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Chapter One
Michael’s words hungin the air over the table for nearly thirty seconds before anyone dared to say anything else.
“Did you think your secret would never come to the surface? Did you think you could get away with it?”
Elise’s hands shook across her thighs. Dean Swartz’s eyes bore through his grandson’s. Cindy, the nervous sister, leaped up from her chair, grabbed a bottle of wine from the far end of the table, and said, “I don’t see why we have to get into all that right now...”
This broke the spell. Dean cleared his throat, watching as his eldest daughter, Cindy, pour him a hefty glass of merlot. He lifted the glass to his lips, sipped with his eyes closed, then returned his gaze to Michael.
“Michael. Did you come here to defame me?” he asked. His voice was guarded, somber.
Michael, who had created this set-up, hadn’t expected his grandfather to react so calmly. But Dean Swartz was a businessman, a cool and calculated character. He wasn’t the kind to let his long-lost grandson rattle his chains so easily.
Michael’s smile waned. His eyes turned toward Wayne, his father-figure, maybe the only person he trusted in the world.
Cindy staggered back into her chair. She then grabbed the spatula from the lasagna platter and asked, “Does anyone want a slice?” But nobody responded to her. Everyone was focused on Dean and Michael, Michael and Dean. Even Elise—the subject of the stand-off was allowed a moment of calm.
“Because if you think you wish to corner me, pin me down, suggest elements of my life that you could never understand, I could do the very same to you,” Dean Swartz continued.
All the color drained from Michael’s cheeks. He turned his eyes toward his plate. Elise was reminded of when she had caught Bradley drinking underage and had had to corner him and make sure he was all right.
“If you want to play this kind of game, son, then I suggest you keep your head up,” Dean continued. “None of us in this room knew where you were for the previous three years. Your mother spent every night gazing out the window, wondering where you might have gone—hoping for a message from you. That message never came. As far as I can tell, you just arrived here suddenly and expected us all to accept you back with love and compassion. That’s very nearly what we’ve managed. But now? Now, I’ve heard enough.”
“Dad, please...”
Cindy’s voice was weak as her father stood.
“The meal looks beautiful, Cindy. Tracey,” Dean said. His eyes scanned across Elise’s for a moment, and his cheek twitched.
He must know in his heart that this is true.
But I didn’t plan this. This wasn’t how it should have gone.
Michael really made a mess of things.
“Dad, I don’t want this to be messed up any more than it already is,” Cindy whispered. “Please, I don’t want him to go...”
“And that’s another thing,” Dean said. “We shouldn’t have to live in some kind of strange, fearful environment, never knowing if you’ll march out the door again, never to call or write or...” He shook his head with disdain. “We’ve given you everything, Michael.”
Michael’s eyes were hard. “I’m not going to leave, Mom. You don’t have to be afraid of that.”
Cindy’s eyes glowed with sadness.
“But this whole, ‘we’ve given you everything, Michael’ mentality is a lot of the reason I kissed this island goodbye for so long,” Michael continued.
Dean scoffed. He turned his head back toward the foyer and said, “I don’t have the patience for this.”
He hustled toward the foyer, his golden retriever leaping after him. Cindy placed her face in her hands. Wayne tilted his head and glared at Michael, then mouthed,“You really couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
Michael’s lower lip quivered. Tracey stared down at her plate.
And Elise watched as her father marched the rest of the way toward the front door, yanked the door handle open, and disappeared into the night.
“Wait!” she cried suddenly.
Nobody had the reflex to stop her. She whipped down the long hallway and then paused in the doorway, panting, as Dean Swartz peered at her. His face echoed back his curiosity and his anger.
“I just wanted you to know that I didn’t plan for this,” Elise gasped. “I didn’t know Michael planned this dinner, for one but for two...” She bit hard on her lower lip, genuinely at a loss. “For two, I never wanted to cause you any pain. I just wanted answers. I wanted to understand this huge shadow that had hung over my life since my birth.”
