Chapter 14

Piper

I was surprised Austin was opening up to me about this, and even more surprised by what he was telling me. “You get to decide the type of man you are.”

“My dad was my role model when it came to relationships,” he stated.

“And he’s an asshole.” I quickly realized how awful that sounded. “Sorry. He’s your dad, and I shouldn’t insult him.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured me. “We’ve never been close. The only time I talk to my dad is when I want money.”

“That’s really sad,” I whispered.

“It’s not,” he insisted. “We were never close. He always bought me stuff to prove he was a good father, but we didn’t spend time together. He’s never even seen me play.”

“Maybe that’s all he knows,” I suggested. “I don’t really know your dad. Your mom was the only one I ever talked to, so I’m just guessing.”

“My mom isn’t perfect, but she tries to be there for me,” he remarked with a smile.

“It’s always possible your dad didn’t have that,” I added. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be pushing you on this.”

“It’s fine,” he insisted. “You’re probably right about my dad. He was a spoiled rich kid, like me. My grandparents are still alive, but I haven’t seen them in many years. When I was really young, we’d go to their house in Connecticut for Christmas. It was awful. No one wanted to go. My grandparents were cold. They bought us a lot of toys every year, but we had to spend hours posing for professional photos with our gifts. My grandparents even bought us special clothing to wear while opening presents. It was all for show.”

“Was it that important to get perfect pictures of Christmas morning for their album?” I asked. That seemed to be taking things to an extreme.

“Nah,” Austin replied. “One of my uncles was planning to run for congress, so Christmas was all about getting the best publicity photos. It was the craziest thing. My grandmother would walk out with a plate of cookies, but they were props. We couldn’t touch them.”

“That sounds awful,” I remarked. “Did your uncle end up running for congress?”

“Nope,” Austin replied. “I’m surprised this story hasn’t come out in the press yet. It’s the kind of thing I expected them to dig up as soon as Reckless Release started getting more attention.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“My uncle was getting ready for his big congressional run. I can still remember my dad saying he was too arrogant. My uncle had no political experience, but he thought money could buy him anything.”

“It usually can,” I pointed out.

“True,” he agreed. “It can buy most things. Without that money, my uncle would have served a long prison sentence for fraud. He was involved in some retirement community scam. I don’t remember all the details. I was six when he was indicted. The publicity was so bad, it ended his career in politics before it began.”

“But he didn’t go to prison?” I asked. That kind of thing always made me angry. Poor people were sent to prison, while rich people got off with a slap on the wrist. That wasn’t always the case, but it happened more than it should.

“Money can buy the best attorneys,” Austin replied with a shrug. “It may not be fair, but it’s the way the world works. From what I heard, my uncle whined about his long probation. After that, we didn’t go to Connecticut.”

“It’s sad that you were only going to help your uncle’s political career,” I told him.

“There may have been other reasons we were invited,” he replied. “My mom was the one who refused to let us go after that. I think she was tired of the games. My dad tried to pressure her into taking us at first, but he quickly gave up.”

“It must have been hard not seeing his parents on Christmas,” I remarked. “I’m surprised he gave up on it.”

“You’re thinking of normal families. My dad didn’t miss his parents. At least, I don’t think he did.”

“Do you really only talk to your dad when you need money?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I know that sounds bad, but we aren’t close.”

“You should talk to him, Austin.”

“About what?” he asked.

“Your relationship,” I replied. “He may not have been very loving, but he wasn’t abusive or neglectful. It sounds like he didn’t have a good role model when it comes to family. He’s not going to be around forever. Do you want to regret not trying?” I asked.

Austin looked over at me. We were in line at the toll plaza with traffic at a standstill. He sighed and looked back at the row of cars in front of him. “You always were too smart.”

“Does that mean you’re going to talk to your dad?” I asked.

“Maybe,” was his reply. It was a start. Something told me Austin needed to work on his relationship with his dad to truly be happy with anyone.