Page 30 of Housekeeping

16

Mason

“For crying out loud, Dad!”

I stomped down the hallway because I was fed up. Everything was one big mess and it didn’t seem to be getting any better. I didn’t need this stress in my life.

How could the old man do this to me? To all of us! Whatever his reasons for lying, I was worried about him when I’d decided to go back home. It wasn’t like he never saw me around! Unlike Trent, the prodigal son, and Kevin, the wanderer, I went home a little too much considering I didn’t have to. Maybe that was the issue. I was a sucker for punishment. Then again it was more for the sake of Mom and Emily, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have time for Dad on those trips. I was at the mansion six month ago, and I’d stuck around for a whole two weeks.

What more did he want?

I’d acted like a fucking child, doing everything he’d asked, and for what?

Fuck all!

I quit rugby to learn the ropes of the business. I didn’t like it, but I went along anyway because he wanted me to. He had me going all over the place to take care of hotel dealings. He didn’t do that with Kevin. Or Trent for that matter.

When I’d heard that he wasn’t well, I didn’t think foul play, but then again why should that have been the first thing that came into my mind? I pretty much put my life on hold just to come back for Dad. I was living at the hotel because I thought it would be better than sticking around the mansion. I hate commutes. I had my own home, though in another town where I would have rather lived quietly, as ridiculous as that sounded for me with all the parties I kept having and attending.

Still, it wasn’t like I’d had intentions of living that way my whole life. No matter how angry I was with my dad. Besides, a part of me didn’t like the constant parties. All I did was get wasted and lose even more precious time.

I fucking hated it, I suddenly realized. I hated all of it, staying at the mansion, even my suite room at the hotel was a waste. I’d grown up with money, sure, but the one thing they never tell you about mansions and huge hotel rooms is that the space is too big, too cold. A little too much like the boarding school for me to be comfortable, but then I’d scraped through that in the end.

I made it to the elevator without meeting anyone’s gaze, then pressed the button to take me down to my floor. Once the elevator stopped, I walked quickly to my room and let myself in, then headed straight for the bedroom.

“Ugh,” I groaned, closing my eyes as I fell backward onto my bed. For a moment I just lay there, then my eyes snapped open. Slowly, I sat up. “Emily…”

Emily had been the one to tell me about Dad’s heart attack. I didn’t want to think that way of my sister, but she must have been in on the whole thing. More than angry, it made me feel disappointed in her that she couldn’t even trust me to tell me the truth. Then again, her shifty behavior suddenly made much more sense.

“I’m not letting you off the hook so easily, little sister,” I muttered to myself, getting up.

I picked up the keys to my car on my way out of the room. I didn’t bother taking anything with me just yet because I wasn’t sure exactly what my options were. I could always just leave. There was nothing wrong with quitting in the middle, right? Trent did it, even if he did come back. I might even do it if it meant Dad would meet me and explain things to me.

The feeling of betrayal from my sister flared, and with it, indignation. It cooled down almost immediately because no matter what, Emily was my little sister. Hell, I was pretty sure it was Dad who put her up to the whole thing. Emily would never have come up with an idea like that on her own. Dad must have pushed her into it. That made more sense than my sister playing a trick on me with something as serious as a heart attack.

I headed out of the hotel, then bee-lined for the parking lot. I unlocked my car then jumped into the seat.

Several thoughts swirled in my head on the drive back. Why did Emily or Dad feel they’d been pushed to this point? I assumed there was a reason he faked being ill then refused for us to see him. I wasn’t sure if I even still wanted to know, considering everything.

Everything was rushing around in my mind like a hurricane and it was making feel as if I was going insane. I needed to calm the fuck down. I couldn’t go on like this. I kept thinking about calming down one minute and then the next my anger would boil inside me like hot lava. It was as if I was a volcano ready to explode.

I thought about Laura and her sweet body in my arms and it made me feel whole again. It worked for a while, but then I thought about the way things are between us and I got angry again. I needed to control myself. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed my sister. She picked up quickly.

“Hey, Mason,” she chirped. “I’m in the kitchen right now, so can I call you back?”

I could hear some sounds in the background that proved her story, but I wasn’t in the mood to be patient. I started to get angry once again, not because of Emily but because of Dad.

“I’m home and I want to see you right now, Emily.”

The tone of my voice must have been enough to clue her in that this was something serious because she didn’t come back with a refusal. Usually, she’d tell me to wait for her.

“Where are you?” she asked with a sigh.

“I’m at the front door. Just tell me where to meet you and I’ll go there. Or you can come pick me up in the foyer.”

“It’s fine. Just head over to the lounge, all right? I’ll be there soon.”

I hung up. Though we had more than one lounge in the mansion, besides the large living room we also had, I knew the one she meant. I headed over there, then picked a seat and slumped into it, folding my arms across my chest.