Velvet Midnight - Max Walker Page 0,61

going to be quiet, though. Not yet. Especially not today.

I parked next to a moving van, a sweaty pair of movers lifting up a delicate-looking wardrobe. I could see a figure monitoring them from the second-floor bedroom window, my stepmom’s telltale hair bun shadowed by some kind of backlight.

I didn’t bother wondering what was happening. They could remodel all they wanted. I was here to talk to my dad, and that was it.

Another pair of movers shuffled past me, holding a box of books and stacks of pamphlets. I recognized those pamphlets. They had come from Sylvia’s organization, meant to “educate” about the harms of gay marriage and the prosecution those with opposing beliefs now felt.

Give me a fucking break. When you get denied seeing your dying partner at a hospital because you’re missing a marriage license, then you can talk about prosecution.

It was almost enough for me to turn around and walk away. Anger seethed inside me. My father had supported her, and by extension her message, all those years. Whether he did it to collect votes or not, it didn’t matter, he’d still stood behind her. And he may have not known that his own son happened to be one of the very people she shat on, but that didn’t matter either. There were kids out there who could stumble on their toxic message and take it to heart.

My dad. Let me just talk to him and get it over with.

I couldn’t imagine an explanation that would suffice, but I walked into his house with as open a heart as I could have. I thought of my mom, and how she would always lead with her heart. It never failed her, and I knew she’d want me to live the same.

The foyer was a flurry of activity. There seemed to be a few assistants both on separate calls pacing around a table full of donuts and coffee boxes. A cluster of smart-looking kids sat in a corner next to the packed bookshelf, laptops open on each of their laps. They must have been my dad’s campaign team. I recognized a couple of them, from the last time my dad ran.

Only one looked my way and quickly looked back down, flustered.

They must know about the video.

I internally winced. Of course they know about the video.

The panic and dread tried grabbing the wheel, but somehow, someway, I managed to claw it back. I took a breath and walked up to the campaign staffer who’d looked my way. She had her dark hair braided in tight twists, falling down her shoulders, over her shirt that had my dad’s name across it: Gavin Madison, the first two letters of his name capitalized with a peach underneath them, symbolizing Georgia.

“Hey, sorry, do you know where my dad is?”

“Yeah, he was outside in the backyard the last time I saw him.”

“Got it, thank you.”

I turned to leave, but something came over me. A burning urge that would surely come back to bite me with the force of a scorching inferno.

“I’m assuming the tape’s already gotten to you guys.” It sounded like someone else was speaking. I barely recognized my own voice or the words that came out. “Has my dad’s chances taken a big hit?”

She adjusted her twists, throwing them over her shoulder. Her eyes told me the answer before she even spoke. “A little bit. But that’s okay. I’m so sorry this even happened to you.” Her eyebrows rose. “Oh, there he is!”

I turned, spotting my dad a few seconds before he spotted me.

Almost a year had passed since I’d last seen him. He hadn’t changed much in that time. Still had the thick head of silvery gray hair, with a tall and imposing presence, always able to soften it with a crinkly eyed smiled. We both had the same light blue eyes and a similar build.

There were a lot of things my dad and I had that were similar, but it was what was different between us that drove the wedge.

“Dad.”

“Rex.”

He came over to me, and before I could even say anything else, he hugged me.

I froze, not reacting. I didn’t expect this kind of reception right off the bat. This was the man who had potentially caused a six-year rift between me and the man of my dreams. He cut me off when the threats on the sex tape first started rolling in, arguably when I needed him the most. I’d been pushed away, left to defenses I wasn’t sure I