Page 127 of Shadow's Surrender
In that moment her father was back in the past, talking not to Shadow but to Carmen, to their memories—to their love.
“Then Bruce took me to this strip club—Satin Dolls, and I was shocked to see Carmen on stage. She never once mentioned to me that she was a dancer. I hated that she had to earn a living that way.” George then looked at Shadow. “She worked hard to give you the life she thought you deserved. She was a wonderful mother.”
“I know,” Shadow whispered, and Scarlett placed her hand on his and squeezed it lightly.
“Carmen talked about you all the time. You were her reason for living.” He took another sip of brandy. “So different from Pamela,” he muttered, the words barely audible.
Scarlett’s heart went out to her father.How terrible it must’ve been to be in a loveless marriage for all these years. I wonder if Mom ever loved any of us. Is she even capable of loving anyone but herself?
“That night at Satin Dolls, Carmen was so embarrassed to see me that she acted like she didn’t know me. Even had the sleazy manager threaten to throw me out if I kept bothering her. For several weeks, she didn’t show up to the hardware store, then I went back to the strip bar to find her. She cried when I told her I thought she was a wonderful and loving mother. I told her it didn’t matter what she did. And that’s when she agreed to go out with me on a proper date.” He chuckled softly.
“You shouldn’t have told my mom that you were in the process of getting a divorce when you had no fuckin’ intention of doing that.” Shadow glowered.
George nodded. “You’re right, but I was afraid she wouldn’t give us a chance, and by the time we went out on the date, I was already in love with her. But not telling her in the beginning was selfish. I take responsibility for that.”
“If you’d been honest, she’d be alive now.” Anger punctuated his words.
“Maybe, maybe not. Your mother loved me too.” Her dad’s gaze bored into each of them. “And as you know, love is pretty damn powerful. It makes people do all sorts of things they swore they would never do.”
Scarlett felt Shadow tense and she patted his hand gently.
“Even so, you owed her that,” he gritted out.
Her dad nodded. “In the beginning, yes, but after she admitted that she loved me, too, I told her the truth, and asked her to marry me. You see, by that time, I had decided to file for divorce.”
Shock vibrated through Scarlett, but she kept quiet.He was going to leave Mom and us?
“I don’t fuckin’ believe you.”
“It’s the way it was. Carmen was mad that I lied about my true marital situation when we first started going out, but she forgave me. We were in love. Anyway, Carmen told me she’d think about it, but I never got the answer …” her dad’s voice trailed away.
“You’ve known all along I was Carmen’s son,” Shadow said.
“I knew the day I came to your office. You bear a striking resemblance to her. She talked about you all the time, but she never wanted me to meet you until things were permanent between us.”
“You’re a fuckin’ hypocrite,” Shadow growled. “You tried to break up Scarlett and me, yet you lied and fucked my mom over big time.”
“I loved your mother! And you’re a member of an outlaw club. Do you think your mom would like that? I don’t.” George’s face was red, his anger visibly rising.
“She’d have supported me. Anyway, that’s not any of your fuckin’ business.” Shadow rose to his feet. “I’m done with this.”
Scarlett followed suit and stood up. “Dad, you and I can talk later. I just want you to know that I love Shadow and I’m not leaving him. You can accept it or not.”
Her dad looked at her over the rim of the snifter. “You’re grown up now, and you have to make your own decisions. I still don’t think this relationship is going to work, but you’ll have to find that out for yourself.”
“At least ours isn’t built on a pack of fuckin’ lies,” Shadow said as he walked toward the door.
“I’ll talk to you later.” She went over to her dad and rubbed her hand over his head. “Are you okay?”
He craned his neck and caught her gaze. “I’m fine.” He gripped her arm lightly. “Thanks for asking, honey.”
She smiled softly then walked out of the room, hurrying to catch up with Shadow who was barreling down the hallway to the front door. He jerked it open just as she came up behind him.
“Slow down,” she said, grabbing his arm.
He stopped in his tracks. “Your dad’s full of shit!”
“I know you’re angry, but I don’t think he was lying about how he felt about your mom.”
