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“She was in a car accident and died when I was eight.”
I reached out and grabbed is hand. “That’s terrible. Did your dad—”
“My father died last year.”
“So, after your mother passed, what happened to you?”
“My father showed up to claim me. I’d never met him before. But my mother had life insurance, and I was underage, so he jumped at that opportunity.” So much hate marred Jack’s voice, I thought he could bend steel just from the scary sound of it. “He lived down the street from Cal, which is how we met. Been friends ever since.”
“I’m glad you met Cal and still have him in your life,” I whispered. “That must have been hard.”
He scoffed. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago.”
I nodded. I was afraid to press the subject, but the need for him to keep going was too heavy. “Brothers,” I said, repeating Cal’s words from when I’d been between them both in the bar. “Cal said you two were like brothers.”
“Yes, close as brothers.”
“Did your dad—”
“My father is not a man I want to discuss.” Something very dark laced Jack’s face. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
I sat back in my chair, and stared at my crust for a minute. He put another piece of pizza on my napkin, and waited for me to say something. It was only fair. I was asking a lot of him. Though nothing I could come up with seemed really great. But he was interested in me, so that made a happy heat rise in my chest.
“My mother is not around, hasn’t been for a long time,” I said. “She left my dad when I was young, and I haven’t seen her since. She’s in Florida somewhere. We’ve had a couple calls and a few cards over the years, but that’s it.”
“So your dad raised you?”
“Until he married my step-mother.”
He nodded. “Ah, the infamous step-brother from the first night I met you.”
“Yeah. Brock.”
“You said you don’t like him?”
There was way more to it than that, but I was trying to push those memories out, not rehash them.
“No, I don’t.”
“He’s a VanBuren. Of Case-VanBuren,” he stated.
“Yeah, that’s my dad’s company.”
He looked at me for a long moment. It was no surprise he knew of it. It wasn’t a big time investment firm, but it was decently well known.
“What’s your stake in the company?” he asked, as if it was a totally normal question.
“I don’t have one. I don’t even work there.” I shook my head, realizing how much had changed in the past couple of weeks. I still wanted to work there, because it would make me a part of my father’s world. Someone he believed in and supported. But Jack had been an amazing gift that allowed me to focus on other things, instead of getting consumed with this need of approval. Which, if I were honest, was still very much present. Another thing I was working on. “I’m just gearing up to be a grad student.”
It was all I was at the moment. Maybe, one day, things could be different, but my father made it clear that I provided little value to him, especially when dealing with the company.
“You should be proud.”
I shrugged. “I am, my dad has a name, and his company, and—”
“I’m talking about you. You should be proud of yourself.”
I stared at him, and could see he was serious. “You work hard, manage expectations from others, and yourself, and chase your goals. That’s strength.”
