Page 67 of Coastal Runaway

“Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it.”

With a nod he left the room and I headed over to Keegan’s room. I knocked on her sliding door and she glanced over her shoulder, a huge smile spread across her face. When Keegan smiled, I swore that she could light the entire city. It’s electric. She opened the door for me and before she could talk I engulfed her in a huge hug, picking her up off the ground. As if she could sense how much I needed her, she wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me tighter.

“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered in my ear, “I promise.”

I sure hoped she was right.

We all piled into Nolan’s SUV and I remained silent, it felt like a pile of bricks was laying on my chest. I suspected that my dad was only coming to dinner so I would be forced to face him about my future plans. I made my stance clear about my intentions for after graduation.

My stomach flipped as we pulled into Mr. Kelly’s driveway and I saw my dad’s Red McLaren. His use of money truly disgusted me. He believed that you needed to show off for people to understand your place in society. I thought that your place in society should be determined by hard work and the way that you responded to a challenge, not by how you threw money at a problem to make it disappear.

Keegan reached over and placed her hand on my knee. One of my favorite things about her was the way that she could sense when I needed to feel grounded. Her touch did that to me; like she anchored me to her so I didn’t drift off again.

We got out of the car and walked soberly into the house. My dad was sitting with Owen on the sofa in the den while Mr. Kelly was pouring them two fingers of whiskey. It was all so stiff that it made my skin itch; this was so unlike the warm and inviting Sunday dinners that I had come to look forward to.

Mr. Kelly turned towards us and looked elated, “oh good, you’re all here!”

He approached us and gave us each a hug—my dad remained seated. Mr. Kelly looked at me apologetically as if he could sense just how bad things were between us. We all gathered in the den to sit and catch up as Mr. Kelly handed out drinks before dinner was ready.

“I wanted to tell you all about something exciting coming up. Sean and I are being honored as innovators at the Los Angeles Botanical Society Gala the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This is a big deal for the company and I expect you all to be in attendance.”

We all stood and congratulated them; the girls instantly started discussing dress options.

Would she go with me?

Before I could get too lost in thought, Maria, the chef that worked for the Kelly’s for as long as I could remember, announced that dinner was served.

Dinner at the Kelly’s was never this formal. This felt weird. We usually laughed and told crude jokes and chased each other around. Most of the time Mr. Kelly cooked the dinner himself and we cleaned up after. It always felt like a home instead of a cold, heartless, mansion in the Hollywood Hills. But, my dad did what he did best—he plowed in and sucked the life out of a room until every last drop was dried up.

During dinner the conversation was slow, but pleasant. Owen talked with our dads about business, and each of us gave updates about our lives in college. When it was my turn to speak, I froze momentarily, unable to decide if I should be truthful or not.

“I actually just finished my applications for law school. I sent the last one last night.” I spoke honestly.

My dad scoffed.

“That’s fantastic Luke! I didn’t know you wanted to go into law.” Mr. Kelly beamed. My heart jumped at the thought that maybe he could be proud of this decision, even if he disagreed with it. I looked towards my dad.

“Where have you applied?” He asked with an arched brow.

“I debated it for a while but my top choices are CCU, Stanford, UC Berkeley… and Columbia.” I glanced over at Keegan, who looked unfazed. She knew where I was applying, but we hadn't talked about my final decisions yet, or what would happen to us if I chose Columbia after graduation… or if there would be an us after graduation. That thought made my breaths come in shallow.

“Those are wonderful schools. I am sure you will do great.” He nodded towards Nolan who was sitting beside me and was next to provide an update. As Nolan rambled on, I looked at Keegan again. She appeared almost stoic and wouldn’t look me in the eyes. When I was certain that the others weren’t watching, I nudged her foot under the table and mouthed I love you. She smiled sweetly and mouthed it back to me. That made me relax a tiny bit, but I still had this ache in my stomach that something was wrong.

After dinner, Nolan and Aiden were on cleanup duty, and my dad gestured for me to follow him into Mr. Kelly’s office. He shut the door behind him but it didn't click shut. I sank back into the worn brown leather chair that sat opposite of the desk.

I had sat in this chair hundreds of times, Mr. Kelly used to have it at the Malibu house when it was still their family home on the West Coast. Every time that Nolan and I got in trouble when our families brought us out here in the summers, he would sit us in these chairs and give us a classic lecture about responsible choices. I had never felt so uneasy in Mr. Kelly’s office as I did now. My dad rounded the desk and leaned against the front of it.

“You’ve been dodging my calls.” He crossed his arms.

“I had nothing to say.” I had a defiant edge to my tone.

“I always knew you were an ungrateful little shit, but I didn’t think you were a stupid one.”

“Why am I stupid this time?” I acted bored. Honestly, I was a little bored. It’s the same insults over and over. I was a disappointment, a disgrace to the Cavan name, I got it.

“You’re stupid, my dear son, because you are fucking my business partner’s daughter.”

My eyes snapped to him, “what are you talking about?” I asked, feigning ignorance.