Page 64 of Fools in Love

Tom’s anger grew and he growled. “Don’t you dare say my mother’s name. You don’t have that right any longer.” He felt his entire body vibrating.

“She was my wife. I have every right. Son,” his father spat back as Aiden lifted him from the sand and started marching him off the beach.

“Don’t.” Nick held his shoulder as Tom jerked to go after him. “He’s not worth it. You did your job. Now let Aiden and the rest of us do ours. He’ll be transferred before you have to deal with him,” Nick said. “I’m sure Aiden’s going to tell you to take the next few days off, so I’ll do it before he gets around to it.” Nick slapped him on the shoulder.

“I don’t need—”

“Go home. Go to Kate’s studio. Just… go. We’ve got this.” Nick nudged him.

Tom wiped the blood from his nose. “Shit.” He sat down in the sand. “Shit, shit,” he said, and felt his entire body start to shake.

Nick sat down beside him. “You okay?”

“That man took everything from me,” Tom said, closing his eyes. His nose was aching, but he knew it hadn’t been broken. He’d been punched enough by his father as a kid to know when something was broken.

“Yeah, and he’ll have to pay. Again,” Nick pointed out.

“Why? What makes someone like that?” Tom asked, maybe for the first time in his life.

“Some people are just born… twisted,” Nick answered.

“I’m from him.” Tom turned to his friend. “Does that mean—”

“No,” Nick broke in as he shook his head. “We are not our fathers.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You have a really great dad,” Tom pointed out.

“True, but…” Nick sighed. “Did I ever tell you the story of why I’m named Nicholas?”

Tom frowned, unsure of where Nick was going. “No,” he finally said.

“My mom fell in love and was engaged to a man before my dad. Nicholas and my dad were best friends. They joined the military together. Nicholas was killed in duty, and Sean returned home a year later. Nicholas had purchased a surprise cruise for he and my mom for what was going to be their honeymoon. My dad persuaded my mom to take the trip. She agreed, only if he’d go with her. During their stay in the Bahamas, they went scuba diving. My dad and a young boy by the name of Ronny somehow got separated from the group. A strong current pulled them out to sea.”

“What’s this got to—” he started, but Nick held up his hand to stop him.

“My father and Ronny spent eighteen hours in the water before being picked up by some illegal fishermen. My point is, I don’t know if I could follow in his footsteps. He’s a hero. I joined the force to try and be just an ounce of that. My entire childhood, I compared myself to that. Believed I had to do something great to make my mark, only…” He laughed. “I’m not my dad. My dad’s a hero, yours is a criminal. It doesn’t matter what they are. We are who we are. He chose to break the law and hurt others, you’ve chosen to enforce the law and help others.” Nick slapped him again. “You are nothing like him.”

Tom sighed. Even though he still didn’t see how Nick’s story related to him, just listening to him talk somehow took the anger and the worry out of his mind. At least for the moment.

“Thanks.” He shook Nick’s hand. “I guess I had to be talked off that ledge.”

Nick laughed. “Yeah. At least now you don’t look like you want to punch someone.”

“Oh, I still want to,” he joked as they both stood up.

“What do you think happened to the new wife?” Nick asked as they walked back to the car.

Tom shrugged. “Not sure. If she’s the one who threw the brick, she’ll be around. If not…” He sighed as he picked up his gym bag.

Aiden’s patrol car was just pulling out of the parking lot. He could see his father glaring back at him through the windows.

“Are you okay?” Nick asked, getting his attention again.

“Yeah.” He threw his bag over his shoulder.

“Hey, if you still want to hit something…” Nick motioned to the gym. “It was my day off. I was heading over to the gym when I heard the dispatch.”

“Yeah, I’d better call your sister first,” he said.