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“Cat got your tongue?”
He looked up at his father who was seated at the head of the table where they were all having dinner and raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Food not to your liking, seeing as your mother spent all afternoon cooking it for you?”
Adam put down his fork, glancing toward Leanne who sat at the foot of the table. She was looking down at her plate, her smile disappearing.
“The food is great. I just—”
“Want to act like a spoiled brat.” His father spoke over him. “Trust you to spoil a nice meal.”
“Jeff—” Leanne spoke up.
Adam fixed his gaze on his father. He was in no mood to pussyfoot around his father’s deliberate attempts to rile him up.
“You’ve spoiled plenty of meals with your bad temper and unexplained disappearances. I remember Mom sitting here in tears waiting for you to show up when you’d decided to hoof it off to another rodeo.”
“I’m not like that anymore.” His father banged his knife on the table for emphasis. “I stopped all that shit after Leanne left, and you damn well know it.”
“You were still pretty mean.” Adam kept talking. He had no idea why. It was like that insane urge to press on a bruise until it hurt again.
“I was a parent! Did you expect me to coddle you all?” His father glared fiercely around the table. “I wanted to prepare you for the fact that life is hard, and that you don’t get a free pass.”
“I think we all got that,” Kaiden said dryly. “And have the scars to prove it.”
“If you got a whipping from me you sure as hell deserved it,” his dad snapped. “And by the time you were sixteen you were all taller than me, and I had to stop.”
“Thanks for nothing,” Ben muttered.
“And why are you coming after me?” his dad demanded. “Adam’s the one being disrespectful to his mother.”
“Jeff.” Leanne spoke up again.
“What?” He frowned at her.
“If you start this, I’m going back to the hotel.”
“Start what?” he protested. “I’m just getting your son to show you some respect.”
“Respect is earned.” Leanne didn’t shy away from her ex-husband’s ire. “I don’t have to sit here and watch you lose your temper anymore, and I don’t intend to do so.”
Adam held his breath as his father stared at Leanne.
“I apologize,” Jeff said gruffly.
“Apologize to Adam. He’s the one you’ve been getting at all evening.”
Adam braced himself as his dad looked over at him.
“She’s right. I’m sorry, son.”
“That’s . . . okay,” Adam said slowly.
“I’m just trying to make things right here and you’re not helping!” Jeff stated.
“For a moment, I almost got misty-eyed there.” Ben looked over at Adam. “But Dad just has to keep talking, doesn’t he?”
“While we’re on the subject of Dad apologizing,” Daisy piped up, “could you clarify something for me?”
“What is it now?” Jeff demanded.
“Leanne said that she sent birthday and Christmas cards every year. None of us ever received them.”
“Goddammit!”
Adam flinched as his dad shot to his feet and marched out of the room. They all sat there listening to the faint sounds of his cursing, and a lot of banging before he reappeared with an old-fashioned trunk, and dumped it onto the floor beside the table. A cloud of dust flew up and Daisy coughed.
“Here you go.” Their father opened the trunk.
Leanne pressed a hand to her throat. “You kept everything?”
“I took the money out and used it to get the kids presents,” Jeff admitted. “I didn’t have much cash for such things.”
Daisy left her seat and went over to the case, her eyes wide. “Oh my goodness! There are hundreds of letters in here.”
“I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away.” Jeff looked over at Leanne. “I read every single one of them.”
Daisy sank to her knees and plunged her hands into the trunk, gathering up a handful of letters. “How could you have done this?” Her voice faltered. “I thought Leanne didn’t care about any of us. I hated her for it.”
