“No, he didn’t leave immediately. But once people started to realize that he’d slandered an innocent man over an issue he invented in his mind when he was drunk, the tide turned against him. Drastically. His reputation was ruined, and no one wanted to speak to him anymore. Then he was fired from the law firm with no references and blackballed from every other firm in the state. His life as he knew it was essentially destroyed.”
“Wow. No wonder he never wanted to come back here,” I said, brows furrowing.
George let out another heavy sigh. “I always felt terrible about it, even though I didn’t do anything wrong. I just kept thinking it was still somehow my fault. If I’d just done something about his addiction when I saw the warning signs, then maybe he wouldn’t have sunk so low. I should have insisted he take some time off to go to rehab, or something like that. I don’t know.” He trailed off and rubbed his jaw again. “I suppose that’s why I ended up going to his funeral. I always felt so guilty about the way things turned out. I wish I could’ve done something to fix it before it all went so horribly wrong.”
“I understand,” I said. “I just can’t believe I never knew any of this stuff.”
“Yes, well, James probably felt guilty too, considering what he did to me, so I doubt he ever wanted to bring it up again. He’d only make himself look bad, after all.”
I nodded slowly, chewing on my bottom lip. Then I frowned and cocked my head. “Hang on… what does this have to do with Jax hating me? Does he just hate me by association, seeing as I’m the daughter of the man who tried to wreck his dad’s life?”
“I wish it were that simple,” George replied, forehead creasing. “Jax has a little theory about you. It’s partly my fault, really.”
“How so?”
“Well, I told him the story about James when he was young because a friend of his mentioned it at school, and I figured it was best that he hear all the details from me. He was furious that someone tried to ruin my life like that, so he always hated James and vowed to destroy him if he ever came back here.” George’s frown deepened. “Anyway, I always stressed the part of the story where I felt as if I didn’t do enough to help James with his demons. I brushed things under the rug, gave him the benefit of the doubt all the time, and so on.”
“Right.” I raised my brows, still confused. “So what’s Jax’s theory about me, then?”
“When he heard about my relationship with Anna, he was understandably surprised, but he wasn’t angry. But then, when I told him that you introduced us at the funeral, his tune drastically changed.”
“Why?”
“He thinks you’ve always known about the issue between me and James. That James probably told you all about it and spun the story to make himself seem like the victim. So, when he found out that you were the one who introduced me to your mother, he developed this silly conspiracy theory.” George paused and leaned a little closer. “He thinks you set it all up on purpose so you could worm your way into our lives and destroy me in some way.”
My jaw dropped. “Like some sort of wild revenge scheme for my dad?”
“Exactly. To destroy me the way I supposedly destroyed him.”
“You’re kidding. That’s so…”
“Ridiculous? Outrageous? Absurd? Believe me, I know. I’ve tried to tell him so many times, but he doesn’t listen. He thinks it’s just too much of a coincidence that my so-called worst enemy’s daughter just so happened to introduce me to her mother that day. He thinks you meticulously planned it all out and encouraged our relationship so you could come here and carry out some sort of nefarious plan that targets me.”
I looked down at the ground, shaking my head in disbelief. My mind was spinning like crazy. Of all the reasons I thought Jax might have for hating me,thisone definitely wasn’t on my bingo card.
Something George said a minute ago suddenly popped back into my head. “I guess it actually makes sense in a weird way, considering what you said before,” I said, looking back over at him. “How you always told Jax you thought you didn’t do enough to address my dad’s issues before everything blew up.”
He nodded. “That’s exactly what I think is going on in his head right now. He knows I trusted James implicitly and failed to address all the insecurities he had that made him secretly loathe me so much. I also continually gave him the benefit of the doubt, thinking everything would turn out okay. But it didn’t. It blew up, as you said. Now Jax is worried that I’m doing it all over again. He thinks I’m trusting you and giving you the benefit of the doubt when I shouldn’t.”
“So he’s overcorrecting,” I said. “Trying to help you avoid making the same old mistake with another evil Holland family member.”
George smiled thinly. “Yes, I think that’s his logic.”
I lifted a palm. “Just to be clear, I had no idea about my dad’s past. I don’t have any sort of grudge against you.”
“I know. I’ve tried to tell Jax that, but he doesn’t listen. I thought he was at least being civil toward you, though. I had no idea he was making life difficult for you at school.”
“Yeah. It hasn’t been easy,” I muttered, twisting my fingers in my lap.
“I’m so sorry, Kinsey. I really wish you’d told me sooner.” George lay a gentle hand on top of my shoulder and squeezed it. “I’ll talk to Jax again and tell him to knock it off. This is your home now, so you deserve to feel safe and secure.”
“Thank you,” I said softly. My mind was still whirling with everything I’d just learned.
George glanced over at the stadium. “We should probably get back before we miss the game,” he said, rising to his feet. He extended a hand to me. “Let’s go.”
We headed back into the stadium and reclaimed our seats. The game started a few minutes later. As it went on, Erin tried to explain the finer points of whatever was happening on the field, but most of the information went in one ear and straight out the other. I was trying my best to concentrate and understand, but my mind kept drifting back to my father’s sordid past in this town. Not only that, but also the terrible shame he must’ve felt when he realized the truth and felt the full weight of his actions.
No wonder he never said a word about it to me or my mother. He probably couldn’t bear to admit it.