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He dropped his head, and we could barely hear him say, “It was before we got married.”
My mother pushed my father’s shoulder. “Look at me, damn it!”
He did as she asked, then said, “You were working crazy hours and we had gotten into a fight. You told me you were taking a few days to yourself and needed to think about us and if we had a future. You left me, Chelsea. I was pissed and hurt. I went to a bar after my shift and ran into someone.”
“Who?” my mother demanded.
My head was spinning, my heart breaking. I wanted to cover my ears and pretend I was not hearing what I was.
“Renee Marsh. I got drunk, she flirted, I flirted back, and the next thing I knew we were…I hated myself afterward. I wanted desperately to tell you. But then you came back to me a few weeks later and I didn’t want to risk losing you again.”
Squaring her shoulders, she took in a deep breath. “We’ll deal with that later—but you cannot hold what you did over Finn Ward’s head.”
“When I look at him, I see me, Chelsea. That scares the piss out of me.”
I moved closer to him. “That’s a good thing, Daddy! Why can’t you see that? He’s like you! If you’d only give him a chance, you’d see how much I love him and he loves me.”
He shook his head and slammed his hand against the wall. “No! I forbid you to see him.”
My mouth fell open and my mother sucked in a breath. I had no idea why my father was acting the way he was. It pissed me off, and more than that it scared me.
Now it was my turn to square my shoulders. “And if I ignore you?”
“I’ll fire him, and I can promise you he will never work for the Boston Fire Department again.”
My mother jumped in front of me. “Rick! He’s one of your best friend’s son. You can’t do that.”
I stood in silence, staring at my father in utter shock. A million things ran through my mind. Why was he doing this? Did he hate Finn that much? Was there another reason he wanted to keep Finn from me that he wasn’t admitting to?
“Why, Daddy. Why would you do that? Don’t you want me to be happy?” I asked between deep breaths. I tried like hell to keep from crying, but it was bubbling up inside of me and I was on the verge of breaking down. I wanted my parents’ blessings. Needed them.
“Because that boy is going to hurt you. I see the writing on the wall and you need to also.”
I shook my head. “No. I love him and I won’t walk away from him.” My promise to Finn before we’d made love flashed through my memory. I’d sworn to never leave him.
“You don’t love him. He’s showing you a good time and you’re having fun. If you ask me, he has been nothing but bad for you. You’ve been late for work, missing days so you can probably spend them with him. He’s a bad influence on you.”
Walking up to my father, my mother placed her hand on his arm. “Rick, I think you need to step away from this right now, before you say or do something you regret.”
I’d never been disrespectful to my parents. Ever. But there was no way I was going to let my father tell me who I could see. “I’m not leaving him,” I said defiantly.
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sp; He reached for his phone and hit a number. “We’ll see about that.”
The cold look in his eyes scared me. I’d never seen it before. My father hated the man I loved, had admitted to cheating on my mother, and was now threatening me. My world was slowly falling apart.
“Chuck, Rick Adams. Yeah, I’m fine; everything here is fine. I want to put in a transfer. Finn Ward.”
My hands crashed over my mouth as a small gasp escaped. How could he? Why is he doing this?
“Rick!” my mother pleaded.
Turning away from her, he stared directly at me. My chest was heaving as I tried to breathe. “Yes, you heard me right. Finn Ward. I might actually recommend he be let go from the—”
A tear rolled down my cheek as I cried out, “I’ll do it!” I’d never felt so defeated in my life.
A slow smile spread over his face, and my heart broke in two. “You know what, let’s hold off on that right now, Chuck. Yeah, I’ve got to look into something a bit further before I make that call.”
