Rush

made a terrible mistake,” his father admitted.
    Gabe went still. He put the napkin he’d been unfolding just to have something to do
     down on the table. “I’m listening.”
    His father scrubbed a hand over his face and it was then that Gabe could see just
     how weary he looked. He seemed older. Aged overnight. There were shadows in his eyes,
     and the wrinkles at his eyes and brow were more pronounced.
    His father fidgeted a moment and then took a deep breath, his entire face crumpling.
     To Gabe’s horror, tears shone in his dad’s eyes.
    “I was a fool for leaving your mother. It’s the worst mistake of my life. I don’t
     know what I was thinking. I just felt so trapped and unhappy and I reacted to that.
     I thought if I did this or I did that or if I started over that it would fix everything—that
     I’d be happier.”
    Gabe blew out his breath. “Shit,” he murmured. This was the last thing he’d expected
     to hear.
    “And it wasn’t your mother’s fault. She’s a damn saint for putting up with me all
     these years. I think I woke up one day and thought to myself that I’m
old
. I don’t have much time left. I panicked and then I freaked out because I started
     blaming your mother. God. Your mother! The one woman who’s stuck by me allthis time, who gave me a wonderful son. And I blamed her because I saw an old man
     staring back at me in the mirror. A man who thought he had to turn back the clock
     and get back all those years. I wanted to feel young again. Instead I feel like a
     bastard who shit on his wife—his family—you, Son. I shit on you and your mother and
     I can’t tell you how much I regret that.”
    Gabe didn’t even know what to say. He was agog at all his father had just thrown at
     him. All of this because of some fucking late-in-life crisis? Coming to grips with
     inevitable age? Jesus.
    “I hate to even come to you with this, but I don’t know what else to do. I doubt Matrice
     would even give me the time of day now. I hurt her. I know that. I don’t expect her
     to forgive me. If the positions were reversed and she did to me what I did to her,
     I doubt I could ever forgive her.”
    “Goddamn, Dad. When you fuck up, you go big.”
    His father fell silent, his gaze fixed on his drink, sadness rimming his eyes.
    “I just want to go back—take it back—so it never happened. Your mother is a good woman.
     I love her. I never stopped loving her.”
    “Then why the hell have you been doing your damnedest to shove all these other women
     not only in her face but mine?” Gabe snarled. “Do you have any idea how badly you
     hurt her?”
    The older Hamilton’s face went even grayer. “I have an idea. Those women didn’t mean
     anything to me.”
    Gabe held up his hand in disgust. “Stop it. Just stop it, Dad. God. You’re spouting
     the oldest cliché in the book. You think Mom gives a flying fuck if those women meant
     shit to you? Do you think it’ll make her feel better at night knowing that while you
     were out fucking some chick half your age—or younger—that you were really thinking
     about how much you loved her?”
    His dad flushed and quickly looked around as Gabe’s voice rose. “I didn’t sleep with
     those women,” he said in a low voice.“Not that Matrice will ever believe me. But I’m telling you that I didn’t betray my
     marriage vows.”
    Gabe’s temper simmered and he fought to keep it from erupting. “Yeah, Dad, you did.
     Whether you slept with them or not, you betrayed Mom and your marriage vows. Just
     because it wasn’t physical adultery doesn’t mean it wasn’t emotional adultery. And
     sometimes emotional adultery is the hardest to get over.”
    His father rubbed a tired hand over his face and resignation bled into his features.
     “So you think I don’t have a chance of ever winning her back.”
    Gabe sighed. “That’s not what I said. But you need to understand what you did to her
     before you can ever think to make it right. She has her pride too, Dad. And you damaged
     it. If reconciliation is what you really want, then you have to be in it for the long
     haul. She’s not going to take you back overnight. You can’t quit after one try. If
     she means anything at all to you, then you have to be willing to fight for her.”
    His dad nodded. “Yeah, I get it. And I do want her. I never didn’t want her. It’s
     all so stupid. I’m a fool. An old, deluded fool who messed up.”
    Gabe softened. “Talk to her,