motivation to get himself out of bed for weeks and had to go change everything about himself in order to function in life. Give a child everything he or she needs and they waste it, apparently.”
Julia’s head shot up, her mouth agape and tears glistened in her eyes. “I can’t—” she cut herself off when her voice trembled. Then she scooped up her sunglasses and put them on.
Kat was on her feet and, if it were possible, she might have even gotten in his face if it weren’t for the six-foot round table in between them. “How fucking dare you?” she all but screeched.
Father’s eyes almost bugged out of his head as he drew back, nostrils flaring. At least that outburst appeared to render him temporarily speechless. Too bad it wasn’t permanent.
“Julia and Lucas are doing their best to get better and they are doing great—”
“—If you believe in consolation prizes, yes—”
“I do believe in toxic parents and you sure as hell are one. You care more about how ‘bad’ it looks having your children in recovery than worrying about how you can help them get better. Or what you did to contribute to their problems in the first place.”
Then she turned to my mother whose mortification wore all over her face, her body language. She didn’t move, visibly terrified.
“You should both be on your knees sobbing with gratitude that Lucas and Julia have the strength to face their demons and overcome them. Some families aren’t so lucky. Tough love is bullshit. And it’s not love. So if that’s what you’re trying to do, you’re the ones who are failing. Hard.”
I was now on my feet beside her, noting how she was shaking. Father had this bizarre look on his face, a mixture of horror and satisfaction. I took her by the arm. “We’re done here. If you ever want me present at a family function again, you’ll apologize to her and stop baiting my wife as a way to get to me.”
“Your wife has an interesting vocabulary.”
“My wife is interesting in every way, which is more than I can say for you and your bland predictability. But be content that you are middle-aged, mediocre and have nothing going for you but the money you inherited from your hardworking ancestors.” With that, I wrapped my arm around Kat’s shoulders and guided her, still shaking, away from the table. Julia threw down her napkin without a word and followed us.
I couldn’t resist a parting shot. “Oh and my trust fund that you’ve been so worried about? It’s going to the charities of Kat’s choice. Every last bit of it. And I’ll enjoy the thought of you stewing on the fact that you can’t do shit about it.”
Julia accompanied us back to the guest villa, and it was a silent, heavy walk where no words were spoken. We each seemed to be lost in our own thoughts and, perhaps caught up in the aftershock of that heated and unpleasant confrontation.
When we got to the villa, I turned to Julia. Beneath her sunglasses, her cheeks were stained with tears. I pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were going through all that. Don’t listen to that asshole. I’m so proud of you.” Then I held her while she sobbed.
I sat her down on the couch in the sitting room, holding her until the sobbing calmed. Katya must have discreetly stepped out, leaving us alone to talk. disappeared sometime around then, presumably to give us privacy. Once her crying calmed, I fetched my sister a bottle of water, then we sat and talked. Really talked. Talked like we hadn’t really talked in years.
About… everything.
Hours later, when Julia had washed her face and left to go pack, I found Katya. She was on the bed Skyping with Mia on her tablet. When she saw me come in, she turned the tablet toward me. “Say hi to Lucas!” she said.
On the screen, Mia laughed and waved. “Hey there, Lucas. You having fun drinking all the wine?”
I grimaced and returned her wave. “Hey Mia. Not enough wine in the world can help with family issues.”
She laughed and looked away. I was suddenly stricken thinking Adam might be in the room and had maybe just heard that. I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression—whatever that might be. Good God. He’d had that presentation on his desk for five days now and I hadn’t heard anything. Not that I’d expected to hear back