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Roxanne
Iwoke up from surgery grumpy, and sore. The medication that they gave me helped with the pain but not the sour mood. When I arrived back in my room, I was dozing as the anesthesia wore off. When I saw my father and my brother sitting beside my bed, I was thankful for their presence for all of two minutes.
That’s how long it took before my father started in on me. “What were you thinking of going out on the roads this early in the morning?”
“I was meeting a client, and I didn’t realize that we had gotten snow overnight,” I told him.
“A client? You drove on the roads for a client? Come on, Rox, I taught you better than that.”
I pursed my lips and glared at my father. “You taught me to follow through on my commitments, Dad.”
“Yes, real commitments.”
I bit my tongue so that I didn’t lash out at him and took a moment to calm my temper. “Dad, they arerealcommitments. I was supposed to meet a prospective bride this morning.”
He shook his head. “And see what this cost you? You’re in the hospital after major surgery, and you totaled your car. You have wasted every penny of your inheritance from your grandparents on a wasted venture. Rox, when are you going to get smart and put aside this silly dream?”
Tears came to my eyes, and I blinked them back. I wasn’t an emotional person, but right now, I was ready to fall apart, and I sure didn’t want to do that in front of him or Roman. “Dad, it’s not a silly dream.”
Roman took that moment to jump into the conversation. “Dad’s right, Roxy. Susan has you beat, and this town is not big enough for two of you.”
“Says who?” I snapped at him.
“Hey, don’t get angry with your brother,” my father admonished me. “He’s as worried about you as I am.”
“Jesus, you guys just don’t get it. This is what I want to do. I want to own my own business. I want to help couples plan their weddings. I’m good at it.”
“Yeah, but Susan gets all the clients, so you aren’t doing something right,” Roman stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“You know if you guys supported me on this, I might do better.”
Roman laughed, and my father glanced at him with a smirk before he turned back to me. “How do you expect us to support you when you’re doing something that doesn’t make sense, and no one needs it? You’re wasting your talents, Roxy. Your mother would be so disappointed in you.”
“How dare you tell me that,” I hissed toward him. “You have no idea what Mom would say or do. She believed in me; she was the only one that ever believed in me.”
“That’s not true. I have always supported you, especially when you went into business. This just isn’t reasonable, and you need to let it go before you lose everything.”
Little did my father know how close I was to doing just that. However, there was no way I was going to admit that to him or Roman. “I’m tired. You see that I’m alright; you can go now.”
He glanced at his watch. “I have to go anyway. I could only get a couple hours off and need to get back to the garage.”
“Fine, goodbye.” I turned to Roman. “You can leave too, but I need you to go to the shop and get my phone and my laptop from my car. I have no idea where that even is now.”
“I do. The police had it towed to Dad’s shop. I’ll get your stuff and bring it back.”
My father kissed my brow, and the two of them walked out, leaving me even grumpier than I originally was. The nurse arrived a couple minutes later, and I asked for a little more pain medication. After she administered it, I drifted off to sleep.
A few hours later, I woke, and with the permission and assistance from the nurse, I was able to use the restroom. I was lying in bed, staring out the window, wondering what I was going to do now. What if my father and brother were right? What if this was a stupid idea, and I’d never amount to anything?
That’s what was going through my mind when Lee arrived in my room. I was shocked that he had come to see me, and even more surprised that he was actually seriously interested in having dinner with me. The touch of his hand on mine was the most comforting thing that had happened since the heat blasted on me from the entrance to the hospital. The feel of his firm grip sent a warmth up my arm and right into my chest.
When my brother returned and told me about my cellphone, I wanted to smack myself upside the head. Why hadn’t I thought about checking my car last night? If I had when I’d realized it was missing, all of this could have been averted.
I watched Lee make his leave quickly and hoped that he really would reach out to me later. I liked him. Something I hadn’t allowed myself to do in a long time. Although after seeing how much of a pain my family was, I wasn’t sure Lee would be interested after all.
“You know that Dad is right,” Roman said as he took a seat in the ugly green chair. “You need to get a better job.”
“Roman, don’t. I can’t believe you are jumping on the bandwagon.”
