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He shakes his head. “I imagine she made a new life for herself… and I’m happy for her, if she did.”
“Really? You don’t blame her for leaving you?”
He smiles, although it still doesn’t touch his sad eyes. “How can I? I’m confused by why she left, and it hurt that she didn’t take us with her, but until I can understand what happened and why she did it, I can hardly blame her for going.”
I reach out, needing to feel a connection, even if he doesn’t. “I’m sorry, Hunter.”
He startles as my hand comes into contact with his arm, and I pull it away again. “It’s okay,” he says.
I know it’s far from okay, but I can’t presume to doubt him. “What about your dad?” I ask instead. “How did you get along with him?”
His brow furrows. “My relationship with my dad was always hard, even before Mom left. I never understood him, or his absences, or why he treated her the way he did, and we rarely spoke to each other, even after I finished college and joined the company.”
“You came to work for him, even though you didn’t get along?”
“Yes. I’d decided to go into advertising, so there was no way he was gonna tolerate me working for someone else. Then, years later, I fell out with him, and as I was walking out the door, vowing never to set foot in his office again, he yelled at me that Mom had left us all behind because she didn’t love us enough to take us with her.”
I suck in a breath, tears welling in my eyes. “That’s such a cruel thing to say.”
“He was a cruel man.” He looks troubled, and then moves a little closer, lowering his voice. “I’ve never told Drew or Ella about that… about what Dad said to me. Would you mind keeping it to yourself?”
“Of course not.” I blink back my tears. “Surely you didn’t believe him, though, did you?”
“I don’t know. Like I say, I’ve never understood it.”
My heart aches for him. “If you don’t mind me asking, if you fought with your dad and walked out, what are you doing back here, running things?”
His lips twitch upwards. “Good question. It’s one I often ask myself. Our argument was over something… personal.” I notice his hesitation, but I don’t feel I have the right to ask about it. “I wanted to hurt him, so I left TBA and went to work for one of our major competitors, just to spite him.”
“Did you only come back here after he died?”
“No. Drew called me when Dad’s cancer was diagnosed… at Dad’s request.”
“He wanted to make things up with you?”
“He wanted someone to run the business while he couldn’t. Although I use the word ‘run’ very loosely.”
“Why?”
“Because his very next step was to take the company public.”
“Meaning…?”
“Meaning I have to answer to the board and the other shareholders. I have no autonomy. He made damn sure of that.”
“What if he’d recovered from the cancer and wanted to come back? He’d have regretted giving up control then, surely?”
“Maybe. But I think he knew he wouldn’t recover. That’s why he put me in charge.”
“You underestimate yourself.” Once again, my mouth has run away with me, but the words are out there now, and they seem to have confused Hunter almost as much as they have me.
“I do?”
I’ve started now, so I may as well finish…
“Yeah. It’s not the first time you’ve said something like that.”
“Oh?”
