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He sighs. “Married.”
“Yeah.” I giggle over his reluctance in saying it. “I remember. I was there for the wedding, too.”
“I wish she would have waited.”
Quirking my head to the side, I ask, “I thought you liked Geoffrey?”
“He’s a good guy, but I don’t think they needed to get married so quickly. They dated only a few months before getting engaged. They barely knew one another. But what’s done is done.”
“She’s happy though, right?” I ask, wondering if there’s something that I don’t know.
“She seems to be.” He downs the rest of his drink, gently placing the empty glass on the table. “She’s so different than you.”
“No kidding. Winning Miss Congeniality in a Miss Teen America Pageant was never my thing,” I say, referring to one of my sister’s many accolades. “Nor was having a championship poodle a necessity for me.”
“She’s more like your mother. You ended up being more like me.”
I laugh. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Depends on who you ask.” Subconsciously, he fingers the top of his dark brown hair with specs of silver running throughout, a habit I witness only in the comfort of family. “Trust me, always speaking your mind has its drawbacks as well as its perks.”
“Yeah, I’m still learning that lesson.”
“You will figure it out with time. Life has a way of forcing you to see your place, one way or another.”
The server returns the check, thanks us for coming, and wishes us a good afternoon. My father and I rise from our seats, and together, we make our way toward the exit while shrugging into our jackets. Emerging from the comfortable restaurant, I slip on my gloves and walk half a block down the street to where the town car is waiting. We duck inside the cabin, rich with black leather upholstery and tinted windows, and then my father instructs the driver to take me to my apartment, reciting the address by memory.
“How are your applications coming, by the way?” my father asks when we’re about halfway to our destination. “Any problems or questions? I’m happy to help.”
“Thanks, but I sent them all off a few weeks ago. Now, I’m just waiting.”
“Let me know as soon as you hear anything. I’m happy to make a call, if need be. You’re a legacy at Yale, so that should be a shoo-in.”
“I don’t want you to make a call,” I say with slight disgust.
“Don’t sound so turned off. It’s the way it’s done sometimes, whether you like it or not.”
I sigh. “But if it doesn’t happen on my own merit, then I shouldn’t go in the first place.”
“I hope you didn’t botch your applications,” he says in warning. “I can fix a lot of things, but outright mocking will not be ignored.”
“Of course not. I would never do that. You and Mother always taught me to do my best, no matter what. So, I did.”
“Good. Because you will get your MBA. It will open more doors for you than you could possibly imagine.”
“Maybe I want to find a different kind of door with a different key,” I mumble.
“I heard you,” he says, humored. “You might want to work on your whisper technique.” He leans in my direction, over the vehicle’s bench seat. “Your mother is really good at her whisper technique. Sometimes, I miss an entire conversation.”
I chuckle. “That might be a result of your own self-preservation, Dad.”
“Possibly.” He shrugs. “But it might be the secret to all marriages. However, when she really wants to talk to me, she sure as hell makes sure she has my attention.” A grin tugs at the corner of his mouth. “You’re like her, too. When you really want something, you make sure you have everyone’s attention. I love that about both of you. You might not realize it, but you get your passion from her.”
I slump back in my seat. “Too bad we have dissimilar interests.”
“It might seem that way, but you are both motivated by love, and there’s no arguing the reasoning behind that.”
