Page 12 of Right the Wrongs (Broken Vows #5)

Chapter Eight

Griffin - Present

Liam cries like I haven’t seen since he was a toddler, wondering where his mom went.

It moved me then, but I’m a bit more jaded toward my son now.

I hate to say that, but a relationship can only take so many hits before it’s changed forever.

I’ve forgiven my son, but I have neither Alzheimer's nor amnesia, so I’m not going to be forgetting anytime soon.

Moving past him embezzling from the garage was hard. Not only that, but I learned that my son was also cheating on his wife. Eventually, I convinced myself that my son didn’t do those things; his disease did. It was denial in the extreme, I see that now.

The truth is, yes, the disease contributed, but only by lowering his inhibitions to the point that he did the things I think were already there in his mind.

My parents were both drunks, and neither was what you’d call “good people,” but they weren’t particularly bad people either.

They were just there, taking up space and oxygen and contributing nothing to the world around them.

You could even argue that they were a bit of a drain on society since they were on and off government programs their entire lives.

Yet, neither of them ever went out of their way to take advantage of other people.

Under the influence of pills and booze, my son is the opposite. He lies, steals, and cheats. Liam doesn’t care who he is screwing over, as long as he gets what he wants. But the blame lies on me this time, because we knew all of this, and yet I let myself turn a blind eye to it.

I give him a full minute, because I don’t buy into the bullshit that men can’t cry. His wife left and took the children; he should be bawling his fucking eyes out. That won’t bring them back, though, and no one should feel sorry for him when he did this to himself.

“Alright, Liam, I can see you feel bad right now, but what are you going to do about it?” I ask him.

“What do you want me to do? Maybe this is who I am,” he says.

My shoulders slump down. “If that’s true, then you aren’t someone I want to know, and I think that Claudia was right for taking the kids and leaving you.”

I turn around to leave, but he calls out to stop me. “Dad, wait.”

“Okay,” I say slowly and turn back to face him. “I’m listening, but you start feeding me any bullshit and I’m leaving. I won’t do this with you again.”

He nods his head over and over. It’s like he’s stuck in a loop, and he’s hoping the thoughts will shake loose. “I need help,” he whispers finally.

“That’s a start,” I tell him. This process isn’t easy, and I’m not about to start softening it for him. The rest of us have to push our way through the shit he leaves in his wake. Why should he get shielded from the consequences?

“I’ve only been using for a few weeks. Just since the accident. She could have given me time. I just need time to get over the pain,” he negotiates.

“Why did Claudia leave, Liam?” I ignore his excuses and cut to the point. “Did you cheat on her?”

“No! I would never cheat on Claudia,” he says as if it’s so far out of the realm of things he would ever do.

“Excuse me if I have a different image of you in my head. It was I who found you bare-assed, drilling into your wife’s best friend. I don’t think that Claudia would walk out on you just because you’re using or drinking again. She’d have come to one of us for help,” I argue.

He hangs his head in shame. “There was a teacher work day, and I told her I’d stay home with the kids.

The baby went down for a nap, and Natalie was playing in her room.

My back was hurting, so I told myself that I would be able to be a better dad if I just took a couple of pills.

The next thing I know, Claudia is shaking me awake.

I passed out, and Natalie came to me because the baby was crying.

When she couldn’t wake me up, she called Claudia. ”

“You washed the pills down with Jack, didn’t you?” I ask. If he’s going to tell me the story, he needs to tell the whole thing, not half of it.

He doesn’t speak the words, but the way he suddenly finds his shoes fascinating is all the answer I need.

“So she took the kids because she couldn’t trust you to take care of them. Smart woman,” I comment.

“Did you show up just to bust my balls, or to help me?” he asks.

My eyebrows rise. “You think I came here for you? No, son. I came here because Wren butt dialed me, and I heard the things you were saying to her over the phone. I didn’t know how you treated her all the years that you were married to her, but I’ll be damned if you’re going to abuse her now.”

“Back when she was my wife. Admit that you wanted her when she was married to me. Give me that much honesty at least,” Liam spits back.

Typical addict response. They get cornered and lash out against anyone. No one is safe from the abuse when they’re fighting to keep using.

I shrug. I’m well past being ashamed of how I feel about Wren.

“I wanted her for years, and I won’t lie about that.

When I thought you were being a decent husband, I convinced myself that she was better off.

Even though I thought you were holding her back, if there was love, then life would work out the way it should.

When I saw you fucking that woman in the back of the car that Wren bought for you, I stopped thinking of her as yours.

From that moment on, she was mine to protect, mine to care for, and mine to love.

You sure as fuck didn’t do it right. You don’t seem to have loved your family the way you should either.

Your selfish decisions put your children in danger, and you’d rather bitch about Claudia hurting your feelings than take accountability for what drove her away from you.

I won’t make the same mistake. When I hear you raising your voice to my wife, you bet your ass I’m going to come over here and protect her. ”

“I’m your son,” he argues.

“And? You’re a drunk and a junkie. Those two things are more important to you than anything else, but you did not get that from me. I’m loyal to my family.”

“Then what will I do? My family is gone, and if you turn your back on me too, what will I do?” Some of the fight drains out of him, but he’ll rally eventually.

“How did you fix it the last time?” It’s not really a question I need him to answer. We both know how he fixed it.

“Sunset Lakes again?” he asks.

“If you can think of another way to get yourself sober again, then let’s hear it. You’ve got a fight ahead of you to get your family back, and that won’t happen with you under the influence.”

Liam hangs his head. “Will you drive me?”

I jingle my keys in front of me. “Now that is something I can do for you.”

There’s been a somberness hanging over our cul-de-sac the last six weeks since Liam has been in rehab.

The kids are sad because they miss their cousins, and the adults are concerned that Claudia hasn’t come home yet.

The house just sits there at the end of our corner, sad and empty.

It doesn’t seem like a good sign that even though Liam is away, she still hasn’t come home.

As if we don’t see enough of each other, Charlie steps out onto his porch with his cup of coffee, only this time he’s joined by Scott.

Harlow is due to give birth any day now, and we’d all feel better if they were here with family rather than the apartment over the shop.

Not to mention, those stairs would be a royal bitch for a pregnant woman to use daily.

With a little one on the way, they both decided that Seattle wasn’t where they wanted to raise a family.

I’ve never been a fan of big cities myself, so of course it makes sense to me.

The University pushed hard for him to take the vacant coaching position, and once the fancy corporation they were working for arranged a way for them to work remotely, the decision was easy.

The only part that has been less than ideal is that they are having to stay with Charlie until their house is done.

Since Hattie’s a nurse, it made the most sense for them to stay with them.

Scott is chomping at the bit to complete their house, which is going up on the other side of Bess and Donovan’s house, the last vacant lot on our little corner of Centralia.

They’re going to have to wait a little longer, though, because even though Scott is willing to spend a good chunk of the zeroes in his bank account, rain doesn’t give a shit how rich you are.

But even spring comes to an end eventually.

I hope that is all that is coming to an end.

All around us, the flowers are blooming, and new life is sprouting.

My baby girl, Elisa, isn’t even a year old yet, and pretty soon we’ll have Scott and Harlow’s new baby to welcome into the family.

I hope all this joy isn’t shrouded by the end of another family.

“You going to stay on your porch glowering at their house, or you gonna come over here and hatch a plan with the dad gang?” Charlie shouts across the lawn.

Last winter, Charlie got it into his head that we should form a dad gang, to, and I’m not shitting you when I say this, protect ourselves from the PTA moms.

Scott shakes his head, but I can tell by his smile that he’s as amused by Charlie’s antics as the rest of us.

I don’t know why he chooses to act like the class clown.

We all know he’s deeper than he lets on, but he’d much rather the world sees him as the goofy sidekick.

I wish that were the excuse for the dad gang, though.

I think he’s just really scared of women in sweater sets.

“Did you say we’re having a dad gang meeting?” Donovan shouts out his kitchen window.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, that isn’t a thing,” I yell back as I cross the distance between my house and Charlie’s.

“And yet, here we all are, ready to discuss dad shit, in a group of men. A gang, if you will,” Charlie pushes back.

I roll my eyes. Charlie was always going to get his way. That’s the evil genius of tricking everyone into not taking you seriously.

Donovan shrugs. “I don’t mind joining a gang. I always wanted some bad boy cred. It might make me cool.”

“And owning a string of bars doesn’t do it?” Scott teases.

Donovan tips his head to the side. “Didn’t they beg you to reconsider entering the draft for Major League Baseball? You wouldn’t understand.”

“Please, I’m a computer nerd that happens to be good at throwing a ball,” Scott protests.

“You’re both dorks, okay? Happy now? If we’re all going to be losers and join a gang of middle-aged suburban dads, then I at least want to meddle in my son’s life,” I say to both of them.

Of all the dumb arguments we’ve had, this one, well, sadly, it’s probably not in the top ten, but it’s probably number eleven.

“I am only twenty-two,” Scott grumbles.

“Scott, what’s the rule?” Charlie asks him.

“That was serious?” Scott asks. Charlie just keeps staring him down. “I won’t do it again. You can’t make me do it. I won’t. I’ve got too much to live for.”

“Fucking hell, did you two take drugs this morning?” I grumble.

Scott turns to me. “Charlie threatened that if I mention how old I am, or that my back doesn’t hurt every morning, I’m going to have to do after-school-pick-up, alone, wearing gray sweatpants.”

I shake my head. “That’s too far, Charlie. They’d eat the kid alive.”

“Ha! You called him the kid! I won the bet! Pay up, Miller,” Charlie demands, and Donovan slaps a twenty down in his hand.

Hattie comes out of the door, sees all of us standing around on her back porch, and exhales. “Will you idiots quit making bets on every little thing?”

Charlie’s demeanor changes from his goofball persona to something more commanding.

He stands in front of her and tips her chin up with his index finger.

When he finally speaks, his voice has dropped and rumbles out in a gravelly, authoritative tone.

“Doll, I’m in the mood to see how many times I can make you scream tonight.

Are you sure you want me to stop betting?

Because I think I can get you to five, but if you’d rather?—”

Hattie’s head tips down, but not before I catch how pink her cheeks are. I think I preferred it when I didn’t know how big of a freak my best friend is.

“I’ll see you when I get off work,” she mumbles.

“You soundproofed your room, right?” Scott asks once Hattie is in her car.

Charlie scoffs. “We’ve got kids in the house. It was either soundproof our room, or learn to be more vanilla.”

“Heaven forbid,” I deadpan.

He gives me a look. “Like you have room to talk, Daddy.”

They all laugh at my expense, but I don’t mind. It’s good to let the tension go for a change. Eventually, the silence finds us, and one by one we all turn our attention to the empty house at the end of our circle.

“Are we supposed to do something? It’s weird that she hasn’t come home at all,” I finally break the silence.

“What can we do? We can’t force her to give him a second chance. We don’t even know how bad things were before she left,” Charlie admits.

We exchange a look. Neither of us has forgotten how awful things got the last time Liam was drinking and taking pills. Charlie is the only one I’ve ever told anything about how abusive my son was to Wren, but even he knows only a little.

He also doesn’t know how close Wren and I came to losing everything the last time Liam got sober. I, however, will never forget. Sometimes the most selfish thing you can do to another person is try to make amends.