What's His Passion 2 - Climbing the Savage Mountain (23 page)

She inclined her head as though she were the queen acknowledging a subject. “Jensen.”

“Why are you here?”

His mother turned her empty gaze to Toby. “Why, to meet your husband, of course. I wonder why we weren’t invited to the wedding.”

“Because I didn’t know where you were and I didn’t want you there.” There was no point in lying. It wasn’t as if it was going to hurt their feelings. Toby encircled his waist, lending support.

His father paled, seemingly appalled by Jensen’s comment. He pressed his hand to his heart. “I can’t believe you wouldn’t want your own parents there on the most important day of your life.”

It was Jensen who snorted this time. “You couldn’t be bothered to come to any of the other important days in my life. Why would I think you’d want to come to this one?”

“Not come? What are you talking about?” Linda glared at him.

“You didn’t come to any of my graduations. Once you shipped me off to boarding school, I never got a card—or any kind of acknowledgement—on my birthday. You were too busy flying around the world or drinking yourself unconscious to think about me.” He had to think about not yelling as his own anger began to rise.

His father had the decency to flush, but his mother continued to appear as if she could care less.

“You were an independent child. You never wanted us around to hold your hand or give you hugs.” Linda huffed slightly, crossing her arms under her ample chest. “You never allowed me to be your mother.”

“That’s bullshit!” Jensen took a step toward her, wanting to grab her and shake her until she admitted she was a crappy mother. “You couldn’t be bothered by me. All you wanted to do was go out and party with your friends. You left me behind with nannies and the housekeepers. You complained about how being pregnant with me ruined your figure.”

Linda shrugged. “It did. Why should I be happy about that?”

“Jensen, we didn’t come to rehash past issues,” Martin said, holding his hand out grasp Jensen’s arm.

Taking one step to the side, Jensen avoided his father’s touch. Toby eased between them and Jensen flashed him a grateful smile.

“May I get you a drink?” Toby offered.

Jensen wanted to protest, telling Toby that his parents weren’t going to be staying that long, but he bit his tongue again. Clenching his hands together, he let Toby play the gracious host. To be honest, as angry as he was with his parents, it didn’t hurt him to treat them well. He could be a better person then they were.

“I’d love a scotch with light ice,” Martin told Toby.

“Just water will be fine for me, unless you have some good white wine.” Linda didn’t appear convinced they would have her quality of alcohol.

Toby shook his head. “I’m sorry. We don’t drink. I can offer you coffee, tea or lemonade.”

Shock registered on his parents’ faces.

“I was an alcoholic by the time I was sixteen,” Jensen told them. “I learned from the best, Father. I finally managed to sober up almost eight years ago. It took me longer to get off the drugs.”

“So no, we don’t have any alcohol in the house,” Toby said again.

Martin dropped to sit next to Linda then scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’ll have coffee, black. Please.”

“I don’t suppose you have sparkling water.” Her tone spoke of just how annoyed she was about the whole situation.

“No, ma’am. I’ll be right back.” Toby kissed Jensen on the cheek before he left.

Jensen stood there, staring at his parents for a few tense minutes then said, “Why are you here? I know it’s not because you want to reconnect with me after all these years. It’s not like I’ve hidden from you.”

“We’ve always known where you were, even when you lost your mind and left your job to go climb mountains.” Linda curled up the corner of her mouth in a sneer. “What were you thinking? You can’t make money that way. In fact, you’re throwing money away.”

Martin threw his wife a disgusted glance. “I’ve always kept tabs on you, Jensen. Then when you filed paperwork to change your last name, I had to come and see why.”

Jensen raised his eyebrows at that statement. “It’s been over a year since I got married and did that. If you really wanted to know, why didn’t you come right then?”

“We were busy.” Linda dismissed Jensen’s question with a wave of her hand.

“That doesn’t surprise me. One thing that does make me wonder a little is what are you
both
doing here. Last I knew you were living separate lives and weren’t even in the same country.”

Linda looked at Martin, as though she were telling him it was up to him what explanation he gave. Jensen waited, knowing that whatever had brought his parents to his home was probably going to raise his blood pressure.

“Here we go.” Toby walked back in, carrying a tray with coffee and water on it. There were also two glasses of lemonade as well, which Jensen knew were for him and Toby.

After handing Martin and Linda their drinks, Toby motioned for Jensen to sit in one of the chairs across from the couch then brought his lemonade over to him. When he took it, Toby caressed his fingers, again letting him know he wasn’t alone in this clusterfuck.

They sat there, staring at each other, until Linda blew out a loud sigh. She set her glass on the coffee table then met Jensen’s gaze.

“Your father is a terrible money manager. Somehow he managed to lose a great deal of our fortune during the economic downturn.” She glared at Martin.

“You’re here for money?” Jensen laughed. “I should’ve known.”

“We don’t want your money. We want the money in your trust fund, since it was your father’s to begin with.” Linda leaned back, a weird expression on her face as though she were trying to smile, but the Botox in her cheeks wouldn’t let her.

Jensen shuddered at how doll-like she looked. There was so much plastic in her that she would probably melt if she were caught in a fire. “My trust fund?”

Martin cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable about the entire topic. A little part of Jensen wondered if his father really wanted to be there.

“Yes. I set it up when you were born. You get control of it when you turn thirty-five. I’m not sure why my lawyers haven’t contacted you about it before this.” Martin frowned.

Narrowing his eyes, Jensen said, “Why don’t you just break it, since you’re the one who set it up?”

“Because your father’s lawyers ensured that it couldn’t be broken without a great deal of paperwork and money spent on doing it.” Linda examined her fingernails. “Plus, we never thought we’d need it. I went to talk to the people who manage it for you, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. Said that since I wasn’t on the legal documents, I had no right to know anything about it.”

“Were you thinking you’d just take a little bit of the interest? That no one would care and I wouldn’t know about it,” Jensen asked.

Her hazel eyes, so much like his, met his gaze. “It’s
our
money. We put it in there to help you out, but obviously you don’t need it.” She gestured to the room around them. “It’s only right that you give it back to us.”

Toby chuckled. “What makes you think it’s not my money we’re using for all of this?”

Linda looked Toby over from his feet to his head then snorted. “You, honey, aren’t the kind of genius with money that my son is. You might be doing all right, but you can’t afford all of this, plus all those trips, if my son weren’t paying for half of it.”

Jensen shared a grin with Toby, but they didn’t disillusion her about where the money was coming from. They’d combined their accounts as soon as Jensen got out of the hospital after K2. Plus, Toby actually was better with finances then Jensen was.

It was time to end the charade. He pushed to his feet then propped his fists on his hips as he stared down at his parents. Anger and disappointment swelled in him. He was man enough to admit that when he’d walked into the living room and saw them standing there, he had an unrealistic hope that they were there to reconcile. He should’ve known better.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

Everyone turned to look at him. Toby’s expression merely held interest and he felt a surge of confidence, knowing that Toby trusted him not to do something stupid. His father bit his lip, worry and a certain amount of embarrassment showing on his face. His mother dropped her gaze to focus intently on her shoes.

“I know all about the trust fund.” He turned to Toby. “I was going to talk to you tonight since we’d gotten done with work early. The lawyers sent a letter while we were in South Africa and I just called them earlier this afternoon.”

Toby held up his hand. “Jensen, don’t worry. I know you would’ve told me when you had the chance.”

He faced his parents again. “I know exactly how much is in the trust fund and that I’ll get complete control of it next year. I’m not interested in helping you.”

Linda squawked and Martin nodded, as though he had expected it. Jensen shook his head at his mother to keep her from speaking.

“Maybe if you had shown any kind of interest—or love—for me, I’d be more willing to help you, but you both tossed me aside as though I was an inconvenience in your lives.” Jensen went to Toby and after taking his hand, he pulled Toby to his feet. He wrapped his arm around Toby’s waist before tugging him close. “Toby has never shown me anything except love and acceptance, even after I nearly screwed the whole thing up. He’s made me a part of his family, and they love me without me having to do anything to earn it.”

“We love you, don’t we, Martin?” Linda poked her husband. “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have set up that trust for you.”

“Money doesn’t equate with love, Mom. At least not to me. You can leave.” He pointed to the front door.

Toby cupped his face with his hands then lowered it to whisper a kiss over his lips. “Go start making a list of what we need from the grocery store. I’ll see your parents out then we can go shopping and grab something to eat as well.”

After nodding, Jensen walked back to the kitchen and continued on to the deck where he dropped into one of the lounge chairs. He leaned his head back to rest on the cushion while he closed his eyes. He slowly inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, working on calming down.

A cold nose nudged his hand, causing him to look down and spot Coop sitting next to him. He grinned as he rubbed the dog’s ears. “Families suck, Coop, but something tells me you might already know that.”

He traced one of the scars that ran the length of Coop’s side. The dog whined and wiggled, clearly enjoying the attention Jensen was paying him. After standing, Jensen went to grab the tennis ball Coop loved to fetch. He didn’t know how long they played before Toby came outside to find him.

“They gone?” He didn’t look at Toby, just kept throwing the ball for Coop.

Toby slipped his arms around Jensen, letting him lean back against him. He nuzzled Jensen’s neck. “Yes. I gave them the name of our lawyers and told them that all communication must go through them until you change your mind…if you ever do.”

Rolling his eyes, Jensen doubted he’d ever try to talk to them again. Coming to ask him for money was another shining example of why they had no idea just how terrible of parents they’d been.

“Are you disappointed in me?” he asked softly.

Toby stiffened then eased far enough away that he could turn Jensen around so they faced each other. When their gazes met, Toby inquired, “Why would I be disappointed in you?”

Clearing his throat, he fidgeted a little bit before saying, “Because I didn’t help them out.”

“Why would you do that? They’ve never really helped you out.” Toby paused for a second. “Maybe they helped with college, but other than that, they’ve never done anything for you. Why should you go out of your way to help them? It’s
their
fault, not yours.”

A sudden thought hit Jensen. “You’re right. Dad did pay for college. What do you think of me repaying him for my education? There’s more than enough in the fund to cover that.”

Toby watched Coop sniff around the edges of the backyard for a few minutes while he seemed to be thinking. “I think that’s a great idea. It shows you’re being the bigger person, but you’re not letting them push you over either. What are you going to do with the rest of it?”

Jensen smiled. “I’m going to let it continue earning interest and we’re going to use it as an education fund for our children. This way they can go—or do—anything they want without having to worry about how to pay for it.”

“Brilliant idea.” Toby smacked his ass before go back inside to the kitchen. “Come on. We need food, man, and I’m starving.”

Jensen whistled Coop to him then they followed Toby. He remained quiet for a while as Toby got a list together of food before they set out to the store. Finally, when they were in the car and on their way home, Toby twisted in his seat to face Jensen.

“What’s your problem? You’ve said hardly two words since we left the house. Are you still worried about your parents? I told you they won’t bother us again. If you want, I can have our lawyers talk to them and impress upon them the importance of obeying our wishes.” Toby wrapped his hand around Jensen’s biceps.

He shook his head. “No. I’m not thinking about that. I’m just remembering all the times I tried so hard to get one of them to acknowledge me. All the things I did to make them proud. None of it mattered. Hell, they don’t care that I climbed Everest and K2, if they even know that I accomplished that. All they’re interested in is the money. It’s always been that way.”

“Well,” Toby hedged a little. “You know I do think your father might be embarrassed about the whole thing. He did seem upset when your mother pushed it.”

Laughing, Jensen explained, “He was embarrassed and upset that he wasn’t the one who manipulated me into giving them all of the money. He never liked it when Mother overstepped her boundaries and spoke about things that didn’t concern a woman.”

“Money isn’t a woman’s place?” Toby laughed. “Tell that to my mom. She has complete control of the checkbook. Dad goes to her when he wants to buy something and she has to give him permission.”

“We’ve already established your family is very different from mine,” Jensen commented, though he did smile at the image of gruff Donald having to plead with his wife for spending money.