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“I know enough about him, Rory. He’s a player. He won’t be faithful to you.”
“Rick!” my mother said as she stepped between us. “What in the world do you have against that boy? You’ve always looked at him like he was an ant that needed to be stepped on and taken out. He’s Mike’s son, for goodness’ sakes.”
Shaking his head, he stared at a space between us. “He knew she was my daughter. That’s why he went after her—to get back at me. And that’s the only reason.”
“He had no idea I was your daughter!” I shouted. “You’re making excuses because you don’t have a reason to dislike him.”
Tossing his head back in laughter, my father turned away and quickly paced across the floor. “Oh, you want a reason?”
My hands went to my hips. “Yes, Dad. I’d like a reason, if you don’t mind.”
“He has a reputation, for one thing. I personally saw him sucking the face off an EMT tech like he couldn’t get enough of her. He flirts with women; you saw him at the bar earlier talking to the blonde. He has no intentions of ever being anything serious with you.”
My eyes filled with tears. “You don’t know what he was doing at the bar any more than I do.”
Pointing to me, he smiled. “Exactly. That boy has had his eyes on you since he was five damn years old. Claiming he was going to marry you and take you from me. Not on my watch.”
All the air left the room, and I had to grab ahold of my mother to keep from falling. I shook my head to try and work out what my father had just said. “Is that it? You don’t like him because when he was a little boy he told you he liked me? Is that what this is all about? You don’t like him because of something he said to you years ago! For Christ’s sake, Dad, neither one of us even remember each other back then. How in the world can you hold something he said when he was so young over his head?”
Moving closer, my father reached out for me. I quickly stepped away from him. I could see the hurt in his eyes, and it about killed me. But there was no way I was backing down from this fight.
“Rory, the life of a firefighter’s wife is hard. The worry you’ll have when he goes out on calls.”
I shook my head and held up my hands to stop him from talking. “Save it, Dad. This is my choice! If I want to take on that worry, then it’s on me, not you.”
He grew frustrated. “They’re gone for days at a time, and when they’re not at work they’re usually working another job, or in training. Is that what you want? A guy who is never there? Look at your job and the hours you keep. You’ll grow apart, Rory. And when that happens he will search out comfort from another woman. He will break your heart, and then you’ll coming running back to us.”
I glared at the man I called my father. “So what you’re telling me, Dad, is that you speak from experience.”
“Rory Adams,” my mother hissed.
Turning to her, I replied, “No. Listen to him, Mom. He sounds like he knows from experience. So you grew lonely at one point and cheated on Mom.”
“Rory,” my mother pleaded.
“Is that it, Dad. Is that why you think all firefighters are bad, because you’re all nothing but cheaters?”
“Rory!” my mother cried out.
He stood there with his mouth hanging open in shock. “Am I right, Dad? Isn’t that why you’re so afraid of Finn hurting me, because you fear he’s going to do the thing you did to Mom?”
My mother walked up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Rory Ann Adams. You stop this right now.”
“Yes.”
My eyes opened wide in horror, along with my mother’s. She dropped her hold on me and spun around and asked, “What did you say?”
“Yes. I’m afraid he is going to do the very thing I did to your mother.”
My hands came up to my mouth as my mother whispered, “What?” This was not happening. None of this was happening. I wanted to go back into the ballroom and let Finn hold me in his arms while we danced. I wanted to feel his warm breath on my lips as he whispered how much he loved me.
This is not what I wanted.
A tear rolled down my father’s cheek. “It only happened once, and I’ve lived with the guilt ever since.”
I reached for my mother as she stumbled backward. If I hadn’t thought she needed to be held up, I’d have probably stumbled myself.
She pressed her lips together in an attempt to get her emotions under control. “W-when?”
