Page 37 of Sticks and Stones
Chapter Eleven
Gunnar waited for the girls to come home so he could say good-bye to them in person. He’d rehearsed what he wanted to say, but as soon as they walked through the door, their smiles faded and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to hold it together.
He didn’t want to leave them again. It seemed that was all he’d been doing all of their lives, saying goodbye, promising to be back soon, vowing he’d miss them. When was it going to stop? When would he stop disappointing them?
“Hey, Dad,” Keegan said, dropping her backpack in the foyer. “What’s up?”
Trying to prolong the inevitable, he forced a smile. “You guys have fun at your sleepover?”
“Yeah, sure,” Ramsey said, shrugging. “What’d you guys do?”
Gunnar glanced at Gianna, who’d walked in behind them and tossed her keys on the console table. Her gaze danced around the room, refusing to land on him, which made the knot of tension in his gut tighten.
“Just hung out,” Gunnar said, clearing his throat. He rubbed his hands together. “So, uh, listen you two, I’ve got to go back to L.A. to take care of some business.”
Ramsey looked crestfallen as she said softly, “I thought this time would be different. I thought you were going to stay this time.”
“Baby,” he said, reaching for her hand to pull her closer, “it’s not that I don’t want to. Believe me, I love being here with you guys, but I can’t pretend I don’t have commitments back home. I have a band waiting on me, a tour to schedule and a record label expecting me to deliver an album soon. I can’t disappoint my fans.”
“What about us?” Keegan shouted. “You don’t care about disappointing us! Your fans mean more to you than we do! They always have.”
Gunnar jumped up when she started for the stairs. “Kee, that’s not true! Get back here so we can talk—”
“Let her go,” Gianna said, touching his back. “I’ll talk to her after you leave.”
“So, you’re okay with him leaving?” Ramsey asked, glaring at her mother. “You don’t want him to stay? Are you the reason he’s leaving? Did you ask him to?”
“Hey, don’t put this on your mother,” Gunnar said, feeling like he’d been sucker punched. He’d known his daughters would be upset, but he never expected this kind of backlash. “This is all on me.”
“Why?” Ramsey asked, the tears sliding down her cheeks. “I thought you were happy here. You said you were. Or was that just another one of your lies? Like telling us that you loved us, that we were the most important thing in the world to you.”
“You are. My god,” he said, leaning back against the railing as he felt the energy drain from his body. “How can you even doubt that?”
“What have you ever done to prove it, Dad?” she demanded, crossing her arms as the tears continued to fall. “You were never there for us and you know it!”
“Ramsey, please,” Gianna whispered. “That’s not fair.”
“Not fair?” Ramsey screeched. “You think it’s fair that he treated you like some whore?”
“Watch your mouth, young lady,” Gunnar warned, pushing off the railing before closing in on her. “You get to be mad at me. That’s fine, I can take it. But don’t you ever let me hear you talk to your mother that way again.”
“Why? You both know it’s true. You bought her pretty things so she stayed. You didn’t love her, wouldn’t marry her, treated her like shit, yet she stayed with you for years. Why? I’ll tell you why! Because you bought her that fancy car with the Beverly Hills address and—”
“Shut. Up.” Gunnar glared at his daughter, knowing her words must be tearing her mother to shreds.
“You expect me to respect you?” Ramsey asked, narrowing her eyes, challenging him. “You expect me to respect either one of you? You’ve spent your whole life chasing the almighty dollar and she’s spent her whole life spending them.” She tossed her hands up in the air. “She claims to hate your money so much, yet how do you think she bought this house? It sure as hell wasn’t with her money!”
Gunnar was momentarily stunned, but he quickly found his voice. “It wasn’t my money. It was our money and your mother had every right to take as much as needed, to make sure you were all taken care of.”
“No, it wasn’t hers, none of it was hers ’cause you wouldn’t even marry her. Why, Dad? Did you have a pretty young thing on the side? Or maybe a few who—”
“Go to your room,” he said between clenched teeth. He’d never been tempted to strike either of his daughters, not even a spanking when they were young, but they’d never pushed him to the limit like this before. “Right now. Get out of my sight.”
“Gladly, ’cause I never want to see you again!”
Gunnar braced his hands on the granite counter and hung his head. “Wow. I didn’t see that coming.”
“I’m sorry,” Gianna said, touching his arm. “That wasn’t fair. You didn’t deserve that.”
