Page 219 of Show Me

The last thing I need is another fucking lecture. I’m tired of people getting in the middle of my business. “Sorry my girlfriend got assaulted.”

Dad goes silent. The clock behind him clicks once. Twice.

Movement catches my attention near the open shop door. Travis has apparently wandered close enough to hear us. He takes one look at Dad. Then me.

“Sorry, man.” He raises both hands and backs into the shop. “Not touching this one.” He pulls the door shut behind him.

Dad’s attention returns to me. “So you’re finally admitting she’s your girlfriend?”

Shit. I look away.

“You’ve spent your whole life pretending you don’t care about things,” he says.

I laugh without humor. “That’s rich coming from you.” Fuck. I rake a hand through my hair. Starting a fight with Dad isn’t going to solve anything. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Dad’s jaw tightens, but instead of getting angry, he nods. “Yeah, you should’ve. It’s my fault.”

That gets my attention.

“When your mom left, I didn’t know what the hell to do. So I worked. Kept busy. Figured if I didn’t talk about it, eventually it wouldn’t hurt.”

We’ve never talked about this. Not once.

“You never said anything.”

“No. And that was a mistake.” He rubs a hand over his jaw. “You stopped talking too.”

“She left us. Never even came back—no birthday cards. No calls. Nothing.” Even after all these years, my eyes burn as I say the words. What kind of mother does that to her child?

Dad’s features tighten. “I know.” He looks down at the desk. “And then Claire dumped you.”

I skirt the desk and drop into Ruby’s chair. “She cheated on me. Said I wasn’t fun anymore because I was depressed.”

Dad’s face changes. “I didn’t know that.”

“Nobody did.”

“Jesus, Xavier.”

I shrug, but there’s nothing casual about it.

Dad looks away. “I should’ve handled things differently. You watched me shut down after your mom left, and then you did the same damn thing.”

“Why did she never come back?”

Dad stands, and for a moment, I don’t think he’s going to answer. He bites his bottom lip before letting out a long breath. “She wanted to go back east. I’d promised her years before that we’d move when you got older, and I changed my mind. Brookhaven was home. You were almost out of high school. I couldn’t uproot everything.”

“That’s why she abandoned me?”

“No.” His voice firms as he walks toward me. “She left because of problems between her and me. She was angry. She blamed me for breaking the family apart, and I think part of her wanted you to blame me too.”

I stare at him. It doesn’t make what she did okay. Nothing ever will. But for the first time, I understand that maybe I wasn’t the reason she left.

Dad grips my shoulder. “What matters now is that you love Ruby.”

Guilt hits immediately. “I hurt her.”

“Yeah. You did.” I appreciate that he doesn’t lie. “But hurting somebody doesn’t mean you stop trying.”