His mom grabbed the vodka bottle and refilled everyone’s glass. Minus the juice.
His dad jabbed a finger at the laptop. “You didn’t need this whole virtual presentation, or whatever you want to call it, to tell us our business is going under. You could’ve just called me into the office and had a meeting. Man-to-man.”
Levi’s mom whipped around to stare at him. “Why? So you could hide the fact that our company’s going under? And then what would happen, Hank? You’d shoulder all that responsibility on your own and keep it from us?”
“This is all my fault,” Tess moaned, dropping her forehead to the table and giving it a few hits. “Everyone needs to stop arguing. I’m the one who’s going to fix this mess.”
“Nonsense.” His dad’s fist hit the table and all the glasses did a little jump. Everyone grabbed theirs to keep them from spilling, and then, looking at one another, shrugged and drank again.
“I’m the one who gave that SOB a job,” his dad said. “Instead, I should’ve kicked his ass.”
Peyton poked her head in. “Uncle Levi? You’re taking too long!”
Levi went back to the pantry, grabbed a box of cereal, and handed it to her.
She squealed with delight and vanished again.
“Are you kidding me?” Tess asked him.
“Hey, it was crunchy granola, not Frosted Flakes.”
His mom pointed a spoon at her husband. “I need to know what you meant by your previous comment. Are you saying it’s my fault, since I was the one who told you to give Cal a chance?”
“I’m just saying I should have gone with my instincts. If I had, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Tess drew a shaky breath. “I’m the one who should never have given him a chance. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to bed and stay there until my life’s on a better track.”
“I want to go back to bed too,” Levi’s mom said.
Levi stood up. “No one’s going back to bed. We need to talk, so everyone just take a deep breath and—”
“And what,” his dad growled. “Stare at the stupid PowerPoint some more?”
“Hank!” This from his mom.
“Yes, I want you to look at the PowerPoint,” Levi said as calmly as he could. He clicked over to the next slide. “Here you’ll see I’ve created a five-step plan for how to get the store out of debt.”
Dad stood up. “No offense, son, but I’m not going to find the answers on how to get my store back on its feet by watching a slide show from a tech guy.”
“Dad, you know he’s more than a tech guy,” Tess said with censure in her voice. “He consults with businesses on how to manage their data, and—”
Their dad shook his head. “This isn’t about data either.”
“Hank, stop taking this out on Levi,” his mom snapped at her husband. “He’s just trying to help.”
His dad was quiet a moment. Ran a hand down his face. “You’re right.” He looked Levi in the eyes with sincere remorse. “We appreciate what you’ve done. I just need a minute.” He took another shot and walked out.
Levi let out a rough breath. This isn’t about you, he reminded himself. His dad was battling his own ego. Cal had stolen money out from beneath the guy’s nose, and that wasn’t going to sit well.
His mom patted him on the arm. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he loves you very much. We’re grateful for your help, but I better go check on him. When he gets worked up like this, it’s bad for his blood pressure.”