The Old Man in the Club by Curtis Bunn Page A

sent him from prison insisting that everything would be all right.
    His dad’s death was a landmark event in his life. It not onlyriddled him with guilt because he believed his father would have been fine if he did not get convicted, but it also reinforced the idea that life was short and to live each day as if it were your last.
    â€œObviously, there is truth to that,” his therapist said to him the week before he saw his kids at Vanquish. “But could it be that you’re using that as an excuse to live this lifestyle of a younger man?”
    â€œMaybe I am,” Elliott conceded. “I don’t know. I just know it feels like the thing for me to do right now. Maybe it will help me relate better to my kids and can help me rebuild our relationship.”
    â€œWhat I can say for sure is that you’re not going to rebuild the relationship hoping to rebuild it,” Dr.Nottingham said. “Nothing happens without action. So, the question becomes: What are you going to do?”
    Elliott was stumped. “You’re always asking me questions,” he said. “I come here for answers.”
    â€œI just gave you an answer,” she said. “Do something. If it were me, I would call my kids together and tell them what they want to hear.”
    â€œAnd what’s that?” Elliott said.
    â€œDo I really need to tell you that?”
    â€œThere you go again with the questions,” he responded.
    Dr. Nottingham looked at him.
    Finally, Elliott said, “There are a lot of things I want to say to them. But then my son gets so angry and disrespectful.”
    â€œHe’s only angry because he loves you,” she said.
    â€œWhat?” Elliott asked.
    â€œHe cannot express his love because he’s angry. But through his anger he’s expressing his love,” she said. “He could not be so mad at you if he didn’t care about you as he does.”
    â€œHis sister is mad at me, too, but she’s very respectful and available to me,” Elliott said.
    â€œYour daughter is spoiled and the female extension of you,” Dr. Nottingham said. “The doting father to a daughter is almost more valuable than anything she could ever receive. At the same time, her brother is her twin and that connection is usually unbreakable. It’s natural for her to go with him, even if her heart is telling her something else.
    â€œFor Daniel, his mother is the symbol of life for him, and the older he gets, the more responsibility to protect and defend her he takes on, especially after a divorce. He feels like he’s protecting and defending her by being angry with you.”
    Elliott left his session convinced he would have to take the lead to end the contentious relationship with his children. He thought he would invite them over for dinner and have a heart-to-heart. But before he made the call, he ran into them at the lounge while with their college friend, Tamara.
    He went on that night and the next to have nice times with Tamara, but he was saddled with the thought of what his kids thought of him. He did not feel like meeting Henry for lunch or doing much of anything—sudden fatigue he attributed to post-cancer trials. But it really was mental. He was drained from his lack of a relationship with Daniel and Danielle, and Friday night’s encounter only magnified the rift.
    Worse, he was embarrassed. It was one thing to philander with women less than half his age. It was another that his kids knew it— and were college classmates of Tamara. Caught up in the moment, he pushed aside the awkwardness of the situation. With quiet time to think about it, he was panicked.
    He sat on his balcony sipping on an Arnold Palmer and lamented his plight. This was far from the relationship he expected to have with his children. He called Lucy, who lived in Southwest Atlanta, to see if she could offer advice. He had spoken to her on this subject many times over the