Sliding into Home - The Bradford Series Book Two

Chapter 17

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Chapter 17

Reese

Well this isn't going the way I hoped. I thought coming here, getting Roan alone, I'd be able to talk to him rationally. I thought we could have a real man to man conversation about what's happened and settle this. I was wrong.

The kid has a lot more anger in his system than I thought. And a good dose of resentment towards me. I knew I should have turned down that last contract. I knew leaving Molly with kids while I played out the contract miles away was a bad idea. But Molly thought it would help. She thought we just needed some space.

Well those miles ended up being a lot further away than we thought it would be. I called every night. I checked in, I asked her how it was going, how the kids were. I thought we had it under control. I thought we were going to make it. And then I came home and I felt like I was still on my own. Their life had moved on and I was left behind.

Roan was finishing high school and he was great. God, he had such potential to one of the greats. When I'd go to a game he'd purposely get kicked out of the game. When I would watch practice, he'd goof off and the coach would send him home. It seemed no matter what I did was wrong. That's when Molly suggested we send him to the west coast. That's when Sarah wanted to finish her last year out there and Molly said she was going to see her parents.

I didn't know she wasn't coming home.

My life fell apart and I've been busting my ass since I got home trying to fix it. I'm not giving up. I'm not losing my wife, I'm not losing my kids. I'm putting my family back together and bringing them home with me.

"What do you want from me?" Roan glares at me from across the patio.

God, he's so much like me. The same arrogant attitude, the same hair, the same eyes. It's scary to look at him and see myself twenty three years ago. Was I really this big of a dick? I probably was. Roan got it from somewhere and I know it wasn't from Molly.

"I want to clear the air. I want you to listen to my side. I want to fix this. Roan, I'm your father, come on, man, give me a little respect here." I shouldn't have to beg my kid to give me the time of day. How did I lose my place in this family?

"I don't owe you shit. You're my father. Big fucking deal. Were you there when I hit my first homerun? How about when I won the spelling bee in third grade? Where were you when I got the flu so bad Mom rushed me to the hospital because she thought I would die!" Roan's voice progressively got louder and louder until it finally cracked with emotions. The kid's been through a lot without me.

I don't think I knew how much until now.

"I was playing ball to pay the bills, Roan. I had a job, a contract I signed that said I had to go somewhere else during the season. You know that." I can't say my emotions are in any better control than his.

We explained this to the kids. We talked it over, many long sleepless nights of whispering in the dark over what I should do. It was the biggest contract offer I had. It set us up to never have to worry about money again. It set the kids up for the college of their choice. It gave us five years of millions of dollars to give them a future in anything they wanted.

And yet I still failed them.

"Yeah, you were miles away playing ball. We watched your games. I was there at night when Mom struggled with our schedules trying to juggle everything alone. I was there when she saw the women on the TV flirting with you. I was there when she cried herself to sleep night after night! Where were you, Dad? Whose bed were you in while Mom was alone crying herself to sleep!?" That was a hard punch to my gut.