have been easier if he’d been someone else’s child. He was torturing himself about this, and she wanted to make him feel better.
“But that’s as far as it goes,” she stated firmly. “A facial resemblance. But you are not your dad, and your brothers and sisters aren’t either. Being a jerk isn’t passed down through DNA. You’re not going to end up like him. None of you are. You’re separate human beings, and you all make different decisions than he does.”
“That’s my greatest fear,” he confessed. “Ending up like him.”
“You won’t.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I am sure. I know you won’t. It’s not an inevitability. All the apples have fallen far from the tree here. You won’t end up like him, but you can see who he is, and you don’t like that picture.”
Zack knocked back the rest of the whiskey and placed the glass on the coffee table.
“I’m just going to say it out loud. What if my dad is the reason that Mom and Sarah disappeared? What if he had something to do with it? We’ve both been thinking about those questions all day, so let’s just say it and get it out in the open.”
Lucy had been thinking it, but that wasn’t a subject she was anxious to hash out. It was dangerous and volatile, not to mention extremely emotional. Zack was wrung out from the day and needed a good night’s sleep. In the morning would be a better time to tackle all of this.
