The First Time Again: The Braddock Brotherhood, Book 3 (28 page)

“Come here,” he said. He walked her to a row of chairs set up along the wall.

“I’ve been where your dad is,” Trey informed her. “I know what he’s thinking. He’ll offer you ten excuses why he doesn’t need treatment. If that doesn’t work, he’ll put a guilt trip on you. He’ll get mad and try to make you feel bad and make you think his drinking is your fault.

“I know every trick, because I used them all, until somebody I had no connection with, who wouldn’t put up with my bullshit, forced me to get help. Let me talk to him.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, Trey tapped on Dan Westring’s hospital room door and opened it. Baylee’s father was awake and looking belligerent. The remnants of his breakfast sat on a rolling tray table and had been pushed to the far side of the bed. He wore a hospital gown, and his left arm was encased in a foam brace and held over his chest by a sling. His face showed the damage he’d suffered from whatever had occurred last night. He had a black eye, a split lip and a cut above his left eyebrow.

He watched Trey’s approach with apprehension. “Who are you?”

“Trey Christopher.” He reached out a hand and Dan begrudgingly shook it and introduced himself.

“I’m a friend of your daughter’s,” Trey said. “Baylee,” he added so there was no confusion.

“Yeah. Okay. Where is she? I thought she’d come to pick me up.”

“She’s here. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“About what?”

“Treatment for your alcoholism.”

Dan snorted. “So I like a few drinks now and then. I’m not an alcoholic.”

“Bullshit,” Trey said calmly. Dan glared at him. “Want to know how I know it’s bullshit? Because I’ve been where you are. Trying to deny it, trying to convince everyone I didn’t have a problem and most importantly trying to convince myself. It won’t work. If you want me to get you a mirror you can take a good hard look at yourself and see what you’re doing and what you’ve done not only to yourself, but to your family and anyone else who gives a damn about you. But I don’t think I need to. You don’t like yourself much right now. You probably haven’t for a long time. But that’s neither here nor there. You’ve got a family. I’m going to assume they love you and want what’s best for you, even though the only one I know for sure feels that way is Baylee.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve—”

“You better believe it. I’ve also got two Super Bowl rings, and believe me when I tell you my nerve’s got more value right now than they do. I don’t care about much of anything except how what you do affects Baylee. You’ve spent the last few years making her feel badly about herself, making her feel unimportant and lately causing her to worry about you. It stops today, or I swear to God I’ll encourage her to stay away from you because you’re like poison to her and everyone else when you’re drinking.

“The doctor who admitted you suggested treatment. They’ll transfer you directly. You don’t have to go home. Admit you’ve got a problem and you get help starting today. If you don’t, say goodbye to your daughter. After that you can probably say goodbye to your other daughter. Your son and grandsons. You’ve got a lot to live for, it looks to me like, but if you don’t wise up, you’ll lose it all like I did. You’ll wake up one morning and everything and everyone you loved or cared about will be gone.” Trey snapped his fingers. “It slips through your fingers and you can’t get it back. So what’s it going to be?”

Some of Dan’s defiance had left him during Trey’s speech. Trey saw a man twice his age who was afraid. Afraid to commit to treatment. Afraid to give up the crutch he’d depended on for so long.

Sensing Dan was close to capitulating, Trey pulled up one of the visitors’ chairs and sat. “I won’t lie to you. It isn’t easy. At first I hated rehab. I was pissed at the whole damn world, but when it came down to it, mostly I was pissed at myself. I screwed up everything and it was my own fault. I stuck it out in treatment because being under the influence is how I got where I was.

“I’m going to make this one-time offer to you. You go into treatment right now, transfer in from the hospital when they release you today, and I’ll be there to help you every step of the way. I’ll help you in whatever way I can. What do you say?”

“Why? You don’t know me. Why would you bother?”

Trey held Dan’s gaze. “Because I know Baylee cares about you. And I care about her.”

“There you are.”

Baylee looked up from her seat in the waiting area to see Lisa step off the elevator and charge toward her.

“Thanks for leaving me a note. I’ve been trying to call you all morning and all I get is your voice mail.”

“Sorry. I guess I turned my phone off last night when I was here and I forgot to turn it back on.”

Lisa took the seat next to her. “I saw Dad as soon as I got here.”

“How is he?”

“Not happy. Dr. Barber is under the impression that Dad’s planning to transfer to the rehab clinic once he’s released.”

Baylee bit her lip.

Lisa stared at her. “You know he won’t go.”

“He might.”

“When pigs fly,” Lisa snorted.

“Okay, we’re all set.” Trey materialized in front of them. Baylee stood and so did Lisa. Baylee let Trey wrap his hand around hers.

“Trey, this is my sister, Lisa. Lisa, Trey Christopher.”

Lisa’s hard gaze went from Baylee to Trey and back. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I talked to him,” Trey informed them. “Your dad agreed to in-patient rehab. It’s all set.”

Lisa’s gaze narrowed. She gave both Baylee and Trey a look filled with skepticism. “I’ll believe it when I see it. I have to get back to work. Trey, your reputation precedes you, but it was lovely to meet you in person.” She poked Baylee’s chest. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Trey watched Lisa walk away. “Kind of a hard-ass, isn’t she?”

Chapter Twenty

Matty’s palms were sweating. He had that sick feeling of dread he always got when he was anywhere near that cop Spoley. He was missing something important to be here today. The whole family was supposed to be at the rehab clinic for a family therapy session. His dad had stopped drinking and sought treatment. The least the rest of them could do was show up today and try to be supportive. That’s what Lisa had told him yesterday. Even the twins would be there. And Baylee, of course.

 
Matty had been torn. He never stopped wanting his dad to get better, to lay off the booze and be a dad. Be a man. Now that his dad was giving it a shot, Matty had bailed on him.

He’d considered all the options last night. He didn’t want to do whatever it was Spoley wanted him to do. But he didn’t think he had a choice. He’d laid it all out in his head. There wasn’t anyone in his family he could go to. There hadn’t been since his mom had died. Now with them all rallying around his dad, Matty’s problems were even less important.

He could go to Jack Frost. Explain everything about Mamacita and Des. How he was trying to help them and that’s why he broke his curfew so often. But Jack Frost was a by-the-book kind of guy. Matty didn’t think his probation officer would care what his reasons were. Probation was probation, and Matty needed to toe the line and follow the rules. Jack would likely make sure somehow that Matty couldn’t help Mamacita any longer. Maybe Jack would even go to her and explain how Matty had gotten into trouble and about probation. Mama would be so disappointed. Matty didn’t think he could stand it. Maybe she wouldn’t love him anymore or want him around.

He’d lose Jasmine too. In her eyes he wouldn’t be the kid who was helping Mama. He’d be a loser who couldn’t stay out of trouble. She’d want nothing more to do with him. He had no idea how he’d gotten together with her to begin with, but he knew he didn’t want to lose her and whatever had started between them.

Matty swallowed down his fear as he saw Spoley approach on foot. They were at the far end of a deserted soccer field in the county park. Matty planned to make it clear to Spoley that he wouldn’t be blackmailed a second time. He had his reasons for going along with it once, and they were good reasons. But he wouldn’t do Spoley’s dirty work in the future. If Spoley tried a second time, Matty had made up his mind he’d tell everything to anyone who would listen and take whatever came.

“Right on time. I appreciate that,” Spoley greeted him. He offered his hand, but Matty just stared at him.

Spoley gave Matty a look, and then he glanced around the area. There wasn’t much to see except more fields, a small concrete block building that housed restrooms, and a closed concession stand.

“I’m not sure I care for your attitude, son. You need to show some respect.”

“I’m not your son.”
I’m not anyone’s son
. “Let’s get this over with.”

“I could call your probation officer right now,” Spoley said.

“Go ahead. I thought about calling him myself.”

“But you didn’t.” Spoley offered up one of his self-satisfied grins.

“Not this time.” It occurred to Matty that he had something on Spoley now. A cop blackmailing a kid instead of turning him in. Spoley was breaking the rules. “Just so we’re clear, you try and pull this shit on me again, I will make that call.” It felt good to call Spoley’s bluff. Matty relaxed a degree.

“I doubt it will be necessary. You do this for me and we’re done.”

“Good.”

“Your sister works for Trey Christopher.”

“Yeah.”

“I heard you been out there doing some work for him too.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Arrogant son of a bitch, isn’t he?”

Matty shrugged, not feeling so relaxed now. He wished Spoley would get to the point. Truth was Matty liked Trey. The guy had been decent to him. He’d overheard Lisa and Baylee talking, so he knew Trey had something to do with getting his dad into rehab. Plus, even though Baylee was typically clueless, he was pretty sure Trey was in love with her.

“Thing is, he screwed me over a long time ago. Now it’s payback time. That’s where you come in.”

Matty stared at Spoley some more. What did the guy expect? That’d he’d jump up and down in excitement to be part of whatever the payback scheme was?

“I want you to plant something in Christopher’s car for me.”

“What?”

“Drugs.”

“Drugs?
You have got to be shitting me.”

“Not real ones. They’re fake prescription drugs,” Spoley went on. “Nothing will happen to him. This is more like a practical joke I’ve been dying to play on him.”

“I don’t know—”

Now it was Spoley’s turn to stare. They had a deal. Matty had already agreed to it. It was too late for him to back out and they both knew it.

Matty knew Trey had money. Even if Spoley was trying to trick him by telling him the drugs were fakes when they weren’t, Trey could hire a good lawyer and probably get off with a fine or something. That’s how the world worked.

“Fine.”

Spoley smiled his creepy smile. “Good. Now here’s how it’s going to go down.”

“Let’s take a break,” Trey suggested after he and Matty had stacked the last of wood from the walls of the old chicken coop in a pile.

They both yanked off their work gloves, and Trey handed Matty a cold soda from the little cooler they kept nearby. He took one for himself as well and leaned against the trunk of a gnarled tree. Matty leaned his butt back against the pile of planks and drank a third of his soda.

Over the past few weeks Trey and Matty had also leveled an old shed and another tumbledown structure that had no clear purpose. Trey was thinking of throwing a big party, maybe over the Labor Day weekend, and using the old wood for a bonfire. He’d invite his cousins, aunts and uncles, and his parents, of course, along with Baylee’s family and Ryan and Jenny. He’d been toying with the idea of proposing to Baylee right in the middle of the party, getting down on one knee, the whole nine yards. He wasn’t, however, entirely sure what her answer would be. If she accepted, maybe he’d start his own tradition of throwing a Labor Day party every year similar to his parents’ Fourth of July shindig. If she didn’t accept? He didn’t want to think about it.

“How’s your girlfriend?” he asked Matty to get his mind off Baylee.

Beneath his tan, Matty blushed. “I told you she’s not my girlfriend.”

Trey grinned. “Yeah, she is. You just don’t know it yet.”

“You think?”

Matty looked so young and hopeful, Trey knew he couldn’t tease him. “She kissed you, didn’t she? She hangs out with you all the time, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“C’mon, Matty, you can’t be that clueless. She likes you.”

“But…but…”

“But what?”

“I don’t know.”

Rather than offer a lecture on male/female relationships, which Trey didn’t feel qualified to give considering his own misgivings about his relationship with Baylee, he simply said, “She likes you.”

Matty swallowed some more of his soda and gazed back toward the house. “Hey, are you going to plant more flowers in your grandmother’s garden?”

Trey glanced back to the garden. “I don’t know. Maybe. Why?”