“How about you?” Shawn asked their dad. “Can you say the same? That you have no plans to mess up how much PJ loves you? Because I don’t think you can right now.”
Howard’s face darkened. “You shut your mouth, Shawn. This is none of your concern. You think I haven’t noticed how you’ve all started to challenge my authority? And how it all coincides with this thing insinuating himself into Penelope’s life? And she’s such a goddamn needy woman she’s got to let him latch on.”
Asa stood up and PJ did as well, holding her hand out. “Asa, please.”
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to apologize to your daughter for that ugly accusation.”
“Get the hell out of my house. He’s common. Trash! Trying to get at our money through her thighs.”
But it wasn’t Asa who dealt with that insult, but Lenore, who slapped her husband’s face.
“How dare you say such a vulgar, cruel thing to our daughter?”
Red faced, a hand on his cheek, Howard replied, “It’s true. Look at her. She tarts up her natural good looks with crazy hair colors and all those tattoos. She consorts with these people.” Howard indicated Asa. “She dropped out of college. She quit the job we gave her after that failure and this, the biggest failure of all, this creature who is clearly using her and she’s too stupid to see it. Pretty fades, Penelope; what will you do then?”
PJ had gone totally pale. Asa helped her away from the table and back into the house. Shawn had intervened between his parents and Jay was telling everyone to stop talking and calm down.
Julie came in and pulled PJ into a hug. PJ tried not to cry, but Asa saw the strain and knew it was only a matter of time.
“I’m so sorry he said that,” Julie said. “He’s such an asshole. He’s wrong, PJ. You are smart and strong and you are successful. Don’t let him make you doubt that. You’re coming tomorrow, right?”
PJ nodded and then everyone spilled inside as Lenore shut the sliding doors behind her.
“It’s not enough that the whole neighborhood heard you? Calm yourself, Howard.”
“Me? You slapped me in the face!”
“Take me home, please,” PJ said to Asa. He didn’t bother saying anything to anyone else, heading to the front door with PJ. But her father wasn’t done.
“Yes, get her out of my house. You’ve been nothing but a disappointment to me since the day you were born.”
Asa turned, heading back toward Howard, but Julie stepped in his way, her hand on his chest. “You’ll only make things worse. He’ll call the cops if you touch him. PJ is about to lose it; take her home. We’ll deal with him. I promise you.”
“You all keep saying that and I’m not seeing it.” He turned, gathered PJ up, and took her away from that scene as fast as he could.
PJ was numb until about three blocks from Asa’s house. Then it hit her that her father had just said all he had, and in front of Asa. Hell, to Asa.
Humiliation burned through her as tears sprang to her eyes. His mother had made tamales for their first meeting, and her family had done this to him. Twice.
Yes, she’d been growing away from her dad over the years, but this steady erosion of not just his paternal relationship with her but his basic civility had given way to something far worse.
He loathed her.
She heard it in his tone and she didn’t know what to do with that. Distant was one thing. Disapproving was one thing. But loathing? He truly did think she was a failure. Worse, a whore who’d sell her pussy for love or attention.
Her mother had slapped him! And yelled at him. Jay had shouted at him too. Julie had been so upset when they’d hugged as they’d left.
She managed to get to the point where the garage door closed and then she couldn’t hold the tears back anymore. Huge, hiccupping sobs hit as she put her head in her hands and gave over to them.
“Sit right there.”
Asa got out and came to her side, unbuckled her seat belt, and lifted her into his arms. She tried to protest that she was fine, but she was incoherent from the crying and it felt really good to be held, so she snuggled into him as he kissed the top of her head.
How he managed to get the door open she didn’t know, but he did and headed to his couch, where he sat, settling her in his lap.
“Get it all out.” He rubbed circles over her back. “I’ve got you, Penelope. I’m not going to let go.”
This made her cry even harder because it was so sweet. She cried as she gave up her hopes of ever truly connecting with her father. She cried as she realized things were about to change again after the breakfast meeting she had the following morning with her siblings too.
She cried for a long time until she just sort of dried up. Still, she was sore and her eyes hurt and her nose was runny and she’d gotten makeup on his shirt and he didn’t even care.
“Now before you say a single word, I’m going to need you to listen to me first.” Asa kissed her forehead. “Nothing he said tonight was true. You know that in your head, but when your dad says something so cruel, maybe it’s harder to know in your heart. So let me tell you what my heart knows. You are smart and ambitious. You’re capable and adaptable. He shamed himself tonight. Not you. Never you. Your hope that he would see you for all the wonderful things you truly are doesn’t make you dumb, it makes you a woman with a big heart. It makes you my woman, and I love you and I hate that your father hurt you the way he did. I wish I could go back and undo it and make it never have happened. But I can’t.”
She nodded, so very numb. “I know. I’ve had to accept he’s just not interested. He was never close with me. I was out with my grandpa a lot more than I ever was with him. But I had no idea he hated me.”
She’d thought she was out of tears, but apparently not.
“I don’t think he hates you. I think he resents you for some reason. He definitely doesn’t like me, but he lashed out and has done several times. He wants to push you away. And right now I think that’s the best place for you. Away from him. Do whatever you’re going to do with your siblings at Colman, but you let your brothers and sister handle your father. He’s hurt you enough.”
PJ agreed.
PJ stirred her coffee slowly as her siblings settled in at the table.
Jay spoke first. “I’d ask how you are, but it’s a stupid question after that scene last night. I’m so, so sorry that happened. He’s wrong, PJ.”
Shawn buttered some bread. “Mom came to my house after you guys left. She’s beside herself with worry for you. I know you’re angry and you have every right to be. But he broke something last night. Between them, I mean. I don’t think she’s going to forgive him.”
PJ said, “I don’t even know what I feel. Not all of it. I appreciate that you backed me up last night. I’m… still trying to get past the point where I start crying when I think about it too much, so let’s talk Colman right now.”
They put their heads together and began to plan exactly what they’d do that following Tuesday. It was a big meeting day, so Howard and Fee both would be around.
PJ formally accepted her siblings’ offer of reemployment with her own division, and then they all drew up their new organizational chart for Colman Enterprises, with Howard Jr. and Fee Colman as consultants with offices on-site but a reduced workload.
“One last thing. Mom is giving us her vote. Grandma had a voting seat when Grandpa was alive. I guess Mom did too, back before Grandpa got sick. She never gave it up. She called me this morning to say that.” Julie looked between them all.
Worry stabbed PJ. “If she does that, he’ll leave her.”
“She left her wedding rings in the safe at the house before she came home with me last night. PJ, she’s done with him. He said some unforgivable things to you. To Jay. To all of us,” Shawn said.
“What do you mean to Jay and the rest of you?”
Julie took one of PJ’s hands. “After you left he started ranting about what a loser Jay was for being gay and how Shawn w
as spineless. I’m too masculine to ever get married. He told Mom he had no idea how we turned out to be so awful. He blamed it on her family. Finally Jay and Shawn took him into his room and made him stay there while I got Mom packed up. She called Aunt Jenny and they’re going to go visit Aunt Mary in London in two weeks. Will you call Mom? She feels awful. I know she should have dealt with it earlier.”
“How can I hold it against her? Yes, she made mistakes, but I’m not in her place. Her whole life is falling apart.” Asa had been right. It was crappy parenting. But Lenore loved PJ, even if she wasn’t always great at protecting her. PJ could keep her expectations low and still have her mom in her life.
“I think she needs that. All our lives are. That’s the whole chrysalis thing right? We’ll all be butterflies at the end,” Julie said.
“Let’s hope so. Do you think maybe Dad had a stroke or something? Maybe he’s on pills or his drinking has finally taken a toll?” PJ wished there was something they could learn to make sense of this situation.
Jay shook his head. “He’s been getting worse over the past five years. The last three especially. He and Fee have withdrawn from everyone else. Fee has fed him bullshit and he’s eaten it up. He’s turned into a bitter, entitled old man, and it’s not a good look for him. I thought if I managed to get on Fee’s good side I could finally get to Dad and make him hear me out. But he’s closed himself down to us.”
“I think he’ll make a fuss just to hear himself shout,” Julie said, “but in the end he’ll get the hell out of the way. He’ll see the writing on the wall. Fee? He’s a wild card. He likes money but he hates work. If he can earn and not come to work, he’ll probably let go. But he’s a vindictive bastard, so you never know for sure.”
CHAPTER
Twenty-eight
Wow. I’d let you fire me any day.” Asa winked as she came out of the bedroom wearing a navy suit, her hair up in a French twist. She’d colored it the day before so the tips were as blue as the blouse she wore.
“You’ll call me when it’s over?” He hated that she had to go through the drama and upset of this business with her father and uncle. But he knew she’d do it because that’s what needed to be done.
“Yes.”
“I love you. Knock ’em dead.”
“I love you too.”
“Oh, wait a second.” He held out a small box. Inside was a necklace with a charm. An A intertwined with a P. “Think of it as a talisman. I’ll protect you even when I’m not in the same room.”
She hugged him tight and then waited for him to put the necklace on her. “This is beautiful! How long have you been planning this?”
“Only a few weeks. One of Mick’s buddies, a childhood friend of his, makes these. She just finished it yesterday and Mick brought it over himself. I just wanted you to have a piece of me with you wherever you were.”
She took his hand and placed it on her chest, over her heart. “I do already. In here. But this necklace is perfect, and it’ll totally make me feel better today as I pretty much put my dad on a raft and set him adrift.”
“Hush, you. That’s not what you’re doing at all. You’re being kinder than you have to be and you’re doing it because you’re you. Now go to work. Don’t forget to call me.”
“Okay, okay. See you later.” She paused at the door. “I love you. Thank you.” She touched the necklace. “For everything you are.”
“Hey, Penelope?”
“Yes?”
“I think you should move in here.”
She blinked, staring at him. “You just asked me to move in with you? Right now?”
“I did. I love you. I like being with you. I like waking up with you and having you here with me. You already have a set of keys.” He figured this approach was best. She had enough stress. He’d take it as a given and not make any fuss. Hopefully she’d just give in and let him love her the way she had from pretty much the start.
“You’re a trip, Asa Barrons. Yes, I’ll move in, but I have three months left on my lease so it’ll have to wait until then.”
She blew him a kiss and was gone, leaving him smiling. She was moving in. That three months thing wasn’t a big deal. Just because she paid rent didn’t mean she couldn’t move in with him. Mick needed a place; maybe he could take over the lease. He’d like it, even that fucked up hill.
Whatever the case, they’d work it out.
When Julie and PJ walked in the front doors of Colman Enterprises shortly before the meeting was to start, everything was already in place.
PJ had to give it to Jay, he really had stepped up and taken over.
She and Julie paused at the reception desk.
“Morning, Helen.”
“PJ! It’s good to see you. Are you back?”
Julie nodded. “She is. Today’s her first day back so she probably won’t be getting any calls, but if she does, we’ll all be in the meeting until about noon. She’ll be out in the workshop from now on, so there’s a crew out there now getting her an office set up.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. We missed you a lot around here.”
“Are my father and uncle in yet?” Julie asked.
“Yes. I just took in food, they’re in the conference room already. I think Jay just came through about five minutes ago too.” Which they already knew.
They waited in Julie’s office until Shawn and Jay joined them and then they went over the game plan one more time.
But when they opened the door to go to the meeting, their mother was on the other side.
“I’m here to cast my vote in person.”
PJ shook her head. “Mom, you don’t have to do this. We have your proxy.”
Her mother shook her head. “No, PJ. I need to face him down. I loved him with all my heart for a long, long time. Loved him through his faults and his moods. Tried to give you more love when he gave you less. But he crossed a line. He crossed it more than once, and I was weak and let it continue. I wasn’t a good mom then. I’m sorry.”
PJ and her mother had gone out for a hike and spent hours talking about things. About Asa and her paint business, about her mother’s growing realization that her father was turning into a bitter, hostile stranger who said and did the unforgivable. She’d told PJ it had been like a switch had been thrown and all that intensity of feeling she had for him had just gone dark.
“She deserves this chance,” Shawn murmured.
She did. They just had to hope their mom wouldn’t lose her nerve once she got face-to-face with their dad.
“Let’s go.”
To say Howard Colman Jr. was surprised by the sight of his youngest child and his estranged wife walking into his boardroom would have been an understatement.
But he took in the sight of all five of them and got it soon enough. His surprise went hard and so did PJ’s resolve.
Jay folded his hands in front of him on the table and took their father and uncle in. “So as not to waste time, let’s just get straight to the point. The five of us are claiming our rightful voting seats on the board of Colman Enterprises.”
“Nice try. You’re fired. Get out.” Fee sneered.
Shawn waved a hand. “If you’d been paying attention instead of avoiding work all these years, you’d know there’s a whole set of governing documents for Colman Enterprises. Grandpa had them in with all the legal stuff back when he first set up shop. In those documents, it designates full voting seats for each member of the immediate family running Colman. That’s you, Dad, Mom, and all four of their children. Seven votes total.”
“Six. One of my children quit her job,” Howard interrupted.
Jay sighed. “Seven. We offered Penelope her job back and a division of her own. She started this morning. First order of business is to officially recognize and thank Howard Colman Jr. and his brother, Fee, for their years of service to Colman Enterprises. Yours will be tough shoes to fill, but we’ll do our best.”
“I’m not going anywhere, boy.” Fee pointed a bony
finger at Jay.
“Oh, but you are. And so is Dad. You’ll each retain an office here and your salary until you begin to pull your retirement benefits. We will of course continue to provide your other benefits like health care and your gym membership, that sort of thing. But you’re out.”
Their father shook his head at Jay. “I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, Jay, but you don’t have the stones to pull this off.”
“You don’t know a thing about me, old man. I’m done trying to make you see me. We’ve already voted to name Julie CFO. I’ll be stepping in as CEO. Shawn will run the accounts, and PJ will have her custom design shop with a full roster of clients and a wait list.”
“You have no right!” Their father stood up.
Shawn stepped in. “We have every right, because Grandpa knew what useless fools you both were and made sure there was a way to get around all this foot dragging. We are Colman Enterprises too. In fact, Julie and Jay know more about this company than either of you do. You crossed the line, Dad. You and Fee would happily just let this company dwindle and die off as long as it happened after you left. It’s the CEO’s job to be a steward for the business. You had your time, and your heart isn’t in it. Go quietly and take your salary.”
“It’s more than you deserve.” Lenore finally spoke. “You should be ashamed of yourself. I don’t know who you are. Or what you think you’re doing. But you broke your place in the family. Step aside and be quiet. Be happy your children are kinder than you are.”
He pointed at PJ. “This is all your fault. You stirred everyone up.”
“For my entire life I wanted your approval, and you thought I was a whore. Do you know what it felt like to learn that? I’ll never forget that. I didn’t stir anyone up. I wanted to do something I’m good at. And I wanted to do it here, where I could bring in customers and contribute my own thing to Colman. You stirred up your own problems. Whatever your deal is with me, I can’t own it anymore. I can’t make you love me. But I can make my mark in this company whether you like it or not.”