Cherishing You

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

JonahClearly, the police didn’t take this seriously. I left three messages for the detective looking into the case of Wayne Nelson.

I now knew the name of Shannon’s ex.

Finally, on the following Monday, I took a long lunch and paid the detective a visit. The in-person nudge, plus the threat to talk to his superiors, appeared to get his attention.

When I got back to the office, I saw my father standing in front of my assistant’s desk, arguing with much animation. Nanette attempted to fend Dad off before noticing me and pointing down the hallway in my direction.

Dad left multiple messages while I visited the station, but I figured I would wait until I was in front of my computer to check and answer them. The only reason the old man would be calling me would be work.

“Did you need something, Dad?”

“Only to talk to you. Where have you been? I want to get an update on that new tech investment before I leave for the day. Being the boss’ son doesn’t mean you can blow off work to go gallivanting all afternoon.”

“I wasn’t blowing off work. I told you that I witnessed an assault at the Scarlet Maple. I had to talk to the police,” I explained.

“Oh. You couldn’t have returned my message in the car?”

“I didn’t have my files in the car, so I don’t know what I could have told you. Give me a few minutes. I’ll stop by your office.” I paused until Dad was out of earshot and smiled, chagrined, at my admin. “Sorry about that, Nanette. I thought I’d be back sooner.”

“Not a problem, Mr. Moran. I tried to explain that you were at an appointment to the elder Mr. Moran, but, as you can see, he wasn’t moved,” she replied evenly.

I greatly appreciated that beneath Nanette’s formality lay extreme loyalty to her boss, me, rather than her boss’ boss, Mr. Thomas Moran, CEO. I could count on her for discretion.

“Any other messages for me?”

Nanette handed me a slip of paper. It was nothing that couldn’t wait. First, I had to deal with my father.

Gathering the needed information took twenty minutes, and knowing that was likely ten minutes longer than would please Dad, I then hustled to the end of the corridor to his palatial office.

The room looked more like an apartment—with a desk and credenza on one end by floor to ceiling windows and two couches and a gas log fireplace on the other. Behind one of the couches, another long credenza stood against the wall. That was Dad’s fully stocked bar—one of the many ways in which he was a throwback to another era.

I sat in the high-backed, tufted chair across from the desk. “I sent you an updated report. It should be in your email. I can go over the highlights.”

“I’ll take a look at it. I need to ask you something else. Your mother just called me. The Magnolia Society’s charity ball is coming up, and she and I are buying our usual table. We need to know if you are bringing a plus one.”

I crunched my brow at the unexpectedly personal topic of conversation. “I imagine so.”

“Who?”

“I hadn’t thought about it. That’s still weeks away.”

“What about Emily?”

“We broke up months ago.”

“Your mother and I liked her. Emily was a sweet girl, from a good family. You know she’d make a dedicated wife.”

“Having the wrong woman dedicated to you is a terrible situation, Dad. Don’t worry, I will find an appropriate date. Put me down for two.”

“With your sister’s change in lifestyle, your mother, and I would at least like to see you on the right road.” He idly shuffled a stack of papers.

“I know you and mom aren’t happy that Vivienne is gay, but honestly, what’s so wrong with her life? She’s never been happier,” I countered.

Dad exhaled in a huff. “Sinning is usually fun. Isn’t it? Not everything that feels good is going to make you happy in the long run.”

The hypocrisy of my father’s indignation infuriated me. No one in the family ever spoke the truth about my parents’ marriage.

I first knew he had affairs when I was twelve. I’d stayed overnight at a friend’s house one weekend. Vivienne and our mother had retreated to a spa.

Unfortunately, I got sick. Unable to reach my parents, my friend’s mom had driven me home with the promise to stay with me until Dad arrived. But then, we’d pulled around the long driveway and seen my father’s car.

I went in alone—a stroke of luck since my friend’s mom nearly insisted on coming in with me. There, in the kitchen, was a nude woman grabbing a chilled bottle of champagne out of the refrigerator. She saw me, screamed, and dropped the bottle. The cork flew across the room and shattered a vase. All the noise drew my father to the room.

It was the first time I could remember seeing my father n***d. The cinematic perfection of the scene would have been funny, but it wasn’t. I felt a seismic shift in my world. What had Dad said to me?

“You may feel compelled to tell your mother, but you need to understand something. A woman might know an unpleasant truth, but it doesn’t become real to her until she knows someone else knows it too. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

I nodded, even if I didn’t understand anything at the time except that he expected me to keep my mouth shut. The secret churned in my stomach for almost two years until I saw Mom flirting with a golf pro at our country club. Something about the way she laughed with her hand on the man’s knee told me that she had her own secrets.

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “Dad, if you’re worried that I’m gay too, don’t. It’s not contagious. Yes, I’m bringing a date. Don’t worry about who. I’m an adult.”

“Of course, you’re not gay. That’s not my point,” he blustered, looking as if he might continue.

I cut off the conversation. “I get your point. Was there something else you needed to discuss?”

“Yes. Your mother and I are trying to identify a worthy cause for a tax-deductible donation before year-end. We thought perhaps your development project for the underprivileged might suit.”

“That’s not a non-profit, Dad. It’s a business. We’d be happy to discuss your investment.” I rolled my eyes, peeved that he still didn’t understand what I did.

“No, no. That’s not what we need.”

“Anything else, Dad?”

“Not right now. I’ll go over your report tonight. Watch your phone. I may call you with questions.”

“Great.”