Page 154 of I Choose You

Dad wasn’t hard on us. He was lenient. The way I’d stormed away from him when he’d shouted after me on the dock wasn’t cool. The fact I’d left the bachelor party early had to bother him too.

When I arrived, I was grateful Kody’s truck wasn’t parked there. Instead of assuming I was the only one stopping by, I walked to the side near the garages and ensured I wouldn’t be interrupting anything. I let myself in, seeking him out.

“Dad?”

His footsteps sounded on the marble floor near the lounge. It was a smaller receiving space than where we’d set up for the shopping extravaganza, but it had always been one of his favorite places to relax and unwind after work.

As I strode in that direction, I passed the bathroom where I’d found Brooke breaking down. I raised my brows, glancing inside the empty room as I passed, and a wicked sense of satisfaction filled me as I recalled how fucking sexy she had been unraveling in my arms.

“In here,” he called out as I headed toward him. The double doors were open, letting him see me as I approached.

He sat in a worn leather chair that I doubted he would ever consider giving up. A tall, wide bulwark of a chair, it showed its abuse. Wear and tear was evident in the scratch marks from the cat Kody had wanted but then ended up rehoming because our housekeeper was allergic. Then there were the sharpie marks from when Kody and I went through a permanent marker phase as toddlers. We drove our parents crazy, leaving caps all over for them to freak out where we’d gone with them and how we’d found them to begin with. Patches of brown had faded to a lighter tan and then whiter beige. He loved that chair, and he often rested in it with a glass of whiskey.

As he did now.

“Hello, Kaden.”

His greeting wasn’t cold but he wasn’t his warm, jovial self. Knowing he was keeping himself reserved with me hurt.

“Hi, Dad.”

“I wondered when you’d come talk with me,” he admitted. His glass was empty. He’d already sipped his habitual one glass of whiskey. It rested on top of the coaster he had ready for use, and he rose to his feet.

“Margaux had a suspicion you’d come by after work.”

I arched my brows. How could she know?

“She’s a smart one. Talking with Pamela, working behind the scenes. She wants me to be happy when we marry, not stressed about my kids.”

I opened and closed my mouth, but no protest would come. He was right. So was she. I was glad he’d found a woman who’d go to such lengths to make sure he was happy. Instead of replying, I watched him get a couple of cigars from a small humidor case on a bookshelf. He nodded his head, indicating I should follow him outside.

We left the lounge to go to the patio.

“As such, she’s made herself scarce,” he said. “It’s just you and me, son. Your brother’s never been great at coming to his senses.”

Outside, he cut the cigars and sparked them up. He handed me mine, and as he blew out smoke from his, he looked at me expectantly.

“I’m sorry for the way I behaved at your bachelor party.”

He grunted and shook his head. “I feel silly even calling it that. I just wanted an excuse to get out of town.”

I smiled. “I shouldn’t have confronted him then.”

“There’s never a good time. He’s always prone to losing his temper. What happened?”

I hadn’t wanted to rat him out to Brooke, but to our dad, I didn’t hold back with the truth. “When we were in high school, Kody asked Brooke to prom as a joke, never intending to take her. When I realized he’d done it as a prank, I went to the school and pretended I was him.”

He groaned, hanging his head. “Not that damn swapping identities crap again.”

“I told Brooke she didn’t have a date. I hated to think of her being stood up and all. I wanted him to apologize to her because that prank really hurt her. Gave her issues with her body image to this day.” I didn’t feel right telling him all her secrets. That was personal stuff. Nor did I want to explain the way I’d met her—through the Halden Inc. deal. And he definitely didn’t need to know about the fake-date arrangements. Hell no was I going to tell him that.

“And he didn’t want to apologize,” he guessed.

“That’s what we butted heads about at the bachelor party. I like Brooke a lot. She’s something special. I didn’t want to have that past incident standing in the way of a solid future together. I wanted it all cleared.”

He stewed on that, quiet as he puffed his cigar.

When he finally spoke, he didn’t scold. His tone was understanding.