“You know that’s not Gunnar’s style,” Gianna said, looking out the window as travelers all around them piled into their cars, bound for home. “And it’s not fair to ask him to be someone he’s not.”
“But you’ve been someone you’re not ever since you fell in love with him! How is that fair?” She drew a deep breath and patted Gianna’s hand before withdrawing hers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout. I’m just so tired of seeing you make all the sacrifices while he makes none.”
“I think he’s ready to meet me half-way,” Gianna said, not at all sure that was still true after last night’s conversation.
“Oh really?” she asked, not sounding convinced. “What makes you think that? Did he tell you that? Because I’m sorry, his word is worth about as much as a plugged nickel as far as I’m concerned.”
“Mom, I know you love me,” Gianna said gently, turning to face her. “But I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions, right or wrong, and I’m prepared to live with the consequences.”
“But I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“I know that, and maybe I will, maybe I won’t. I don’t know. All I do know is that I still love that man. Maybe I always will. Does that mean we belong together? No, not necessarily. Maybe we are better off apart, but that’s for us to decide. Not you.” The last thing she would ever want to do was hurt her mother’s feelings, but she wasn’t going to let her run her life, either.
“My parents didn’t like your father,” she said, her cheeks coloring slightly at the admission. “In the beginning, they were always on me to dump him. Even after we were married, they didn’t approve.”
“I didn’t know that.” Her grandparents died when she was fairly young, but she didn’t remember any animosity between them and her father. “What happened?”
“They saw a different side of him.”
“How so?”
“We were at a pool party at your auntie’s house when you were about three. One of your cousins accidentally pushed you into the pool. You nearly drowned.” She covered her heart with her hand. “I swear, my heart still races every time I think about it.”
“I don’t remember that. So, what happened? Obviously someone saved me, but who? How?”
“Your father jumped into the deep end when he couldn’t see you.” She smiled. “He couldn’t swim and was deathly afraid of the water. But he was more afraid of losing his baby. That day my parents finally saw in your dad what I did. His big heart. They treated him differently after that.”
“Gunnar has a big heart too,” Gianna said softly, wishing her mother knew him the way she did.
“I have to assume he does,” she said, sighing. “If he didn’t, you and your kids wouldn’t love him as much as you do.”
“He’s just been through so much, Mom. It’s hard for him to express his feelings.”
“Honey, we all have our sad stories, but we don’t use them as an excuse to hurt the people who love us.”
“I know, but I think—”
“Don’t make excuses for him,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m willing to give him a chance because that’s clearly what you want me to do, but I’m asking you to do just one thing for me?”
“What?”
“Don’t give him the chance to hurt you again, honey. He doesn’t deserve that… and neither do you.”
