A Chance at Love (A Ferry Creek Novel): (a billionaire romance novel) (11 page)

By the time Sullivan dried off and
threw on some comfortable, casual clothes, he knew the guilt wasn't going to go
away. The first thing he did then was call Parker.

"Taking a day off?"
Parker asked when he answered the phone.

"Personal day," Sullivan
said. "Remember that conversation we had about fathers?"

"Vaguely."

"Well... not to stir up
anything, and I'm sure Beverly will drive you mad about it, but that phone call
I got during that meeting with Charles turned out to be true."

"What do you mean true?"

"The man I thought was my
father wasn't," Sullivan said.

It was his first time acknowledging
the situation to someone else.

"Oh, shit," Parker said.
"That's a heavy load, Sullivan."

"I know," Sullivan said.
"I know we don't talk about our personal lives, and that's good. Just
wanted to let you know. I have, uh, a phone call to make" -
or remake,
Sullivan
thought - "and have to do some more research and thinking."

"I've got it here,"
Parker said. "Take care of things."

"I plan on it."

The call ended and Sullivan called
Bobby. He felt like a damn fool for calling leaving a voicemail like that. That
wasn't the man Sullivan was raised to be. Now, ironically, the words and values
of Henry Chasen were going to help Sullivan to connect with his brother and
biological father.

The thought of it still bothered
Sullivan. He put a hand to his forehead. He didn't want to leave another message
but knew he would have to do so if the voicemail picked up. It wasn't fair to
Bobby to be left with a drunken Sullivan talking like an idiot on a message.

The call rang and rang and rang.

“
Pick
up, Bobby,
”
Sullivan
whispered.

How about that - I
’
m annoyed with my brother...

Sullivan felt like screaming, then
Bobby finally picked up.

“
Hello?
Sullivan?
”

“
Yeah.
Hey, Bobby.
”

The call went silent. Sullivan
realized he was the one in the driver
’
s
seat. As far as Bobby knew, if he had listened to the voicemail, was that
Sullivan wanted nothing to do with the situation.

“
Bobby,
did you listen to my voicemail?
”

“
First
thing this morning,
”
Bobby
said.
“
Really made my
morning.
”

“
Listen,
I
’
m sorry about that,
”
Sullivan said.
“
That wasn
’
t me.
”

“
Didn
’
t sound like you. What were you
drinking?
”

“
Scotch.
”

“
Never
been a scotch man myself,
”
Bobby myself.
“
I prefer a
good whiskey.
”

“
What
about...
”

“
Dad?
”
Bobby asked.

Sullivan swallowed.
“
Yeah.
”

“
He
doesn
’
t drink. Never has
and obviously never will.
”

“
Okay,
”
Sullivan said.
“
I
’
m
sorry I left that message like that. I should have called you with a clearer
head and spoke like a man.
”

“
What
does it matter?
”
Bobby
asked.
“
Ever hear the
saying about the truth in a drunk man
’
s
words?
”

“
Yeah,
but the difference is that when I get drunk, Bobby, I let fear take over. I use
it as a way to hide. I can
’
t
believe I just said that to a stranger.
”

“
Afraid
I
’
ll tell everyone?
”

“
I
could care less,
”
Sullivan
said.
“
Everything I
’
ve known, Bobby, is wrong.
”

“
Join
the club,
brother
,
”
Bobby said.

Brother.

Sullivan wasn
’
t sure if Bobby was just
speaking naturally or being a prick. He let it go. Telephone fights were never
fun.

“
So,
why did you call?
”
Bobby
asked.
“
Not that I
’
m trying to avoid you but I have
a diner to run.
”

“
You
own a diner?
”

“
Sort
of. It
’
s actually our...
well, Dad
’
s diner. It
’
s been in the family for a long
time. He took it over a while back and now he can
’
t
run it.
”

“
Can
you, uh, tell me about his condition?
”

“
What
do you want to know?
”

“
He
can
’
t run the diner...
”

“
Sullivan,
he can
’
t get out of bed. He
should be gone by now. Long gone actually. Nurses and doctors can
’
t figure it out. He
’
s having another surgery. They
tell me he
’
s holding on for
something. I
’
m pretty sure he
’
s holding on for you.
”

“
I
don
’
t get it, Bobby,
”
Sullivan said.

“
Neither
do I. He admitted it to me while on some heavy meds and I just brushed it off
my shoulder. I thought he was talking crazy. But he wasn
’
t. He knew things. He said things. He had some
pictures...
”

“
How
the hell did he have pictures of me?
”

Sullivan felt his voice rising. He
reminded himself that none of this was Bobby
’
s
fault... or maybe it was. Bobby could have just kept to his own damn business.
If Bobby hadn
’
t called and
pestered Sullivan and Beverly, none of this would have happened.

“
Sullivan,
I
’
m not sure,
”
Bobby said.
“
I
’
m
just trying to fulfill the last wish of my dying father. That
’
s all. I can see him to his
grave knowing I did my part.
”

“
So
this becomes my burden?
”

“
Nobody
ever said that. Nobody would ever think that either, Sullivan. I can
’
t imagine what it
’
s like for you. I know how it
feels for me...
”

Sullivan paced the living room of
his condo. He slowly started to shift to the kitchen and saw the picture of his
father on the counter. He touched it.

“
You
know, I grew up with a man who raised me,
”
Sullivan said.
“
A really
good man.
”

“
I
’
m happy to hear that,
”
Bobby said.
“
Just for the record, on my end,
Dad is an amazing man. This town relies on him and depends on the diner. I came
here to clean things up for him and ended up staying because of all he
’
s done.
”

“
Well,
my father is dead. Been dead for ten years.
”

“
Damn.
I
’
m sorry.
”

Sullivan
’
s pointer finger ran along the wood frame, over and
over as his mind raced.

“
Yeah,
”
Sullivan said.
“
Listen, Bobby, can we forget
about that voicemail? Or better yet, did you say anything to anyone?
”

“
No,
”
Bobby said.
“
I
’
m
not a gossip guy. There
’
s
plenty of those right here in the diner. This is serious and I respect that. It
’
s not going to be easy to tell
Dad that you don
’
t want to
see him, but I don
’
t blame
you at all, Sullivan.
”

“
You
wouldn
’
t lie?
”
Sullivan asked.

“
Lie
to a dying man? I
’
ve done
some shit things in life, but lying to my father... I couldn
’
t do it. I
’
d give him the truth because he
gave the same to me.
”

“
Damn.
Seems like you have an honest heart like me,
”
Sullivan said.

Here Sullivan thought all those
good morals and a good heart came from being raised by Henry Chasen. Instead,
maybe it was more genetic. A family with big hearts, who wanted to help people.

“
So,
let
’
s pretend the voicemail
never happened,
”
Bobby
said.
“
What did you need to
call me for?
”

Sullivan closed his eyes and turned
the picture of his father - of Henry Chasen - over. He rested his hand on the
back of the picture and knew that if he were alive, he
’
d give the same advice that Sullivan felt was the
right decision.

“
I
wanted to call you, Bobby, to let you know that I
’
m
going to be coming to Ferry Creek...
”

Bobby ended the call and gently
placed the phone on the desk. A whole new set of emotions had just settled in.
Bobby had woken that morning to a drunk voicemail from his brother telling him
he wasn
’
t going to deal
with their father
’
s
situation.

I can
’
t...

At first it angered Bobby.

How the hell could someone so rich
be such an asshole?

Once the feelings of jealousy (over
money, of all things) subsided, he began to understand it. Under different
circumstances Bobby would have felt the same way. There was a part of Bobby
that wanted to be mad at his father for keeping such a big secret for all those
years and waiting until he was on his deathbed to ask for help. For a man that
gave everything he could to Ferry Creek and its people, that was quite the
selfish move. Or maybe his father did it to protect the diner. To protect his
image. To protect his family. Hell, maybe he did it to protect Sullivan Chasen.
Sullivan had said on the phone about being raised by another man. Bobby thought
about it. Being told you had two fathers, one real, one not. That would certainly
mess with a kid
’
s head,
wouldn
’
t it?

There was just so much to think
about at once, it felt damn near impossible to do so. After he listened to
Sullivan
’
s voicemail three
times and accepted that he
’
d
be alone in this, he got out of bed and went to the kitchen table and began to
clean up the documents and pictures. The proof was there long before the need
for a DNA test. But Bobby understood why Sullivan wanted the DNA test. Being a
billionaire must come with its own drawbacks. Sure, the financial impact had to
be amazing, but Bobby wondered how many
long lost cousins
or long
lost
brothers
contacted Sullivan, looking for money.

Bobby didn
’
t want money.

He would like more money, and who
wouldn
’
t, but he didn
’
t want anything from Sullivan.
It wasn
’
t Sullivan
’
s place to do a thing. Bobby had
enough to get by and that was fine by him. The diner was successful. He was
learning the ropes still. Ferry Creek welcomed him with a big hug. Getting to
know the locals was really fun for Bobby. There were plenty of memories of
Ferry Creek already in his head and each day he received more and more. The
only thing he really wanted was a different place to live, but being just a few
steps away from work was definitely a perk to the job.

Bobby had made sure the diner was
up and running before retreating to his office to sit and think. He had to find
the right words to explain to his father that Sullivan had called and said he
didn
’
t want to come to see
him. Somewhere inside Bobby he knew it would have killed his father. If this
was the one thing his father had been holding on for, then that would be it. In
that moment, Bobby actually saw himself lying to his father. He saw himself
explaining that he was still working on finding Sullivan. That Sullivan was a
busy man. Maybe he was out of town... no, he was out of the country on
business. He was a hard man to reach because he was so rich. He was just so
busy...
so hang in there, Dad, I won
’
t
let you down
...

It pained Bobby that the thoughts
were so vivid in his mind. But the love he felt for his father had no boundary.
It was like any other person in the world. They
’
d
do whatever they had to do to make sure their loved ones were alive and safe.

However, Bobby
’
s conscience was too big and he
knew he would have to face the truth. It wouldn
’
t
be easy, but nobody said it would have to be done that very morning. Or
afternoon. Or even that day. Hell, he could wait a few days, a week. Maybe
Sullivan would change his mind. Bobby figured he could give Sullivan a few days
to really process it all and then call him again. After all, Bobby had made the
promise to his father that he would try his best to find Sullivan and bring him
to Ferry Creek.