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“I want you to leave.”
He lowers his eyes to mine. “Livia… please don’t do this. I didn’t come here to cause trouble for you or your family. All I want is to talk to you… to apologize. I jumped to conclusions. I—”
“Yes, you did… and now you’ve worked that out, you can go.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t you love me at all?”
“Of course I do,” I yell. “But my love for you doesn’t give you the right to judge me.”
“I know. I realize how many mistakes I’ve made, but can you please try to understand what that man did to my family?”
“What did he do?” I say, unable to keep the sarcasm from my voice. “Did he steal a few of your precious millions?”
“No… well, yes, he did. But that’s not the point. When your father defrauded…”
“He’s not my father. I don’t even know the man you’re talking about.” I step back slightly and point to my dad. “This is my father.”
Hunter holds up his hands, surrendering to my outburst. “Okay. I’m sorry. I’ll start that again. When Ken Bevan defrauded my dad, he took a lot more than money. He stole what little faith my father had in the world and changed him beyond recognition. I’ve told you enough already for you to know that Theodore Bennett would never have won any awards as a human being, let alone a husband, or parent, but from the day he discovered what Ken Bevan had done, he was never the same again. He became even harder, even more distant. It was only a few months after Ken’s arrest that Mom left us. I don’t know exactly why she went. You know that. But the two things have to be connected. She’d had years of being ignored, years of Dad being absent from the family home. I’m fairly sure she knew he’d been having an affair for most of their marriage… but for some reason, she couldn’t take it anymore, and she walked away. Drew and Ella don’t remember what it was like. I’ve already explained that neither of them remember Mom, or the fights, or her tears, or what Dad was capable of. But I do. I’m sorry, but what Ken Bevan did… it robbed us of our mom and broke us as a family. So, it wasn’t just about the damn money, Livia… not for the three of us.”
He stops talking, breathing hard, and I stare up at him, seeing the years of pain in his eyes.
“I’m sorry too, Hunter. I didn’t know about any of this, and I didn’t realize the timing of it.”
He takes a half step forward. “I get that. At least, I do now. Please believe me, I’m sorry for everything I’ve said and done. I’m not my father… or I don’t want to be.” He closes the gap a little more, standing right in front of me. “I know I’ve hurt you, and I’ll do anything to make it up to you. Just tell me what I have to do… what I have to say…”
I shake my head at him. “I’m not ready, Hunter.”
“Not ready for what?”
“To forgive you. To trust you again. I need time.”
He looks a little despondent, but takes a deep breath. “That’s okay. Is there anything else you need?”
“I don’t know.”
He frowns. “Do you need me?”
“I just said. I don’t know.”
His shoulders drop. “Do you still want me to leave?”
Do I? “I think it would be for the best.” Even as I’m saying the words, I doubt them. Sure, I’m angry, and I don’t feel ready yet, but how are we ever gonna work this out, if we don’t talk?
The problem is, I need to be calmer before we do.
He nods his head, although I can tell he’s not happy. “Before I go, I’ve got something for you.”
He doesn’t wait for me to reply, but walks back to his car, opening the trunk and reaching inside. He pulls out my bag… the one I packed on Friday morning to take to Newport, and closing the trunk, he turns, coming back up the path again.
“I stayed in a hotel in Portland last night, and remembered I had my bag in the trunk. Yours was in there, too, and I realized you probably don’t have many clothes with you.”
“No. They’re at your place.”
He nods his head, putting the bag down by my feet. “Do you need anything else? I can bring it up for you… whatever it is.”
“You’d drive all the way to Boston and back again?”
“Of course. Why? What do you need?”
