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“Lord help me! Don’t tell me it’s that biker trash that you were hanging out with? I thought that was just a phase, a stupid rebellion until you settled down.”
“They’re not trash,” I snapped, slamming my palm down on the table.
My father took this moment to interject. His calm tone did nothing to settle the tension between us. “Peter has been very gracious during the last few years, Anna. He’s never expressed anything but heartbreak and sadness toward your decision to walk away from your marriage…” I opened my mouth to speak, but he hushed me, holding up his hand which only made my body burn in frustration. “We can’t be seen to encourage such behavior, until the two of you have discussed your relationship and decided how to move forward.”
“There will be no moving forward,” I grated out in disgust. “You have no idea what that man is truly like, and there’s no way in hell I’m putting my daughter or myself anywhere near him.”
My mother jolted back, horrified at my words.
Ladies never spoke of their husbands in such ways, never in public anyway.
“Anna!” she scolded.
I threw myself out of the booth, the both of them staring at me with wide eyes. “If you’re going to choose his side over mine,fine.But know this, you are missing out on a relationship with the most amazing, intelligent and beautiful little girl.”
I could see people around me at other tables turning and beginning to stare. My mother’s eyes flicked from side to side as she realized they were becoming the center of attention in the vast dining room.
Good.
For once they would be the ones who were judged and looked at like they were unworthy. For once they would know what it felt like to not be on the top of the ladder.
Maybe that’s what they needed.
“My daughter, your grandchild, has an amazing family. One who doesn’t care where she comes from. One who’s full of faults and a little crazy, but that will give their lives to do whatever they must to keep her happy. They aren’t rich, or famous, or upstanding citizens, but they’ve given us more than we need. She will grow up to be something important, without you, without your name, and without your money.” With that I spun around on my heel and began to walk toward the door, eyes followed me, some with sly smirks others in a range of horror.
Holding my head high, forcing my shoulders back even as my body shook, I didn’t stop until I reached my car. I wouldn’t let them affect me or bring me down.
Harlyn didn’t need them. Everything I said was true. She had a clubhouse full of uncles and aunts, and family who saw her as the most precious little girl on earth. She had everything she needed.
So why did it hurt so much?
“You okay?” Leo’s deep rumble came, pulling me from my own mind.
I nodded, kicking off my heels and tossing them in the backseat. “Don’t know why I expected a different outcome. I knew it was going to turn out this way, but I still couldn’t help myself.”
He scrubbed as his beard. “Hope for the best, but expect the worst. Ain’t nothing they got that you or Harlyn need, darlin’.”
I took in a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. “I know…”
“You’re not upset because you or Har is missing out. You’re upset because you know there ain’t no going back now. It’s done. Before you weren’t so sure because you didn’t know for sure what they’d say, and now it’s final. They’re out of your life. It’s all over.”
His words made sense. If they didn’t want to know Harlyn, then there was no reason for them to be in my life any longer. Parents or no parents. I was now one myself, and I was going to protect my daughter from anything that could harm her, including them.
“I just wanna go home.”
Leo grinned. “Home it is.”
As I drove back to the clubhouse, I couldn’t stop the few stray tears that trickled down my cheeks. I’m not even sure what I’d been expecting when I approached my parents to let them know I was back in town. I guess a part of my heart wondered whether they’d missed me, or if they’d thought about me often. There was a small part inside me that wished they had, despite our past, and our differing opinions on what was important in life.
They’d chosen their reputation over our relationship a long time ago. Money and importance came first. Their daughter who needed them during one of the darkest moments in her life—she was forgotten.
I didn’t hold it against them or resent them for their choices. It was who they were, and who they were had built me into the woman I was today. The way I was raised forced me to make my own decisions about my life.
Was that who I wanted to grow up to be?
Or would I make a conscious decision to change my path?
Although I chose the latter, there was still a twinge in my heart knowing that these people, who I loved and that had raised me, couldn’t accept me as an independent person. Or to separate their disdain for who I was, in order to be a part of their granddaughter’s life.
I thought I’d come to terms with this a long time ago, but no, stupid me had to imagine this world where they’d changed their mind. I took a few deep breaths as I pulled into the Brothers by Blood compound and swiped at the tears. Looking at the building helped me to build strength. There were people inside who loved me and loved Harlyn unconditionally, even though there was no blood relation between us.
They didn’t care. They would still put us first, and love and protect us like we were their own. And that spoke much louder than two people who couldn’t get past their own issues in order to even accept me.
I wouldn’t let it drag me down.
I wouldn’t let it dragusdown.
