Page 29 of Willowbrooke
“No.”
“He told me he’d changed his will to disinherit me, that he didn’t think I was grateful for everything he’d done for me growing up. I didn’t realize being an absent parent had taken so much from him.” Leo chuckled to himself.
“At the time, I was furious. I grew up thinking that I’d at least have a head start, with college being paid for, but Margot was the one kind enough to pick up the tab. I’m still not quite sure what I did growing up to make him hate me so much.” Leo kneaded the dough roughly, as if taking out his aggression from his childhood on the ball of pasta.
“Margot said it was because of your mom…” I had debated revealing more, but if Leo really was clueless as to the reason, perhaps knowing would help.
Leo stopped abruptly and looked at me, his brow knit. “What about her?”
“She said you reminded him too much of her, that he was devastated to be around you.”
Leo shook his head. “Of course I understand he never recovered after losing her, but to take it out on a child, that is something I will never understand.” He resumed his kneading.
“But you did reconcile with your dad…didn’t you talk about why you left…get some kind of closure about any of it?” I asked.
Leo chuckled. “Sometimes I forget you never met him. My dad never looked back. We never talked about what happened. He never apologized. But I knew him well enough not to expect anything. I came home just as much for him as I did for myself. Margot was right that I’d regret it if I didn’t. I didn’t expect that as an adult, as someone who made something from practically nothing, without his help, that I had managed to earn a shred of respect from the old man.”
“Did you getanyclosure before he passed?” I asked out of pure curiosity.
“Sure I did,” Leo said wryly. “My dad was never going to change; he expected everyone around him to adapt instead. So I adapted. But once I let go of the notion that he would suddenly become this loving father figure that I had wanted growing up, I allowed myself to start a completely fresh relationship with him. It wasn’t one of father and son, but one of simple mutual respect.” Leo formed the dough into a round ball.
“He respected that I made it without his help and came back to take care of him. And I respected him for standing his ground and not compromising, even when he was in a very vulnerable state.” Leo tucked a piece of plastic wrap around the dough ball. “We’ll work on the marinara sauce while that rests, but first I need to clean up this mess.” He gestured to the flour coating the counter and his apron.
“I can clean up,” I offered, hopping off the barstool across the counter from Leo. “You start prepping your sauceingredients.”
“Thanks.” Leo wiped his hands on his apron and started to gather everything on a clean spot on the counter next to me.
“That must have been difficult, when you were young, to process being cut out of his will, trying to land on your feet. You must have felt alone.” I was selfishly using Leo’s openness to try to glean more information about his past. I wanted to know him on a deeper level.
“I was young and stupid, so yeah, I was angry for a long time, but I managed to channel that anger into motivation to succeed in school and business. I wanted to prove him wrong at first, but then after a while, and a lot of therapy, I realized that it was more important to prove to myself that I could manage on my own.
“I’d been doing it my whole life anyway, but to have something tangible, like a degree from an Ivy-league and a lucrative business, that felt more real,” Leo admitted. “The day I got to pay Margot back for my tuition and William back for his initial startup investment, those were good days.” He smiled to himself.
“You’re very resilient,” I observed.
Leo gave me a small smile. “Thanks,” he replied bashfully.
“So you’d been away for years—”
“Over a decade,” Leo corrected me.
“And then Margot gets in touch…” I inferred.
“We hadn’t talked in years—I think my dad found outshe paid for my college, and it caused some issues between the two of them, so she’d kept her distance.” Leo set a large pot of water on the stove to boil, making sure to pour salt in and covering it before turning on the burner.
“That must have hurt—to have her kind of walk away like that. Was William your only ally?” I asked.
“Margot and her ex-husband fought like cats and dogs; they had a prenup, so I think she knew if they divorced—which they did a few years ago—then my father would be her only recourse. And my dad never found out about Uncle William’s investment—it was from an angel investor. I only found out it was William after Dad died, although I certainly suspected it was him,” Leo told me. “My father could be vindictive—he would have cut William out of the business and gone scorched earth if he found out.”
“How does someone so vicious manage to be so successful?”
Leo laughed. “He came from money, and his family had a lot of connections—nobody could turn him down. I think he was softer when he was with my mom, but losing her made him hard. But I’m sure the shark was always inside him.” Leo used a paring knife to slice an “X” at the bottom of each tomato. “It’ll be easier to peel them,” he explained without me having to ask.
“What did Margot tell you to convince you to come back home? What made you want to leave everything behind?” I took back my seat at the counter, watching Leo finish upwith the tomatoes and set them next to the pot of water, which wasn’t quite boiling yet.
He leaned against the counter, facing me, looking a little apprehensive. “I’m sure there was a part of me that wanted to see if he’d changed—if my success would make him love me—make him proud of me…” Leo trailed off, formulating how to say what came next. “But I think I also kind of wanted a fresh start, and it was a convenient excuse.” He sighed. “Not so selfless…”
“It’s not like you had anyone else looking out for you,” I defended him. “What were you running away from?” I read between the lines.
