Goddammit. Throughout his entire life, Vaughn had given the middle finger to anyone who tried to get in his way. Except for this man. This man who’d cost him forty-nine months of being with the love of his life. This man who’d cost him the experience of his daughter’s first steps, first tooth, first haircut. Why? Why had he allowed River’s father to dictate his decisions, when he would normally have fought any other son of a bitch who presumed to do the same?
He’d just answered his own question. It was River’s father. And Vaughn knew what living without family felt like, knew the absence presented itself at the oddest times. Sitting in a diner on Sunday morning, watching families eat pancakes. Or stepping aside to let a family in identical sports jerseys pass on the sidewalk. Yeah. Vaughn knew all about that void, and saving River that pain—any pain—had been his reason for allowing Mr. Purcell to tread on him. For River’s sake.
Now, with River’s worried gaze tracking his movements, that pattern swallowed him up, forced him to nod respectfully at the man he should hate. Hell, maybe he did. Maybe he hated him more than the devil.
“I have to say, I’m surprised,” Mr. Purcell began. “I didn’t think you’d come back for Marcy. Thought knowing about her would keep you gone, actually.”
Sickness invaded Vaughn’s stomach at the thought of shirking a responsibility he celebrated. “I guess that’s proof you don’t know me very well.”
The older man’s smile pulled tight. “Maybe you’re not as big a coward as your father, but if I remember correctly, you only need a little urging to get gone.”
“A little urging?” Hearing the ire in his voice, Vaughn closed his eyes and took a long, fortifying breath. Sensing there was another axe about to drop, Vaughn delayed the inevitable by asking the question that had been plaguing him since childhood. “What happened between you and my father?”
River’s father’s mouth twisted, as if the mere mention of Vaughn’s father disgusted him. “Never told you, did he? I guess you were too young when he split to understand, anyway.” Vaughn ignored the pang in his stomach. “I had a full ride scholarship to Rutgers. Football. I was getting out of this fucking town. And your father—who was supposed to be my teammate—hated me for it. His only options were the factory, or being broke in some other shitty place.”
Vaughn watched as River’s father yanked up his pant leg, indicating a surgery scar on his right knee.
“He did this. Last practice of the season, he took a cheap shot at me after the whistle. Your father.” His pointed a shaking finger at Vaughn but was obviously being careful to keep his back turned toward the house, making their conversation seem run-of-the-mill. “I watched you turn into a loser, just like him. Vandalizing property, stealing cars, walking around with a chip on your shoulder. And then you started seeing my daughter.”
Usually when facts fell into place for Vaughn, he appreciated the sense of understanding, but this wasn’t one of those times. His gut felt pumped full of lead as he saw the situation through the eyes of River’s father. Of course he would hate Vaughn for being the one to keep River from attending college. It must have been like déjà vu. A new generation of De Matteo keeping his daughter from fulfilling her potential. Jesus Christ, he felt ill. If he’d been alone, he would have sunk down onto the curb. “I wanted her to go. I—”
“You didn’t try hard enough, though. Did you? All those times you were in my house at night. You think I didn’t know?”
“Why didn’t you come throw me out?” The words stung leaving his mouth. “I would have gone. I would’ve known you were right.”
The older man stared off down the block, as if seeing into the past. “She would have only gone after you, twice as hard. And you would have been back the next day. I needed you to…”
“Break her heart?” Vaughn’s hands twitched with the need to ball into fists. “I did. And it was the worst decision I’ve ever made. I’ll pay for it the rest of my life whenever she looks worried I’ll do it again.”
“But you will.” Mr. Purcell’s disgust had returned. “You’ll do it again, whether it’s today or next year. Might as well save some time.”
Here it comes. Vaughn’s pulse shot into overdrive as the older man opened a compartment inside the trunk and removed a stack of papers.
“I never transferred the deed, Vaughn.” The silence following that statement was so complete, Vaughn could hear his heartbeat slow, slow, until it almost stopped. “When River announced she was pregnant, I made the decision. The baby meant a connection between you two, and if she ever got in touch…if you ever came back to Hook, I couldn’t risk the man who cost my daughter her future living inside my house. I can’t abide it.”
“So what’s the play?” Vaughn’s body was exhausted, so exhausted. Like he’d just climbed a mountain. “If I stay, you take the house away? You would do that to your granddaughter?”
River’s father had the decency to turn red, but it was half anger. “You going to stick around to find out?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so. You can’t chance it when I’ve proven what I’ll do to keep you out of her life.”