“That’s not fair,” Dad fired back. “You have to learn to accept your mistakes, Gray.”
“And you have to learn to trust me! I’m the number one pilot in my class, Dad. I work my ass off to the point that even if I do have dyslexia, they would waiver me because it doesn’t affect how I fly. What do you say to that?”
“Maybe I should have let the doctors test you! Maybe I shouldn’t have let you deal with it on your own, so that no one laughed at you. Maybe I should have put you with all the specialists and the labels so this never happened in the first place.”
“Well, you didn’t. You couldn’t have your perfect boy not-so-perfect, could you? If I was marred, unable to accurately read calculations, your dreams of Masters & Son were doomed. Well guess what, Dad, all you did was push me so far that I’ll never come back here. I hope Joey grows a penis, or you learn to accept that she’s better for this business than I ever will be.”
“Gray—” Joey protested, standing in the office doorway.
“Don’t, Joey. I only came to say good-bye. I’m going back to Fort Rucker to endanger some more lives in that helicopter I love so much.” I headed toward Joey.
“You’re leaving?” Parker asked.
“Yes, and it seems like it’s about damn time.”
“You can’t walk out on this family, Grayson,” Dad yelled.
“Walk out? Fuck, Dad!”
“Language!” Parker shouted, which we all ignored.
“You’re shoving me out by inviting him in!”
“He’s not continuously making asinine decisions!” Dad responded. “That one car accident you were in could have been avoided if not for your…confusion!”
“Fuck. You. I have had it with you blaming me for something I had no control over on that bridge. You weren’t there! You want to blame me for something? Fine, blame me for not fighting him harder for his keys, but you taking this asshole’s word over mine is the last straw.”
“Grayson!” Dad shouted at the top of his lungs as I made it to Joey.
“Stop! He’s right!” Parker shrieked. “All of you, stop! Dad, Grayson couldn’t have prevented what happened.”
“How would you even know, Parker?” I fired back, turning around. She chose now to stand up for me?
“Because…” She took gulping breaths. “Because I was there. We lost control and cut them off so close I thought we’d take out his bumper. If Gray hadn’t swerved, Owen’s truck bed would have gone right through Grace’s windshield. They would have died instantly. I…I was in the truck.”
My eyes narrowed, and I stepped toward her.
“No, you weren’t,” Joey said. “I’m the one who called you to tell you about the accident. I picked you up that night from Gray’s party.”
“I walked back after the accident,” she mumbled. “I lied to you.”
“I told her to go,” Owen added. “She was so young. I didn’t want her caught up in it. The minute the car went over…I thought you guys were dead, Gray, and I was too drunk to do anything about it. I will never forgive myself. And I never would have told that stupid racing lie if I’d realized you were going to live.”
I didn’t even bother looking at Owen. My eyes locked onto Parker, and the way she’d huddled in on herself, rocking on the bench. I remember…seeing him flip us off with a grin, his finger pressed up against the window. Grace’s words roared in my ears.
“You drove drunk with my little girl in the car?” Dad asked.
“Sir, there’s no excuse for what happened that night,” Owen recited that fucking line, the one he’d always used.
“You drove drunk with my little girl in the car!” Dad roared.
“No, he didn’t. He wasn’t driving,” I said softly, but everyone stopped and looked my way. I kept my gaze on Parker. “You were, weren’t you, Parker? You drove. Otherwise Grace couldn’t have seen Owen against the passenger-side window as you passed us.”