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“I don’t care, it’s the spirit of the thing!”
“Don’t be like this, Daddy.”
This is my opportunity. I can either keep this hatred going, let him resent me more and more, make every time I come to see Nicole some big battle, or I can try to make him understand how I feel about his daughter. We can end this cycle of pointless hatred.
“Sir,” I say, maintaining maximum respect. “May I have a word with you? Privately? I’d like to talk this out.”
He crosses his arms. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
Nicole, though, is on my side. “Daddy, there’s plenty to talk about. You just need to allow it. I’m not going to cut Nelson out of my life just because you say I have to.”
Her father scowls at her. “You would if you knew what was good for you. I’m just protecting you.”
“And I don’t need your protection. I’m twenty-two years old. I’m legally and realistically an adult, Dad. I graduated college. I’m capable of taking care of myself. I could walk out that door right now and never come to see you again if I wanted to, and it would be my right.”
“Nicole, don’t be like this.”
“And I’m asking you not to be like this, Daddy. I don’t want to cut you out of my life. I love you. But I would love it if you didn’t make me choose.”
Benjamin hesitates. “He’s a Rowdy, sweetheart. Do you know what his family did to us?”
“His family? Yeah. A century ago. But Nelson himself has done nothing. You can either start listening or I will walk out that door, Daddy. And you won’t see me again until you remove your head from your ass.”
I smile. She’s got fire, and an iron will. It takes more than beauty to win over a Rowdy boy’s heart.
“Sir,” I speak up. “Can we talk? Just the two of us? I’m sure we can understand one another better with honest words than snide quips.”
Benjamin looks between us. He clearly loves his daughter, and being confronted like this is making him wonder if he hates me more than he loves her.
Love may just win this battle yet. “Fine. Come on in, boy. We’ll go to my office.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Nicole smiles at me, having full belief in me resolving this feud once and for all.
I enter the McCormick mansion, and it’s way more posh than the Rowdy home. I guess I should have expected as much. There are lots of pictures on the wall, a lot of them black and white and grainy enough to suggest they aren’t from any modern photo studio.
Following Benjamin into his office, he closes the door behind me. I realize I’m somewhere no Rowdy has ever tread before, and take mental note of my surroundings. Lots of plush chairs, and a desk with an executive chair behind it. More pictures on the walls, getting older and older until there’s one that’s an actual painting.
“Well, boy. Speak up. Make me not regret letting you stink up our house.”
“Damn, you don’t ever stop, do you?”
“Sorry. Habit.”
I take in a deep breath. I practiced this in the mirror a bit, but I’ve forgotten everything but the rough points of what I wanted to say. “What’s the whole point of this family feud, anyway?”
“Hmm? Are you really that ignorant? Are you as dumb as I always thought the Rowdys were?”
“I am not. I just never got the full story. My dad just said we shouldn’t approach McCormicks. That they’re posh and haughty, and that their family tree should have a lot more branches than it does.”
He raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”
“That you fuck your cousins. And closer relatives on top of that.”
Benjamin can’t help but laugh. “And we say the same thing about you. That your family reunion is more often than not where you people meet your one true love.”
I shrug. “It’s not like that. And I’m thinking what we think about you isn’t right either. Doesn’t answer my question though. Tell me a story, Papa McCormick. What’s this whole feud about?”
