Chapter 22

Daddy really didn't want to leave Rowan the next day, but because he was leaving his job, his boss was relying on him to train his replacement, and Daddy didn't have much choice. Daddy had said they were going to talk about what Rowan wanted to do with his immediate future after dinner tonight, as the talk yesterday had got a little derailed.

Not that Rowan minded. Touching and being touched by Daddy was the best thing ever. Rowan hugged himself delightedly. He wanted to get some laundry done, and Daddy had shown him how to work the slow cooker, so he thought he might have a try with that as well. It was a healthy breakfast day, so Daddy had made Rowan two boiled eggs and wholegrain toast soldiers, which was his favorite, and left some soup and salad fixings for later plus fruit for snacks, which somehow Daddy had found the time to cut up for him before he left.

Daddy had told Rowan he could text him as many times as he needed, and Daddy would call in between meetings as well.

Rowan loaded the washing machine and wandered into the living room. Daddy had left out an e-reader for him as well if he wanted to read, and shared his account, telling him to order whatever books he wanted. Rowan picked it up, really curious to see what Daddy liked to read. He scrolled through a lot of fantasy and science fiction books, then got to one without a cover, simply marked First draft – G. Then another that said G- The Club. Rowan's finger hovered over it indecisively. It had to be Daddy's book, but what was the second one? What if it was private?

Feeling brave, Rowan decided to text and ask if they were private or if he could read them.

Of course. The first is fantasy. A mage is arrested and saves the kingdom. The second is a little closer to home.

Which was a really odd thing to say, but Rowan got the bottle of water he'd promised Daddy he would drink and started on the fantasy. He really wanted to know why Daddy had given it up. Twenty minutes later, Rowan got one of his notebooks and started making notes.

Four hours later, Rowan looked up as his phone rang.

He blinked into focus and eyed his phone. It was a little after two. Then it rang again. Daddy said he would call, but his dad's name flashed on the screen, and he answered it. "Hi Dad." He knew his dad preferred the shortened name.

"Hi Rowan, how are you?"

He glanced down at the copious notes he'd made and managed to stifle the giggle. "I'm doing some editing work for a friend. I was thinking of maybe doing a mixture of that and private math tutoring."

His dad was silent for a moment, and Rowan's initial happiness vanished. "Rowan, I think that's a great idea. I know Hilary has many students that could use extra help, plus she knows a lot of the principals in the area." Rowan blew out a relieved breath. "Is Gabriel there?"

"No, D—Gabriel's at work." He winced a little at the almost slip. "Did you need to talk to him?"

"No, Rowan, I was hoping to see you. I'm only five minutes away. Do you want to meet me for a coffee or one of those milkshakes you like? I can pick you up?"

Rowan smiled. Daddy had said his dad was trying to mend fences, and he knew Daddy would be supportive of him going. "That would be great."

Rowan put his notes on the table next to the e-reader, then he pushed them both into a drawer out of sight because he wanted to show Daddy the notes, not just have him see them. He sent Daddy a text saying where he was going and that his dad was collecting him and Daddy texted back immediately, telling him to have fun. Daddy wouldn't be home until six, and a coffee wasn't going to take that long, so he would still have plenty of time to make sure dinner was ready, plus he was loving Daddy's story and couldn't wait to tell him his ideas. He wasn't sure what Daddy would think of his suggestions, though. He'd sound him out before he told him everything. He'd just locked the door when he saw his dad's BMW pull up and waved. They talked idly while his dad drove, but Rowan started getting the impression that his dad wanted to tell him something. He didn't seem relaxed.

"Is something going on with Mother?"

Dad glanced over at him. "Not that I know of. Why, has she tried to see you again since yesterday?"

Rowan shook his head. But then they arrived at a small pastry shop that had a few tables on the patio outside. It would be closing in an hour, and now that the lunch rush was over, they had the patio to themselves. Rowan opted for a latte. The milkshakes were something between him and Daddy, and it felt wrong to let his dad get him one.

Dad ordered a couple of cherry scones, as they were his favorite, apparently, and Rowan chose a brownie. His dad bit into his scone, chewed, swallowed, then put it down and sighed. Rowan hadn't started his because he knew his dad wanted to tell him something. His dad eyed him. "Rowan, have you withdrawn any funds from your account?"

Rowan gazed at his dad in shock. Of all the questions he might have guessed at, he hadn't expected that one. "Not since…" Rowan thought. "I got a hundred dollars out in cash the Friday you told me you were marrying Hilary." Mother permitted him a hundred dollars every other week for things he might need for school, although that was a separate small account, not the main one. He hadn't told her he hadn't started his classes this year, but he brightened. That was a conversation he didn't need to have now.

His dad leaned back. "Son, don't get angry, but I have to ask, does Gabriel know your bank info? Do you write your passwords down?"

"What?"Rowan asked. "What has Gabriel got to do with anything?" He shook his head. "But no." He didn't say that he didn't even know them.

His dad sighed. "When was the last time you went into the bank or got a statement?"

Rowan flushed and pushed the brownie away. What could he say that wouldn't make him sound like a child? But maybe it was time to be honest. "I've never done either. The only reason I know what's in there is what you tell me." He reddened. "And I don't have a password or a pin number for the account you put money in." Mother said he would forget it.

His dad went very still. "But you wrote checks for your tuition, medical expenses, clothes. You have two credit cards."

Rowan gaped. "Credit cards? I don't have any credit cards and Mother paid my tuition."

His dad frowned, leaning forward. "Rowan, think very carefully. Did you sign any of these checks?" He took out some papers from his jacket pocket. They were photocopies of checks for tuition. Another was a credit card company for seventeen thousand dollars. Rowan looked at the signature. It just said R. Wilson, but he had never seen any of them. "That isn't me. I never signed these, and I would write my full name."

His dad leaned back in the chair and pushed his own half-eaten food away. "For fuck's sake, Janice," he muttered.

Rowan hissed in a surprised breath, and not just because that was the first time he'd ever heard his dad drop an F-bomb. "Mother," he whispered. He looked at the checks, and then at a debit notation. It was for a first-class plane ticket and a luxury car hire in Phoenix for the weekend she told him she was going to see her boyfriend. The one with the little girl. And yet she scolded Rowan all the time when he needed so much as a new pair of shoes. He bought cheap clothes because she said he needed the money for his future, when all the time she'd been spending it. And all she'd had to do was ask. He'd have given her anything.

He sat back, stunned, almost as if someone had slapped him. She'd spent most of his life making Rowan feel guilty for supposedly ruining hers, and this whole time she was doing this. Tears burned his eyes, and he desperately wished Daddy was with him. He felt so stupid that he'd never ever asked.

"I'm sorry, son. It never occurred to me these expenses weren't yours. I never see the credit cards themselves, so she must have opened them and just used your money to pay them off."

"I suppose we need to go to the bank and stop her," Rowan said, dreading the thought of it.

"She must have used the wrong card for the plane ticket by mistake. It's the only reason we can see it, but it's actually worse than that, Rowan," his dad said, regretfully. "I don't look at the account much, even though I can, because it's your money and your business. I just checked the balance online this morning to make sure you had enough."

Rowan smiled at that; in the midst of everything, his dad cared. "It would take some spending." He gestured to the debit slip. "I've never been on a plane in my life." His mother had never allowed him to go anywhere.

His dad hesitated, and that got Rowan's attention. He looked sickened. "At least we know," Rowan offered.

"Rowan, I went into the bank an hour ago when I saw the balance online, because I assumed there was a mistake. Late yesterday afternoon, you apparently initiated an online wire transfer from your account for the daily limit of a hundred thousand dollars. Because I do all my banking there, the daily limit is high. The account had one hundred and three thousand dollars in it, and the transfer and one of the checks you also supposedly wrote has pushed it three thousand dollars into the red."

Completely stunned, Rowan couldn't dredge up any reply.

"I apologize for thinking Gabriel might have had something to do with this, but this seems sudden and reckless even for her, unless she believed she would lose control over your accounts with the restraining order."

"Yesterday?" Rowan asked. "After she violated the order?"

His dad muttered more curse words. "Of course."

"But can't you stop the transfer?" He wasn't sure how it worked. His dad looked at his phone. "I could have then, but I needed to check it wasn't you."

"Or Gabe," Rowan said in understanding, and swallowed down his tight throat. She'd stolen all that money when he'd have given it to her, anyway. At least at one point, he would have. All these years he'd thought she loved him. Was doing the best she could. It had been a harsh two weeks and didn't seem to be getting any better.

"Let me make a quick call," his dad said. Rowan listened while he called the bank, then as they couldn't do anything, he called the detectives that had been involved in the case with the little girl.

"They want me to go in." he said, ending the call, and glanced at his watch again. "Look, I'll drop you back at your apartment. I need to go see what the hell's going on."

All the way back, Rowan tried to convince himself his dad wasn't angry, or at least not with him, but he remembered all the times his dad had checked with him on weekends to ask if he was alright for cash, and Rowan—too ashamed to admit he couldn't access any—had always said yes. If he'd had the guts to stick up for himself, this would never have happened. Rowan felt like he'd stolen the money himself. He wanted to tell his dad he was sorry, but it just sounded so pathetic. Rowan wasn't a child, but he behaved like one. "Sorry," he whispered after a long silence.

"There is no way in hell this is your fault," his dad snapped out. But it was. If he'd taken control, been a damn grown-up, this would never have happened.

Rowan barely heard his dad as he got out of the car, but his dad was distracted as well, and promised to call him later. Then he came to a stop because Daddy's car was in the driveway. He was home early.

Daddy.For a moment, he was so relieved he nearly raced up the steps. Daddy would take care of everything. He…and Rowan's feet seemed to get stuck of their own accord on the first step as something cold seemed to settle in his belly. Was that why he wanted a Daddy? Because he was simply incapable of being a functioning adult? Was this whole thing with Mother his fault? He'd let her run his life, and he was an adult. Did that mean he just wanted someone else to do it because he was too pathetic to manage things on his own? Too lazy? And the worst thought. What if he didn't really love Daddy? What if he just wanted someone to replace his mother?

Nausea flooded Rowan, and he slapped a hand over his mouth, turned, and rushed away. He didn't have his car keys, just his new door key, but he wasn't going inside for them. Because when Daddy found out how stupid and pathetic he'd been, he wouldn't have to worry about not really loving Daddy, because Daddy wouldn't want him, anyway.