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“Hesitated,” I say flatly. “For an entire year.” I wave my hand dismissively, the old insecurities rushing back. “Never mind. I left four years ago with only a shitty note. You don’t owe me anything.”
I never asked you for anything and I never—
“We do,” Mags says, breaking into my thoughts. “We owe you quite a lot, Holden.”
“Beginning with how we stayed silent when my brother told us his plans for you,” Reg says, his voice grave. “We both felt—your aunt and I—that that kind of therapy was wrong, and that Charles and Estelle were making a terrible mistake.”
“But you didn’t say anything.”
“No, we didn’t,” Mags says, meeting my eye. “And we should have.”
“Charles has always been the king of our family since we were young children,” Reg says. “He was your grandparents’ favorite—they were just as ruthless as he is. The only way to deal with him has been to not rock the boat. And, to be blunt, he owns majority stock in the Parish oil holdings. If he wanted to make our retirement difficult, he could.”
“But Reginald and I don’t need as much as we thought we did. Fancy cars and houses on two continents…” Mag shakes her head. “It’s unnecessary. And vastly less important than you.”
I sit back in the chair. “What are you saying?”
“We’re saying we have disowned your parents,” Reg says. “We have cut them out of our lives, divested ourselves of any joint financial ventures, and have requested they never contact us again.”
I feel like at any second, they’re going to burst out laughing and point at me for falling for the joke.
“Why…?” I clear my throat and try again. “Why would you do that?”
Mags and Reg exchange glances and she slips her hand into his.
“You were only with us for a year. And we hardly saw you—you kept to yourself so much.”
Despite their constant invitations that I spend time with them.
“But we enjoyed having you, Holden,” Reg says. “We don’t have children of our own—we’ve been living off the Parish fortune without so much as lifting a finger in a meaningful way. But having you with us felt like we were doing something important.”
“And when you disappeared, it hurt more than either of
us expected.” Mags blinks hard. “We missed you.”
My gaze darts between them and I wish I hadn’t let River leave. But he isn’t here to lean on. A storm of emotions swirls in me, and it’s up to me to know which are real and true and which are only going to hurt me.
“I missed you too,” I say and know instantly it’s the truth.
Mags’s eyes are full. “A year was far too long to deliberate what we already knew in our hearts the moment you left.”
“We don’t expect you to forgive us, but if you do…” Reg pauses, and I’m shocked to see tears in his eyes too. “If you do, well…that would make us very happy.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. I should thank you for putting up with me my last year of high school. I was a pain in the ass—”
“You never were. Never.”
What is happening right now?
“We’re neighbors now,” Mags continues. “It doesn’t have to happen overnight but…maybe we could have dinner with you and River sometime?”
“How about tonight?” I blurt, the words falling out of my mouth without my permission.
She gives a small, delighted laugh. “Really? Why…we’d love to.”
Uncle Reginald nods. “We’d like that very much.”
“Great. I just have to make a phone call. Be right back.”
