‘Have you finished the lot yet?’
Hudson looked up to see his father hovering in the doorway, and he beckoned him in. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had one of these.’
Rowan smiled and approached his desk, peering into the box. ‘I remember the last time I did. It was the week before we lost the house.’
Hudson didn’t want to reminisce over that time, the worst of his life, when his family had been ripped apart. And it surprised him that Rowan seemed determined to keep bringing it up.
‘Do you like dwelling on the past?’
Rowan flinched as if struck. ‘No, I hate to think what a selfish prick I was and what I did to our family. But I can’t hide from it either and every time I see you I’m reminded of how much I’ve lost.’
‘Easy fix. Don’t see me.’
But the moment the offhand jibe left his lips, Hudson knew he didn’t mean it. Not that a box of donuts from his childhood would make up for all the pain this man had caused, but he had two options here: continue to hold onto his hatred and maintain a grudge that served nobody as it wouldn’t bring his mum back, or let go of his resentment and try to foster some kind of relationship with his father, the only family he had.
‘Is that what you really want?’
Rowan’s stare bore into him and Hudson eventually shook his head. ‘You need to give me time to adjust. I never expected this …’ he waved his hand between them ‘… us.’
‘Understandable.’ Rowan stood. ‘I won’t take up any more of your time. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out of a tight spot.’
Hudson bit back ‘any time’ because he didn’t want to be his father’s go-to person, not yet. He couldn’t predict the future. Maybe he’d never get past his bitterness and would always resent his father. Maybe they’d eventually find a way to coexist in some kind of fraught relationship. Whatever happened, he didn’t want to pre-empt anything. He’d deal with it when the time came.
As Rowan stood to leave, Hudson said, ‘You forgot your donuts.’
His father’s bittersweet smile made Hudson’s chest ache all over again. ‘You keep them. They’ll heat up great with a coffee later.’
Unable to speak past the unexpected lump in his throat, Hudson nodded and watched the man he’d spent two decades loathing walk out the door.
He slumped in his chair, staring at the donuts sightlessly, dashing his hand across his eyes to prevent tears from falling. A throat clearing snagged his attention and he looked up.
To see Karly standing in the doorway.
CHAPTER
56
Karly should’ve known Pop would talk her down. He always knew the right thing to say and had uncanny timing. In fifth grade, he’d seen the look in her eyes when she’d wanted to egg Nev’s house because her friend had chosen Summer to be on her netball team first at school. In eighth grade, he’d stopped her from spraying graffiti on her teacher’s fence because she’d been sick for an exam and Jill had downgraded her marks regardless. In tenth grade, she’d almost run away to join Summer in Melbourne because she missed her friend when she left for boarding school again after the holidays.
This time, Karly had barely got back to her car when Pop called and she’d burst into tears at the sound of his voice.
‘Hey, sweetheart, what’s wrong?’
‘That bloody Hudson Grenville has screwed me over again.’
‘What’s he done this time?’
She hiccupped and clutched the phone tighter at the memory of his duplicity. ‘That great opportunity for me to buy into a family-owned agency in Melbourne? It’s a crock. He owns the other half, so we’ll be running it together.’
‘So?’
Karly eased the phone away from her ear and stared at it for a moment, Pop’s response shocking her. ‘I don’t want to have to kowtow to him.’
Pop chuckled. ‘You won’t have to. Isn’t Leo funding you, so technically you’ll be kowtowing to him anyway?’
‘That’s different: it’s a loan, not an investment,’ she muttered, hating how logical Pop sounded.
‘And because you’re not in love with him?’