Page 96 of Yours to Keep

He nodded once. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I repeated.

“Yeah,” he said. “People do complicated things when they have complicated feelings.”

I stared straight ahead, surprised he was taking it in stride like this. I’d thought for sure he’d be disappointed in me at the very least, but instead, he was just quiet, patiently waiting for me to tell him what happened.

“I thought maybe he wasn’t as awful as everyone thinks, and he’s not, Dad. That’s the worst part. He’s thoughtful, and funny, and when he’s with me, he’s not this ruthless corporate bulldozer, but then he turns around and makes decisions that hurt people I care about, and I can’t reconcile those two versions of him.”

Dad shoved his hands into his pockets. “Did he lie to you about what he was doing?”

“No,” I admitted. “He just didn’t tell me and I found out in the worst way possible.”

“Ah.”

I glanced at him. “That’s all you’ve got? Ah?”

He smiled faintly. “I’m gathering information before I dispense fatherly wisdom.” We walked a few more steps before he spoke again. “Relationships aren’t usually smooth sailing, Bree. Even the good ones hit rough water. Your mom and I—” He shook his head, chuckling under his breath. “We fought like hell about money when we were first married. About work schedules. About where to live. Loving someone doesn’t magically make you agree on everything.”

“This feels bigger than disagreeing about where to live,” I said quietly.

“Maybe it is,” he conceded without arguing. “The question isn’t whether it’s hard, though. It’s always going to be hard. The real question is whether it’s healthy. Does he respect you? Does he listen when you push back?”

I thought about Sullivan standing in my kitchen, letting me argue with him about hospital morale. Rubbing my shoulders while promising to try. Agreeing to disagree without denying what was happening between us.

“Yes,” I said reluctantly. “He does.”

“Do you respect him?”

I hesitated a little longer this time. “I want to. I just don’t respect some of his choices.”

“That’s fair,” Dad said. “You’re allowed to hold someone accountable and still care about them.”

I swallowed. “I broke up with him. Pretty spectacularly.”

“Oof.”

“Yeah,” I said miserably. “I told him we were done and stormed out of his office after accusing him of not caring because it wasn’t his job on the line.”

Dad winced in sympathy. “That’s some pretty strong phrasing.”

“I was upset.”

“I gathered.”

We reached a bend in the trail where the trees opened up. Sunlight warmed my skin. He slowed slightly, glancing at me. “What scares you more? Is it that he’ll never change or that he might, and you’ll have to figure out how to make it work?”

The question felt like a sucker punch, but I didn’t have an answer, so I just stared at the trees swaying in the breeze. “I don’t know.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Here’s what I know. You don’t have to figure it out alone. Your mom and I? We’ve got you. If things blow up at work and you need to quit, you come home. You stay as long as you need to until you’re back on your feet. Don’t stay at that job simply because you don’t think you can afford to leave.”

My chest constricted painfully. “Dad⁠—”

“I’m serious,” he said, bumping his shoulder gently against mine. “You’re not trapped, Peanut. Never. You’ll always have somewhere safe to land.”

Tears blurred my vision before I could swallow them down. “You’re going to make me ugly cry on a public walking trail.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” he said cheerfully.