Needing Happily Ever After - Elena Aitken Page 0,62
the restrictions on the purchase because I knew you wouldn’t be able to meet them.”
His dad’s confession hit him in the gut. He’d actively tried to keep his childhood home from him?
But was he really surprised? He’d always known that was his dad’s plan, hadn’t he?
Damon shook his head slowly but before he could ask, his dad spoke again.
“I’m sorry, Damon. It was wrong.”
“But why?” He ignored the apology. “Why would you do that? This is my home.”
Anthony nodded slowly. “It is. And like I said, it was wrong. I never should have done what I did. I was just so…” When he looked up, his eyes shone with unshed tears. Damon had never seen his dad cry. Ever. “I think on some level, I wanted to punish you because she loved you more.”
Damon took a step backward as the words hit him. “What?” He shook his head, completely unable to process what his father had just said. “Who? Mom?”
Anthony nodded but still, there was nothing but sadness on his face. “I don’t expect you to understand this, son. I barely understand it myself. And maybe it’s old age that’s finally helped me realize what I should have seen all along. Coming face-to-face with death will do that to you, you know? You start to look at things differently.”
“You’re not dying, Dad.”
“I am.” His father let his lips flicker up into a slight smile. “But that’s not what this is about.” He cleared his throat with a wet, rattling cough. “I never forgave you for being her favorite.”
“I was her son.”
“Before you came along,” he continued as if Damon hadn’t spoken, “oh, the way she would look at me. As if I held the moon for her. I’ve never been loved like that. Not before, and not after.” He looked down at his lap for a moment. “And when you came along, it all changed. And for years, it didn’t matter. We were a happy family. Envied by everyone who knew us. But when you got a little older, that’s when I noticed. I could never compete with what she felt for you.”
“Again,” Damon repeated himself, “I was her son. You weren’t supposed to compete with me.”
“I know.” Anthony nodded slowly. “I know that now. But I was too immature, too jealous, too headstrong, too…well, I was a lot of things, Damon. But I was not a good father. And because of that, I failed as a husband. She never said anything, never told me I wasn’t enough. But I could see it in her eyes when I would turn you away. And for that, I hate myself. Not only for the years I lost with you, and for all the ways you didn’t have a father you could depend on, but also for the way I failed the love of my life.
“I am deeply regretful, Damon. And it wasn’t until I saw you with Katie that I truly understood the depth of what I’d done.”
“Katie?” The reason he was there jerked him back into the reality of his present predicament. “What does this have to do with Katie?”
For the first time, his father’s smile reached his eyes. “With the two of you, I see true love. The type your mother and I shared. A deep bond that can hardly even be explained because of the intensity of which you feel it in your heart.”
“Dad, I have to tell you something.” It was time to end this. Past time. He needed to come clean. “I should have—”
“If I hadn’t been so goddamned angry years ago, I’m sure I would have seen it then,” he continued, not hearing Damon. “Your love for Katie, that’s the real deal, my son. Anyone can see it. And I couldn’t be happier for you. And that’s why I’m giving you ElkView.” Anthony laughed a little, but it quickly turned into a deep cough.
Damon moved closer and handed his dad the cup of water that sat on the table next to him. He waited patiently until his dad regained his composure.
“What do you mean, you’re giving me ElkView?”
“I’m doing what I should have done in the first place. This is your home, Damon. There is no one who deserves this place more than you do. And I know you have the money to buy it. Hell, you have the money to buy ten of these places. But that’s not the point.”
His dad reached out, and Damon took his hand in his. It felt light and papery,