Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable #6) - Heather Long Page 0,89
that part is none of my business. Trust me, I wish I didn’t know. But Archie is your son, and he’s a really amazing person.”
“Archie and I do not have the best of relationships,” he admitted.
“No shit.” Okay. There went my veneer of trying to be polite. “You treat him like crap, and that makes you the asshole. So instead of trying to do whatever this is you’re doing with me, because trust me when I say that nothing you could say to me is going to change my mind on how shitty you and Maddy have both behaved, you try talking to your son and apologizing to him.”
“He’s important to you.”
“He should be important to you. Granted, maybe that’s what he and I have most in common—we won the lottery on shit parents.”
I bit the inside of my lip and then shook my head.
“Look, Mr. Standish…”
“Edward, or Eddie is fine.”
“Mr. Standish,” I repeated. “We’re not friends. You doing whatever you’re doing with Maddy doesn’t make us anything. My relationship with Archie is none of your business. But if you feel some driving urge to make things right, start with your son. He deserves a lot better than you.”
I slid into the car, but his next words froze my hand reaching for the seatbelt. “You’re right,” he said. “He does deserve better. But I can’t fix eighteen years in an instant.”
“Then maybe you should get started.”
“Would that make you happy?” The question was fucking bizarre, and I just shrugged and yanked the door closed.
Engine started, I glanced over to find him still staring at me and my car. Fuck me.
I opened the window. “Archie being happy would make me happy. Me being here and you doing whatever it is you’re doing? That doesn’t make him happy. You want to fix something, fix it with him.”
He dropped his chin a moment, then nodded. “I understand. As for your suit…”
Great, here we went.
“If you want me to testify at any hearing, I will.”
Wait.
What?
“Maddy will be furious,” he told me. She’d be livid. Was he insane? “But maybe I should start out fixing something small. You want your emancipation. I won’t stand in your way, and I’ll help if necessary.”
“Why?”
He gave a little shrug. “Because I can.” He turned and began walking away. “Drive carefully. They are calling for freezing rain tonight, and you need to get the transmission on that car checked.”
Then he was gone.
What. The. Fuck.
I didn’t even know what to do with that. I picked up and put my phone down three times to text Archie, then I didn’t. Because I didn’t know even how to explain that interaction. Mr. Standish made no sense. Was there trouble with Maddy? Did he want me to smooth things over with Archie for him?
Define irony. I have a problem with her new boyfriend, and he thinks making up with me will fix something with her.
Wow.
I turned up the volume as I drove and tried to sort out what just happened. I had to tell Archie, because not telling them things to protect them wasn’t going to fly. Even if the very last thing I wanted to do was stress him. But no matter which way I looked at that interaction with Mr. Standish, I couldn’t explain what he wanted if I tried. I didn’t get it.
At all.
Jake: Picked up Chinese earlier. Got your favorite. Come on home, Baby Girl.
Well, at least that saved me having to figure out dinner. Funnily enough, cooking dinner or at least cutting back on how much we ordered in or picked up was a battle I’d been losing. Archie refused to be constrained to a grocery budget.
Ugh. A battle for another day. I was too hungry to worry about it. Especially when Jake, Coop, and Ian were just as bad. Admittedly, when I wanted to cook, they also pitched in, and they each harbored little secrets—like Ian and his omelets—doling them out like these sweet surprises.
The freezing drizzle showed up the last mile of my drive, but thankfully, I was practically home and parked. Ian’s bike was there, but covered. So was Jake’s SUV and Coop’s car. No sign of Archie’s Ferrari.
A brief sensation of relief crawled through me. That would give me some time to figure out how to tackle this best for Archie. Definitely not hiding it from him, but softening it somehow so it didn’t add to the anxiety already piling on him. He always wanted to fix things for me.