drops her face in her hands. “I remember that night.”
“The Master’s presentation?” Dad looks to Mom.
“Yes.” She looks to Bryson and Annie. “Your dad and I were invited to speak at an entrepreneurship program upstate. At the last minute, it was canceled.” Mom turns to me and shakes her head. “Honey, please, there’s so much more to that story. I don’t want you blaming yourself for something that was never your fault.”
“What’s the whole story?” Bryson is pissed and rightly so.
“I thought it was you, dude.” My voice cracks as I say it. I knew you wouldn’t go for her. I thought it was funny—one big joke.” I come to a stop because I hate where this goes next.
“You can do it.” Izzy blows the words in my ear along with a kiss.
“Okay. So the girl goes into the house, and about a half hour later Mom comes home and surprises the hell out of me. She heads inside, and I follow. The next thing I know, I hear screaming coming from upstairs. I run up to find Dad half dressed—Mom pissed as hell—and the girl I paid to hit on Bryson staggering out of the room, naked, with her clothes in her arms.”
The room stills. It’s all eyes on me. Maybe I should have put more thought into what I was going to say next.
“That’s it, and I’m sorry.”
“That’s not it.” Mom comes over and sits beside me. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me in. “You’re blaming yourself for something that isn’t your fault, Holt.”
“It is my fault. I paid her to go upstairs and do what she did.”
“I’m to blame.” Dad pipes up. He groans, massaging his temples. “Is that why you didn’t go to college?”
I don’t say anything, just take a deep breath instead.
“Holt, you’re bright,” Dad starts. “Imaginative—sometimes too much so. But if you’ve been beating yourself up over that for all these years, you’re also too damn hard on yourself.”
“I’m the one that blew this family apart,” I shout it a little louder than intended. Why the hell can’t they see I’m the one to blame?
“I’m the one that blew this family apart.” Dad’s face turns red with rage. “I’m sorry. I apologize to each and every one of you. But I did this, Holt. Not you. If it makes you feel better, it wasn’t the first time I was unfaithful to your mother.”
“It was the last straw, and so I kicked him out.” Mom shrugs as if she’s indifferent to it now. “It’s over, Holt. It was over for me that weekend.” She pulls me into a tight embrace. “Oh, honey. It kills me to think you’ve suffered with this all these years.”
Bryson blows out a breath. “So why are you coming clean, now?”
“Izzy had to deal with her past recently, and I thought it best I do the same.”
Annie gives a brief wave to get my attention. I think you’re brave to have told us these things. Nobody wants you to walk around with that kind of weight on your shoulders. But I’m shocked you would take the blame for it. Didn’t it ever occur to you that it was Dad who made the final decision?
“I know. I know Dad had the final say.” I give Izzy’s hand a squeeze. “But, when push came to shove, I thought—” Crap. I didn’t know he had done it before. That might have changed the last few years of my life, but, in hindsight, I think I ended up right where I needed to be.
“You didn’t blow this family apart, Holt.” Dad comes over, and I stand as he slings his arm over my shoulder. “It was all my fault. I apologize for being anything less than the father you kids deserved. Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?”
“Always.” I pull him in and let the tears fall onto his shoulder. A weight had been lifted, like a tractor rolling off my chest, I can finally breathe again. I pull back and take him and my mother in. “I know you don’t want me to blame myself, but a part of me always will at least a little. You said so yourself, Mom, that it was the last straw.”
“There was already someone else,” Dad assures. “Believe it or not, I think you saved your mother from a lot more grief. It was best we parted ways when we did.”
Mom clasps his shoulder until we’re standing in a huddle. “Your