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‘You have?’ And then a horrible thought struck. ‘Are you ill?’
His dad shook his head. ‘Nothing like that.’
That was a relief. His dad needed to be punished for his crime, but Matt didn’t want him dead.
‘I told them I wanted to attend my grandson’s wedding.’ He held his arms open, as if to say, ‘How clever is that?’
Matt stilled. ‘You know about the wedding?’
‘Sure. Your mum wrote and told me the good news.’
‘But… you barely know Zac. You’ve only met him a handful of times.’
‘Through no fault of mine,’ he said, indignantly. ‘That stuck-up father of his stopped me seeing him.’
Matt wasn’t a huge fan of his half-brother, but he fully understood why Chris hadn’t wanted an impressionable young kid visiting ‘Grandpa’ in prison.
Matt rubbed his neck. ‘Are you even invited to the wedding?’ He couldn’t imagine he would be. He wasn’t even sure invites had been sent out yet.
‘Why wouldn’t I be? I’m the kid’s grandpa. Zac’s a man now. He can make up his own mind who comes to the wedding, and I’ve no doubt he’ll invite me. You wait and see.’
‘Right.’ Technically, he was the kid’s step-granddad, but he didn’t feel pointing that out would be useful.
‘Just think, all of us together again, like a proper family.’ His dad sounded wistful.
A proper family? Was the man for real?
Matt felt he had to manage his dad’s expectations. It wouldn’t be fair to let him think everything would be okay once he left prison. ‘You do know Leah and I have moved out, Dad? We don’t live at home with Mum any more.’
His dad frowned. ‘But we can have family dinners together? Arrange card nights and trips to the zoo. That’d be fun, wouldn’t it?’ His dad looked so hopeful, Matt didn’t have the heart to point out that his kids were twenty-nine and thirty-two, respectively, and a little old for trips to the zoo.
But it wouldn’t be fair to string him along, either. ‘Things might not return to how they were, Dad. You do realise that, don’t you?’
His dad frowned. ‘How do you mean?’
‘You’ve been away for ten years. Life has moved on, we’re all different people now. Grown up. There might need to be some adjustment, it’s not a case of slotting straight back into your old routine.’
His dad shrugged. ‘Ten years banged up gives a man time to think. I’ve had enough of being shut away with a bunch of criminals. I want my freedom. I want my family, and I want my life back. That’s what keeps me going. You’ll see – once I’m out of here, things will be as if I never went away.’
Never went away? His dad made it sound like he’d been on an extended vacation, not served a decade in prison for manslaughter. And besides, it might be what his dad wanted, but was it what everyone else wanted? He doubted it. But he never got the chance to voice his concerns because the buzzer sounded, indicating that their time was up.
His dad stood up and opened his arms, a repeat gesture from earlier. ‘Thanks for coming, son. You take care now.’
Matt hugged his dad. ‘You too, Dad.’
‘See you next month?’
‘Sure.’ It wasn’t like he had much of a choice.
‘We can chat more about the wedding,’ he said, patting his belly. ‘You might have to fix me up with a suit. I’m not as fit as I was. I have to make my family proud. Can’t let the side down.’
Except he already had. Big time.
Matt walked away, nodding a goodbye.
Visits to the prison always left him feeling morose. It wasn’t just the depressing building, or the sight of sad families trying to make the most of their restricted time together. It was the sense of loss, like leaving a puppy in kennels when you went on holiday. Not that his dad was cute and cuddly. Hell, no. But prison wasn’t a kind place. Fights regularly broke out, misdemeanours happened daily. His dad had survived his stretch so far, but it was an unnerving experience walking away each time.
There was also the sadness of missing out on having a proper relationship with him, as one half-hour visit per month wasn’t enough to keep them bonded. His dad was stuck in a time warp, his life paused, whereas the rest of them had moved on.
