“He left her for being different?”
I nodded. “He quietly had divorce papers drawn up, and less than a year later married my robo-stepmother. There is nothing more important to my father than image.” The words rang so true in my head. I hadn’t spoken with the man since I moved. Since he told me I’d f**ked up, and was an embarrassment to him. It wasn’t like I was arrested for DUI. My wife cheated on me, and yes it made the papers. Shouldn’t a father be supportive and be there for a son in a situation like that? Not mine. Nope. Out of sight, out of mind.
“Is that what he did with you?” she asked.
“What? Cut me off? Yeah, but I wasn’t living on his money anyway. Every dime he’s ever given me, I’ve put away and invested. I worked throughout college to pay for all my expenses, and have been living off my own income ever since. I knew my father wasn’t reliable, and didn’t want to ever be financially dependent on him,” I explained.
Apparently I had inherited one thing from him, a good financial sense. Planning for my eventual banishment was the best thing I could have ever done, but it meant that I always knew he would eventually do so. Well I had news for him, if he ever wanted to take a look at my stock portfolio he would find out that I’d learned quite a lot from him over the years. The small amounts of money he’d given me for graduations, living expenses and other accomplishments had grown exponentially. I was worth millions.
Thanks Daddy.
“So are you going to your mom’s wedding?” Clare asked cautiously, leaning back in her chair as she sipped her cup of coffee.
“No,” I answered immediately.
“Logan. She’s your mother.”
“Only on paper. She gave up all rights to me and left me with that man. Alone.” I snapped.
Her elegant fingers wrapped around my arm tenderly, making me regret my bitter words.
“Just think about it, okay? We could go with you. I’d like to meet her, to know someone in your family.”
That was the last thing I wanted. Bringing her and Maddie into the batshit crazy world of the Matthew’s family? Hell no. But more than that, I wanted to make her happy. So I just nodded.
“Okay, we’ll go.”
Chapter Twelve
~Logan~
“God, Logan, would you stop fidgeting? It’s going to be fine,” Clare said as I pulled into the packed driveway of the upscale neighborhood.
Fine. Sure, whatever.
“Dad was very kind to Ethan when they first met. His black eye healed quite quickly,” she assured me, completely serious, as my eyes widened in horror. She was silent for what seemed like forever before she broke out into explosive laughter, actually grabbing her side and doubling over.
“Not funny, Clare,” I muttered.
“Oh my God. Not true. That was hilarious! Maddie, that was funny right?”
I heard Maddie giggle from the backseat.
Evil women.
“You seriously have no idea what I’m going through, do you?” I wailed, shaking my head in disbelief.
“Logan, they're going to love you. You need to calm down. It’s not like my Dad is going to take one look at you and know every single sordid detail of our relationship,” she said with a wink.
Thank God for that. I don’t think I would be living if he knew the things I had done with Clare. To Clare. In Clare.
Okay. New train of thought. Definitely didn’t want to be walking in there with a hard-on.
Bad, bad idea.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I said, grabbing the bottle of wine Clare had picked out as a hostess gift.
We got Maddie out of her bright pink car seat that had now taken residence in my SUV for the past two weeks. After installing it one afternoon when we were headed for the movies, it just stayed. I think Clare actually went out and bought another one so we wouldn’t have to switch. Seeing that permanent fixture in my car did something to me, and made me feel important to Maddie’s life in a small way. It felt like we were taking a stepping stone to something bigger.
As we made our way to the front door, Maddie grabbed both of our hands, yelled “One, Two, Three!!” as we lifted her up, one arm each and swung her, laughing as she squealed with delight. Three months ago I would never have known how to play this little game, and now it had become second nature.
Clare didn’t bother knocking, just opened her parents front door yelling “Mom! We’re here!” She got a response back from the backyard telling her everyone was outside. We sat the bottle of wine down in the updated kitchen decorated in muted tans, cherry wood and stainless steel.
“Nice kitchen,” I commented.
“My parents’ present to each other now that they are finally tuition free for the first time in years.”
“Speaking of which, is your brother going to be here?” I asked, wanting to meet the elusive brother with the very demanding job.
“I think so. Mom said he should be, assuming he doesn’t have any last minute assignments. I haven’t seen him in ages.”
Clare opened the slider to the backyard. Maddie immediately took off, headed for the swing set that I’m assumed was placed in the corner of the lot especially for her. I don’t know how my parents would react to me having a child, but I know they wouldn’t build a swing set or take her overnight if needed. That was what Nannies were for.
The large yard was filled with quite a few people for the afternoon cookout, including Leah who joined Maddie at the swings.
When I asked Clare what the occasion was, she just looked at me confused and said, “No occasion, just a cookout.”
Apparently they had them all the time. My family needed a reason to gather, otherwise why bother?
Clare pulled us towards an older couple standing near the center of the yard, chatting with several guests.
Clare fell naturally into the woman’s arms, and they embraced lovingly. “Hi Mom.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” Clare’s mom said in reply.
She exchanged similar greetings with her father, the man’s eyes never leaving mine. Clare was kidding about her dad roughing me up, right? Because right now, he looked like he was holding back a right hook.
“Mom, Dad. This is Logan Matthews. Logan, these are my parents. Thomas and Laura Finnegan.”
I offered my hand, but Clare’s mother surprised me and gathered me up in a hug.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Logan,” she said.
She pulled back, and her eyes, the same green eyes I’d become addicted to, were brimming with unshed tears. Panicked for a moment, thinking I had upset her, I searched her face and found her smiling.