38. Money And Greed

38

MONEY AND GREED

V an left Kelsey's house on Sunday morning.

She'd thought they'd spend the day together, but he had other plans.

He texted his father that he wanted to talk and he wanted to do it when Kelsey wasn't around.

It took his father twenty minutes to reply and he knew it was on purpose.

He wasn't going to get worked up though.

His phone rang and he answered. "Hi, Van," his father said. "It took you weeks to get back to me. How come?"

"Why are you on Amore Island?" he asked.

There was silence after that. "How did you know?"

"Don't play games with me," he said. "I'm not as stupid as you think I am."

"It took you two days to figure it out," his father said.

"Actually it didn't. It's just when I decided to call. Come to my place so we can talk in person." He hung up after that.

He guessed his father was still here and it worked in his favor.

Ten minutes went by and there was a knock at his front door.

He opened it to look at the man who fathered him but wasn't much of a father for most of his life.

"Moving up in the world," his father said. "Fancy digs. But of course, it's not like you bought it."

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I'd heard you moved a few months ago. You didn't go back on the force. I figured you were too chicken shit to do it and was giving you space."

He snorted. "I almost died," he said. "You know that and you came to see me and all you did was spew shit in my face about Mom. You're doing it now. If that is the only reason you came all this way, I'm not sure why you bothered."

His father walked around the house. "I thought there had to be a reason you left. You couldn't do anything else other than what you were so I did some digging and saw that Barry had died when you were recovering. I started to wonder if you got what should have gone to your mother all along."

"Meaning if it went to Mom, when she died it would have gone to you?" he asked. He knew his father was greedy, but he hadn't expected this.

"Yeah," his father said. "I'm looking at this place. It's got to be worth a few million. That means he had to be doing well enough to buy this place. I figured it'd be this tiny little cottage that your mother used to talk about coming to as a kid."

"Mom talked about Amore Island?" he asked.

"She always made shit up about this place. That your grandfather was going to buy her a dream home here. All he did was try to control her with money he didn't have."

"Guess you were the one that got fooled," he said. "Because he had it."

"He didn't back then," his father said, letting out a snort.

"Why did you keep Mom from him?" he asked.

"Because he was poison," his father said. "He always told her things that wouldn't come true, letting her down time and again and making her miserable to be around. Your grandmother died after he'd filled her head with false statements that he'd pay anything to get her better. He never kept his word on anything. Not being there for your grandmother or your mother. I made sure Lauren remembered that."

This was all news to him. "You can't control that shit," he said.

"Nope," his father said. "You can't. And it messed your mother up good. I got her away. She wanted to leave him. She hated him for lying to her."

"Did you love her?" he asked, shaking his head.

"I did," his father said. "Back then I wanted to protect her and the best way to do that was to get away. She had no problem leaving."

"But she wanted to come back," he said. "A few times. You wouldn't have liked that, would you?"

The look on his father's face said enough.

"You don't understand shit," his father said. "Your mother loved me. She depended on me. She had no problem with the life I gave her. And when your grandfather showed up after you were born, it only pissed me off. I told her he was playing with her again. He was going to make promises he couldn't keep like he always did. She'd get hurt once again and maybe I wouldn't be there for her."

Mind games like always.

"So you lied to her?" he asked. "Just like she asked you to let her father know she was dying and to come to the funeral, but you didn't. Why? Why would you deny her that last request if you say you loved her?"

Which he doubted since his father was having an affair.

"The old man did nothing for your mother for years. Gave her nothing but grief. And when we realized that he was actually turning it around and had money, he'd come to her to help. Her . Nothing for me. Said that he'd make sure everything was only left to her and that there'd be no way I'd touch any of it."

"So control that he had and you wouldn't like that?" he asked.

"No one should keep things like that between a husband and a wife. We were married and what was mine was hers and it should be the other way too. I supported her for years and there was no reason I shouldn't get what was hers."

Van shook his head. "You denied two people a chance to say goodbye to each other over money and greed?" he asked. "I don't understand why she wouldn't ask me to get in touch with my grandfather and not you."

His father snorted. "I told her I didn't want Barry there. She knew that. She said she'd ask you and I changed my mind and said I'd do it."

"You lied to her again?!" he shouted. "You were cheating on her and you lied even more when she was dying. You couldn't even give her any kind of peace before she went?"

"She was out of it by then," his father said, shaking his head and holding back a laugh. "I was tired. I couldn't do it anymore. The care and everything else. Nothing was going to stop what was happening. Our marriage was over; she didn't even realize I was there half the time. And Barry was such a dick to her for years. He had it coming to him to not know what was going on. He didn't get to say goodbye to his daughter and I didn't get what should have been hers. We both lost something."

"You're a sick monster," he said. "I can't believe your mind is that twisted. That you could just lie to her face as much as you have."

"Sometimes it's better that people don't know what is going on," his father said. His father's face was red, but his voice wasn't rising much. "I gave her a great life whether you want to believe it or not. You're just pissed because she kept all of this from you too. Remember that. She never told you about her father either. I'm not the only one to blame here."

He didn't like those words being thrown at him.

His mother could have told him at any point and hadn't.

"Because you told her lies about her father," he said. "You made her believe something that wasn't true."

His father laughed. "Barry wanted nothing to do with Lauren once she said that she wasn't going to move back with me. She told her father she wanted nothing of his if he wasn't going to allow me to have part of it. Your mother was committed to me."

"That might have been her biggest mistake," he said. "Committing to you. What I don't understand is why you're here now. Why you've come to me. You see what I've got and you think you're going to get some of it from me? None of that makes sense. If you wanted it that badly you would have tried to have a relationship with Barry. You would have tried for the sake of Mom."

"Your grandfather knew I was having affairs," his father said, shrugging. "He told me that he'd tell your mother. I couldn't risk a divorce and having her take half of everything I worked for."

Yet his father thought he was entitled to half of what his mother should have gotten.

"Now we're getting to the heart of it," Van said. "That is why you lied about him."

But he couldn't understand why Barry didn't push the issue to get the information to his daughter.

"Your mother was weak like you. She'd believe anything I said." It was the cocky tone that made him want to deck the man that raised him. "She didn't want to think she'd made such a mistake and thrown away all of what she could have had."

"You told her that her father would make things up for her to hate you, didn't you? So that she wouldn't believe anything about your affairs?"

His father grinned. "It wasn't that hard to do."

None of this was adding up. "Why are you here? Why are you confessing this all to me now?"

"I'm not doing it for me," his father said, shrugging. "I met someone. We've got a kid coming."

He snorted. "Someone younger than you obviously."

"It doesn't matter, but yes. It's going to be your half-sibling. I want to make sure Brittany and the baby are taken care of when I'm not around. That would be you. You've got the money for it. Do the right thing."

"You're joking," he said. "Seriously delusional. I'm going to honor Barry's wish and make sure nothing of his goes to you or your bastard child. You're a sick motherfucker playing mind games on everyone in life and if this woman wants to believe what you say, not my problem. You're going to go back and trash me to her, so do it. It won't bother me in the least."

"You know why your mother and Barry never talked again?" his father snarled. It was the first he was actually losing his temper.

"I'm sure you're going to tell me. And I'm sure you're going to make it up anyway."

"No," his father said. "I'm not. Your grandfather called your mother a whore for sleeping with me before marriage. He was old-fashioned that way. No woman wants to be called a whore. Not when they were a virgin and with someone they loved. Your mother could never forget those words. Ever. It didn't take much on my end to keep her hating the guy by bringing up that fight during her grief over the loss of her mother."

"Get the hell out of my house," he snapped. "Don't come back. Don't contact me. Lose my number. I don't care. I don't exist to you anymore. You're good at doing that to people, so do it now."

When his father stormed out of his house Van just stared at the closed door.

He didn't want to believe anything his father said, but there was too much truth to it.

Barry had said he had regrets and made mistakes. But could that one argument have been the crutch to keep the hatred going for years?

An hour later there was a knock at his door and he wasn't surprised to see Kelsey there.

"What happened with your father?" she asked.

"How did you know I talked to him?"

"I'm not that stupid," she said. "I drove by and saw a rental here and then came back and now it's gone. Are you going to tell me you didn't talk to him?"

"No," he said.

"Will you tell me what was said?" He relayed it all to her. "What a dick," she said.

"That's a much milder word than I'd use," he said. "But there you go. Money and greed and manipulation. Then has the nerve to say he wants part of it for some other kid he's going to mess up in the head."

"You're not messed up in the head, Van," she said. "Don't think that."

"Hard not to," he said.

"I'm not going to argue with you. You're going to have to come to terms on your own with that."

"Just like everything else in my life," he said. "Is it true what he said about being called a whore? Does a woman think that way?"

"I don't know," she said. "I was pissed off about seeing the word and when you just told me about it I thought right away it had to be your father that did it."

"No," he said. "If he knew about you, he would have thrown that in my face too. He would have found a way to insult me that I was only with you for your money."

She laughed. "Come on now. I know why you're with me and it's not because of the money."

"Why is it?" he asked.

"Because I bring a light into your life during all the darkness," she said seriously. He expected a joke and what he got was heartfelt words he needed more than he needed to breathe.

"You do," he said, pulling her close. "Which is why I love you."

"Ahh," she said. "See, you've got good timing when you say the words."

"Don't make me wish I didn't say that just now by picking on me," he said.

"I'm sorry. It's what I think you need in your life. Don't people who love each other do those things?"

"They do," he said. Not that he'd ever seen that with anyone in his life before.

After everything his father just said, his parents' marriage was all about lies and control.

No one did anything for the other.

Which might not be true.

It seemed to him his mother was loyal and even tried to keep his father in the picture, which caused the rift to begin with.

And now those people were gone and it could never be repaired.

"I know it had to be hard talking to your father, but how do you feel right now?"

"I feel unsettled but in control. Sounds stupid."

"No," she said. "It doesn't. You're in control because now you know who the bad guy was all along. Barry admitted he was at fault and it seems your mother was too. Sorry if you don't want to hear that."

"I know it. Everyone has some blame here, but my father was the worst offender. To think he could come here now and try what he had was ridiculous."

"Do you think he would have left the island telling you nothing if you didn't call him today?"

"I do," he said. "I'm starting to think that he had to swallow his pride to come here, and once he realized my attitude toward him never changed, he decided to play his head games. He wanted me to have the last memories of my mother in my head of being a whore. Or being stupid enough to fall for his bull shit."

"Only you can keep those memories there, Van. Don't let him win."

"You're right. My mother wasn't any of those things. She was loyal even if it was to a fault."

"Think of it that way. We all make mistakes in life and this is no different. You can't fix a thing and you shouldn't let it control you. You're unsettled because your heart is telling you what I am, but you're fighting what you've believed for years."

"You're right," he said.

"What?" she asked. "Can you say that again?"

He laughed. "You're right, Kelsey. This is in my hands. Just like you are too."

"I like the way you think."