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My mother walked up to me and tried her best to give me that stern yet loving look that moms give. “Rory darling, you can’t hide out in a hotel room.”
Sadness ripped through me. “Why not, Mom? I feel sad and want to be alone. What’s so wrong about that?”
She placed her hands on my arms. “You’re hiding, that’s what is wrong about that. Darling, why didn’t you tell Finn the truth?”
Dropping my head back, I groaned in frustration. “Not you, too.”
“Yes me, too. Had you told him what your father was doing, you know he would have—”
“Quit. He would have quit, Mom. You and I both know that.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t give him the chance to fight the battle, Rory.”
My lips trembled as I looked into my mother’s eyes. “I was going to tell him, Mom. That night after dinner. I went over it in my head a million times. Who knows, maybe Finn could transfer to another station. We’d come up with something…together. All I really knew for sure was how much I loved him and that I wouldn’t walk away from him because my father told me to.”
My mother gave me a confused look. “Then what in the world happened, Rory?”
A knot formed in my stomach. My fear of Finn’s losing his job no longer was my number one concern. It was my fear of losing him that had caused me to walk away.
“One of his best friends was in the hospital in critical condition last night from falling through a floor in a warehouse fire. The moment I heard him talking about it, I panicked. Even the idea of Dad’s ultimatum was nothing compared to the thought of Finn dying. All I could think about was this man’s fiancée and how scared she must have been knowing the man she loved could very well die. I don’t think I’m strong a enough person to handle that, Mom.”
Fresh tears came and covered my cheeks. Autumn walked up and hugged me as I let myself go. Sob after sob shook my body.
When I finally got my emotions in check, I drew back and looked at my mother and Autumn. “I don’t know what to think anymore. Maybe a small part of me was looking for a reason to end it with Finn because I’m too much of a coward to deal with it all. It’s just…I love him so much, and I’m not sure about anything in my life anymore.”
Stepping forward, my mother gave me a concerned look. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure what I want anymore, Mom. I’m not happy, and I haven’t been for the last few years. The only time I’ve felt whole was when I was with Finn. Now I feel like I’ve lost my dreams and the man I loved.”
She frowned. “Your dreams?”
My gaze dropped to the floor. “It was never my desire to be a lawyer, Mom.”
“That’s not true, Rory! You majored in history. It’s in your blood.”
Suddenly it was as if everything I had buried deep down inside of me came bubbling up to the surface all at once. My mother deciding Harvard was the school for me. My father deciding the condo he liked was much safer than the condo I wanted, the one that overlooked the harbor. My parents pushing me into law school to be like my mother. Sunday dinners with my parents so they could keep tabs on me. My father telling me whom I could date. My mother insisting I take a job at her firm. My whole life had been mapped out by my parents.
No more.
“Mom, you controlled my career path. Dad controlled my personal life. It’s time I took control of my own life.”
Autumn’s face grew wide with a smile. I knew she was happy I was finally standing up for myself.
The look on my mother’s face showed she was in complete shock. “What would you do if you weren’t a lawyer, Rory? This is simply insane. You love being a lawyer.”
I squared my shoulders off, lifted my chin, and spoke the words I feared would give my mother a heart attack. “No, Mom. You love being a lawyer. I simply do it because it was expected of me. What I really want to do is teach. I want to help people. I want to live in a house that has a huge backyard for my kids to run around in. I want to grow a giant garden and have flowers planted everywhere. Meeting Finn opened my eyes to what I really want, have always wanted, in my life.”
My mother’s eyes widened in shock. “What exactly are you saying, Rory?”
My eyes darted over to Autumn, who winked and nodded.
My mouth instantly dried and I was nervous
as hell, but I told my mother exactly what I intended on doing. “I’m quitting the firm. I don’t want to practice law any longer. I think I’m going to leave town for a few days, figure out how I’m going to win Finn back.”
“Quit the firm? You’re walking away from a highly promising career…for what?”
“Happiness, Mom. A life I look forward to getting up to every day and living. Not a life where I’m going through the motions trying to prove to myself day in and day out that I’m more than just the boss’s daughter. What I want to prove now is that I can make a life with the man I love.” I smiled. “That’s what I’m walking away to, Mom. And I’m walking away from the life you and Dad wanted, not me.”
