“Good, we can do that tomorrow night. Tonight I’m craving lobster.”
Tomorrow?They’d need to discuss that, but maybe after dinner.
“I’ll see you at six.” She ended the call and then turned back to Charlene, who looked mighty proud of herself. “Not one word, do you hear me?”
Charlene placed her fingers across her lips then burst out laughing, holding her ribs and practically falling off the couch.
And this is who I call a friend. Great.
Dylan hadn’t expected her call, but was glad she had. It broke up the tension between him and his father. They were sitting in Dylan’s office half staring at each other and waiting for the bomb to drop. It might as well be now.
“Dad, I need to ask you something. Something about Granddad.”
“I didn’t think you called me over here to talk business.”
“In a way, it might be. Is there anything about Granddad that you didn’t tell us?”
His father looked away for a minute, then turned back. “There’s a lot about this family that has never been talked about. If you ask me, it should remain that way.”
“Secrets aren’t always a good thing. Actually, they always come out, but usually when you least want them to.” Dylan knew that from experience when he was younger. Thankfully there wasn’t anything that would permanently damage his reputation.
“These aren’t mine to tell.”
“Dad, I’d go to Granddad, but he’s no longer with us.”
He looked down and paused before saying, “Your grandfather was a tough man. Very tough. He demanded things be a certain way and when they weren’t, let’s just say, there was a price to pay.”
“He was abusive?” Dylan could tell by his father’s expression the answer was yes. Fuck you, Granddad. It explained a lot about how his father backed down. When raised in that type of environment, you either learned to fight back or how to duck and cover. Dylan was taught to respect his elders, but he’d have given his granddad and earful if he were still alive. “I’m sorry Dad. We never knew.”
“I didn’t want you to. That’s why I made sure you were kept at a distance.”
“You mean why you didn’t bring any of us to work with you except for Charles?” He nodded. All this time, Dylan had thought Charles was the favorite and that’s why he was always with their father. Now he knew it was because the two of them had been protecting the younger ones. He probably owed Charles an apology, but those days had passed. Best thing he could do was make sure those mistakes don’t happen again.
What Dylan didn’t understand was why someone who seemed to have everything would be such an asshole. “Was Granddad always like that?”
“He had some…emotional problems which he didn’t deal with very well. I’m going to say they stem from his childhood. If you think your granddad wasn’t a nice person, you should have seen your great-granddad.”
“Do you think he hurt Granddad?”
“In ways that you couldn’t imagine.” He swore his father’s eyes watered. “The Lawson family has been around for a long time. Its spotless reputation came at a high price. It’s all a façade.”
“Dad. Can you please tell me what you know?”
He looked at Dylan and asked, “Is it really that important? They are all dead now.”
“It is if someone is out looking for answers.”
“You?”
“No. Someone else,” Dylan replied.
His father peered at him. “Henderson?”
That meant his father did know more than he wanted to say. But if he thought it could stay hidden forever, he just got the shock that it hadn’t. “Yes. We have no proof it was Brice Henderson, but a woman on his staff was digging into our legacy. She uncovered something, and we don’t know if it’s true. Did Granddad have a…sister?”
It was the question they had all wanted to ask, but were hoping wasn’t true.
“He did. Audrey.”