When I walked downstairs, I saw Adele on my old guitar moving her hands like someone who’d learned from a master. She’d have given Jimmy Page a run for his money.
“She’s amazing isn’t she?” Fox asked from behind me, beaming at her. “She’s been playing since she was four.”
The urge to punch him in the face surfaced before any other emotion. I hated that he knew my own daughter and I didn’t. But what I should have felt was gratitude, he took my place out of brotherly love and he did the job better than even I could have.
“Yes, she’s incredible. Is that my old guitar?”
“I gave it to her a few years back. It was hanging on your wall collecting dust and she’d always shown interest in it.”
“She self-taught, like I was?”
“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?”
“I always hated that saying. Never wanted to be like Monty. As a kid, I hated it when people told me I looked like him.”
“I hear you, Cal. But that’s over. Literally dead and buried. All we got is moving forward, ain’t no good reason to look behind us. Adele took to that guitar like she was full of your genes. Picked it up and could play, exactly like your talented ass did the minute Mom gave it to you.”
I felt pride swirl through me in a sudden gust. It wasn’t self-pride either, I was proud of Adele.
“I told Dellie she could take it home to her place, but she liked playing here with me and kept it on the old hook in your room where it always lived when you played. The shocker was Ellie’s face when Adele showed her the guitar. Complete devastation. She loved you so much. You really fucked that up, brother.”
“I didn’t know, Fox. I wanted something better for Ellison, not have her tied down to a life with a convicted murderer.”
“It’s not like you were out there killing for sport. Monty had been testing our limits for years. You saved Mom’s life.”
“Thanks for saying that.”
“It’s the truth,” Fox said. He handed me a cup of black coffee.
“You had a good woman. One that would have stood by you and loved you no matter what. But then your dumbass had to go and fuck shit up, turning true love into the mess it is now. You could’ve had Adele in your life the last ten years.”
“How the fuck was I gonna have her when I was in jail?”
“Visits, letters, phone calls, fuck if I know. It wouldn’t have been perfect but it would have been something. Something to a little kid is better than nothing.”
He was right and shame flooded through me like the dam had burst.
“How did you become the level headed one,” I asked Fox. When we were kids he was the hot head, the one ready for a fight. My big brother had grown up and he’d taken on my responsibilities with grace I didn’t even know he possessed.
“I’m no clairvoyant, who knows what life would have looked like if Monty were still here? But I doubt we’d be listening to this,” he gestured to Adele playing, “or walking around this house without fear. You did us all a favor. Maybe it wasn’t conventional, but Mongomerys never were ones to follow a crowd or walk the line.”
I watched my daughter play and the pride and joy I felt seemed like it could conquer the world. “Brother, I owe you. Thank you for watching out for them.”
“We watched out for each other. You got a great woman and a wonderful kid. Go get your life back.”
I hesitated for a moment, stunned by Fox’s words. I didn’t know if the life he was speaking of, was mine for the taking. Ellison and Adele didn’t owe me anything and there was no telling if they’d take me back. I had a deeply seated fear that Fox had replaced me in Ellison’s eyes—that he’d stepped in as the hero while I rotted away behind bars.
“It would be a crying shame if you let fear or guilt hold you back, Cal. After everyone left, we made our own family, but not like you think. I love Ellie like a sister, she helped me as much as I helped her. I might have fallen for her, but that was impossible. Brother, she never forgot you.”
I hugged Fox heartily. It brought tears to my eyes to know that Fox was incapable of betraying me. Maybe that’s what prison did to you, made you doubt your closest allies. Fox raised my own daughter like his own, there was no greater sacrifice than the ones he made for me while I was away.
“Hey there.” I lifted a hand to Adele as her fingers swept over the strings. She nodded at me in reply, but didn’t stop playing. She’s strumming Johnny Cash, which seemed strange for a ten-year-old.