Pete saw the glimmer of worry in his eyes and shot a look at Sky, whose gaze softened. Was she buying into this charade? In an effort to make this as painless as possible for all of them, he avoided defining the elephant in the room.
“You don’t need me to spell it out. You know too well what we’re talking about. I’ve spoken to Tatum Rehab, and I’ve arranged for a three-to-five-week program—”
“This baloney again, Peter?” His father shook his head, then shot a look at Sky. “Your brother needs someone to save.”
Sky’s eyes darted between the two men.
“No, Pop. That’s where you’re wrong. I’m done saving you. It’s time you saved yourself.” Pete stepped closer to his father, and the years rolled back, playing in his mind like a movie. Tossing baseballs in the backyard, learning to sail on the bay, his father holding him too tightly the day he went off to college, and holding him just as tightly the day he graduated.
Pete drew in a breath and gathered his determination like armor. “I love you, Pop. I want you to be around for a lot of years.”
“Listen to you.” He laughed under his breath, then pointed his thumb at Pete and spoke to Sky. “Do you believe this guy? Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?”
Pete watched uncertainty float across his sister’s face. He held her gaze, hoping she had enough faith in him to trust what he’d told her.
“I do, Daddy.” Her voice was thin and shaky.
His father’s face aged ten years with her words. His jowls sagged, and his eyelids drooped heavily. “Sky?”
She stepped forward. “I know, Dad. I know about your drinking.” Her eyes watered, and again Pete fought the urge to go to her, to put an arm around her and let her know he was right there with her. He didn’t want this to be her fight, and he hated seeing her take it on—but it was, really. It was their whole family’s battle.
“Sky.” Their father reached for her.
She allowed him to take her hand, and she held it in silence for a beat. “I don’t want you to die, Dad.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “With Mom gone, you’re all I have left.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came.
Pete’s chest constricted as he closed the gap between them. “We all love you, Pop. This ends now. No more burying your grief in alcohol. No more looking for Mom to come back.” He glanced at his sister and saw fresh tears fill her eyes. “It’s a month of your time, and it’ll save your life—and ours.”
His father grumbled something under his breath again.
“Daddy, please? Please get help?” Sky’s plea sounded like she was a little girl again, scared and fragile.
Pete couldn’t help placing his hand on her lower back to comfort her, allowing her to soak in his strength while hers faltered.
“I have the shop to mind,” his father said gruffly.
“I’ll run it while you’re in rehab,” Pete assured him.
“I’ll run it,” Sky said. “Pete has his own business to run.”
Pete shot her a questioning look.
“It makes sense. I go from job to job, and you have clients who rely on you. I can do it, Peter. Have as much faith in me as I have in you.”
How could he say no to that? “We’ve got it covered, Pop. What do you say? There’s no more hiding. It’s this way, or you’re on your own, because I’m done enabling this double life you’re living. I’ve let this go on for two years too long, and I love you too much to let it go on any longer.”
His father huffed a breath. “I don’t need rehab. So I have a few drinks every night. Big deal.”
Pete shrugged and stalked toward the front of the store.
“Peter? Where are you going?” Sky’s voice was rattled and high-pitched.
“I’m done. If he wants to kill himself, so be it. I have a life to start living.” Pete heard Sky’s footsteps hurrying toward him.
“You’re just going to leave?” She grabbed his shirt. “You can’t just let him keep doing this. You said he could die.”
He turned and locked eyes with his sister’s terrified gaze and said the hardest thing he’d ever had to say.
“Yes, he could die, and at this point that’s his choice. I’m not going to be part of it. This is his choice, Sky, and if he chooses to keep drinking, then I’m out of his life from here on out. He’s on his own.” He glanced over her shoulder at their father. His head was buried in his hands, his red ears and jowls visible through his fingers. Pete was finally getting through to him. He hated playing hardball without first warning Sky, but he had no choice.
“Darn it, Peter.” His father’s voice boomed through the shop, loud and tremulous. “Don’t you walk out on me.”
Pete held his hands up in surrender. “I’m done, Pop. We lost Mom to something she had no control over. I won’t watch you willingly kill yourself.”
“Peter.” Sky’s eyes darted from Pete to their father, then back again.
“You’re an insufferable stubborn mule, you know that? You got that from your mother.” Neil stomped up the aisle to where Pete stood and pointed at his face. “If one single person finds out that I’m in rehab, I’ll have your hide.”
Pete bit back tears that fought to come. “I’ve already spoken to the counselor about anonymity, and as far as Sky and I know, you’re visiting your cousin in Miami while his wife recovers from surgery.” He made that up on the spot, but it sounded plausible.
“Don’t expect me to thank you for turning your sister against me.” His father narrowed his eyes. “Jackass.”
Music to Pete’s ears.
Chapter Twenty-One
LATER THAT NIGHT Pete, Jenna, Sky, and Joey sat on a blanket on the beach. The bay lapped at the shore, bringing a gentle breeze across the hibachi with each lick of the waves. Stars peppered the sky like glimmers of hope, and Pete couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so settled.
“I still can’t get over everything that happened today.” Sky wore a hoodie over her tank top, and as she drew her knees up to her chest, her skirt billowed around her bare feet. She rested her head on her knees and sighed.
“I’m sorry, Sky. I should have told you sooner, but—”
“Don’t, Pete. Even if you should have, you never would have. You’d protect me until I was a hundred years old if I didn’t speak up. I appreciate you taking care of me. I really do.” Sky smiled at Jenna and petted Joey. “But now you can focus on Jenna.”
Jenna and Sky had bonded over a pint of ice cream while Pete called each of his brothers and gave them the good news. By the time he was done with the phone calls, Jenna and Sky were laughing like best friends—and the ice cream container was empty.
“He always focuses on me.” Jenna leaned over and kissed Pete; then she turned back to Sky. “But if you think he’ll stop taking care of you, I think you’re sorely mistaken. One thing I’ve learned about Pete is that his love knows no confines, and once it finds you, it never lets go.”
“Yeah, I guess it could be worse,” Sky teased.
“Hey. I’m sitting right here.” Pete reached behind Jenna and playfully pushed his sister’s shoulder. “I’ll protect both of you as much as I please, so shut up and pass me that pack.”