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Her heart pounded. “I don’t actually work at a bra store. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while, but I didn’t quite know how to say it. I manage a place called the White Orchid.”

“I don’t understand.” He looked toward his wife, but she was staring intently at the cups as she ladled instant coffee into them. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a store in Boulder that sells women’s clothing and lingerie, but it also sells…marital aids.”

She watched her father’s mouth form the words. He started to shake his head, but then the confusion in his eyes cleared to understanding.

“It’s a nice place,” she said quickly. “Ninety percent of our customers are women. It’s bright and pretty inside, and—”

He let go of her hand and his spine straightened until he seemed to loom over her. “You’re telling me you work at a place that sells pornographic items?”

“It’s not…it’s not like one of those old places in the city where creepy men hang around, Dad. It’s a place where women can feel safe when they—”

He stood up and walked away. “This is outrageous,” he said, his voice rising. Her mom stayed with her back to the kitchen, spoon still clutched in her hand. “Did you know about this?” he shouted at his wife.

She didn’t answer.

“How long has this been going on?”

“Dad—”

“How many years have you both been lying to me?”

“Dad, listen. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you’d be upset. But it was wrong to—”

“Upset?” he shouted. “Upset? I’m ashamed. And horrified.”

“Dad—” she tried again, but he wasn’t interested in a conversation.

“No wonder you don’t have a husband. What kind of man would want to marry a woman like you?”

And just like that, she was seventeen again, only this time, she knew how it would turn out. Her dad, a man who rarely raised his voice to anyone, would yell vile things at her. He’d be cruel and cold. And then he’d stop speaking to her entirely.

“Thomas,” her mother said, her voice cracking hard in the quiet room.

“I should’ve known,” he muttered. “After what you did—”

“Thomas!”

He stopped his pacing and looked at his wife.

“Stop that. Her generation isn

’t like ours. I’ll bet Beth has plenty of nice young men to date, don’t you? Like that Eric, for example.”

“Mom, I…I do, but that’s not the point. I have friends, and I’m happy, and I’m good at what I do. I’m not hurting anyone. I’m part of the community.”

“That whole town is full of hippies,” he snapped.

“So what if it is?” Beth demanded. “This town is full of supposedly good people, and they were cruel to me, Dad. They were mean and nasty.”

“You made your bed,” he said.

“Oh, you made that perfectly clear. Really, you couldn’t have made it any clearer. I deserved whatever people threw at me because I was a whore!”

“I never called you that,” he said.

Beth could hear the truth in his words. He knew he hadn’t called her that, because he’d thought it over and over again but had never let himself say it aloud. But he’d wanted to. And harlot and slut had been close enough that Beth hadn’t been able to feel the difference.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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