“Good. Now let’s eat before Morgan has my head for letting dinner get cold.”
Morgan left the room only long enough to get Tyler to join them at the table. Dinner was as usual. Relaxed. No talk of business or world news. It reminded him of his childhood. There was nothing about this house that’d make a person think Shaun was one of the most powerful men in Boston. He knew who to credit all this to.
“Okay, Tyler, you can go and build your ship now,” Morgan told her son after he finished eating.
“Battleships. Battleships,” Tyler said as he ran off into the other room.
Bennett hadn’t known anyone with autism before Tyler. Meeting him had been an eye-opener. From the changes he’d seen in Shaun, he wasn’t the only one. What had been unfamiliar behavior, now he found heartwarming. Knowing Tyler never interacted in conversations and only repeated what made him happy was good to know. Hearing the word battleship repeated, again and again, meant he’d once again made the right gift choice.
“Why don’t you gentlemen catch up while I take care of the dishes?” Morgan didn’t wait for an argument and left them alone.
Shaun turned to Bennett and said, “Morgan’s right. There’s something on your mind, Bennett. What is it?”
What is it? That is the million-dollar question. I care about Zoey, but I need to find answers for her that will probably destroy anything that could build between us. But I’ve known Shaun for two years. I eat at his house regularly. So, what do I ask to retrieve the information I came here to find?
“I care very much about Zoey, but I don’t think I understand her. I was hoping you could shed some light on your family.” There. That was the truth.
Bennett noticed Shaun’s demeanor change. His family was obviously a subject he didn’t want to discuss. From what he knew of them, who could blame him? But Shaun was his best shot at getting answers where there didn’t seem to be any.
“Did you ask her?”
“We’ve spoken, but I can tell it’s very... hard for her to talk about. She spoke briefly about your father.”
Shaun looked to make sure they were alone, like he knew what was about to be said was something he didn’t want Tyler hearing. “You have no idea what it was like growing up in that house. My father for some reason had six children, but he never shown any of us that we were wanted. We were never told we were hated, but trust me, we felt it every day. No one more than Zoey. I have no idea why, but when he looked at Zoey, we could all see his disdain. His disgust. Brice told me the day Zoey came to the house, Dad went ballistic. He never coddled any of us, but even when she was a baby, he resented her existence. You know you hear people say daddy’s little girl? Well, she was anything but his little princess.”
Bennett understood that from what Zoey had told him. He needed more. “So she hated him?”
Shaun shook his head. “I’m not sure Zoey could hate a person. When we left him and wouldn’t speak to him, she stayed and tried to get us to visit. If it wasn’t for her, our father would’ve died alone in the hospital, which would’ve been okay with me.” If everyone was aware how horribly he treated Zoey, why didn’t someone get her help? Was it because they were just as helpless to their father’s wrath?
“Was she there?” Bennett already knew the answer but needed to line up his questioning if he was going to get Shaun to talk.
“No. Brice was.”
“I’ve been around people who were dying. In their last moments they frequently apologize to those they have wronged. Come clean with what had been haunting them all their life. Any big revelation from your dad?” Say yes. Tell me you already know about your mother.
“Brice never said. But I know just by the look in his eye that dear ole Dad told him something.”
“You never asked?”
Shaun’s jaw clenched. “I don’t want to know. My father was the biggest fucking asshole I’ve ever met. I don’t want to hear any excuses about why he did what he did to us all. And I sure as hell don’t need to know he was even more fucked up than I already know. As far as I’m concerned the man is dead, and that is where I want my memories of him.”
Bennett could push for more but not with Shaun. He understood wanting to leave the pain behind. It would get in the way of what he’d built here with Morgan and Tyler. He needed to get the answers but would find another way. Brice held all the secrets. Getting him to talk was going to be nearly impossible. He would need to have something Brice needed to get him to open up. That’s what I hope to get from Vinchi.
“Your suggestion with Zoey is?”
“To love her for who she is. She is the best of the Hendersons. Don’t ever forget that.”
Love her? Am I capable of that? I’ll be out of her life soon. Bennett didn’t plan on it. As he drove away from their house, he couldn’t help thinking of Zoey. How was it someone who’d been treated like shit her entire life was able to have a smile that lit up a room and a sparkle in her eyes that stole his heart? She’s had so much hurt in her life already; I don’t want to be the one to add to it.
He pulled out the coffee cup he’d swiped from Shaun’s home, put it in the bag, and tagged it as number four. That left only Alex. He’d already texted him to meet up at a local bar to watch a game on TV. He knew Alex said yes for only one reason: to find out what was really going on with him and Zoey.
To the rest of the family, Alex might seem like the laid-back playboy who no one took seriously. Bennett knew there was much more to him. Although Alex was good at hiding it, he was a watcher. He never missed anything. That made meeting him the most challenging of all the brothers. That is why he purposely chose a loud bar. The more distractions, the better it was to hold his cover.
“I heard you’ve made your way through my other brothers. Want to tell me why you really wanted to meet me?” Alex asked, cutting right to the chase as Bennett sat down at the bar next to him.
“Just want to make sure we’re all good. For Zoey’s sake.”
“I don’t buy it. You’re not one who’d give a shit what we thought.”