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“They believe a rumor about him that isn’t true,” I muttered and felt another wave of heartbreak consume me. How could I continue like this?
Trixie wrapped me into a massive hug and for a moment I let myself feel everything that was eating me alive. There was no right answer in this situation—someone would get hurt no matter what. Someone was already getting hurt whether I continued to distance myself from Weston, or told him that I needed him, that I wanted him. And that person was me. I would hurt myself whether I listened to my father or went after Weston.
“You should go to him,” she whispered again in my ear.
“I can’t. It’s your engagement party.”
She pushed away from me with her hands around my shoulders. “Oh, screw that. You have love waiting for you, who also seems to be in some sort of emergency. I’d want Simon with me if I ever ended up in an emergency. You also love your parents, it’s plain to see. But you shouldn’t have to sacrifice where your heart is taking you because circumstances with your dad are on a time limit.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Hearing her speak those words, so similar to ones I once heard from the man in question, gave me the confirmation that I needed to allow myself to finally completely fall for Weston. A soft smile spread across my face as I felt a weight lift from my heart.
“One problem. I rode here with my parents,” I replied with a chuckle, and she huffed in frustration.
Then she shoved her hand around my wrist and dragged me halfway across the room towards Simon who was chatting with his parents.
“I need the car keys.” She extended her free palm and wiggled her fingers at him. Barely aware of what he was doing, he dug through his pockets and placed them in her hand without breaking conversation.
Trixie turned towards me and dangled them in front of me. “Go. I’ll have my parents or his drive us to your house to grab them on Monday when we leave.” I hesitated, refusing to take her car, but she shook her head once more and raised my hand that was still gripped in her fingers before shoving the keys against my palm. “Go!”
Wrapping my fingers around the keys, I smiled at her as my eyes misted over. “Thank you,” I whispered, and she grinned the widest grin I’d ever seen from her. After one last glance her way, I hurried out of the gathering room and leapt up the stairs.
Everything was packed back in my suitcase within five minutes, and my coat was around my shoulders as I closed the door behind me. My heart was racing in excitement. I couldn’t believe I was doing this.
I couldn’t believe I was doing this.
The excitement dropped to nerves the moment that my feet landed against the main floor, pausing me in my tracks. Here I was, going against my father’s wishes with little hesitation. Against wishes that still confused me.
Closing my eyes, I took a reassuring breath and turned towards the front exit when a voice stopped me.
“Tenley.” A door clicked closed behind two figures that slowly limped my way. It was my mother who spoke, helping my father down the hall towards me. I studied them as they came closer and closer. Of course I would get caught, I would never be allowed to make a decision entirely for myself. Everything I’d ever done had been at the consideration of others, those around me, yet this one time I’d chosen something solely for me, and it was thwarted.
“You’re leaving,” my father coughed out when they stopped in front of me. He slumped against my mom; it was not a good night for him. I remained still, watching the two of them, unsure how to answer. “Where are you going?” he added.
I still didn’t answer as he fell into a coughing fit. A tear slid down my cheek. We had barely spoken since Thanksgiving, and I could see the major decline in just a few short weeks. My silence was a response that gave my mother an answer.
“You're going to seehim, aren’t you?” she declared, more as a statement than a question. This time I nodded once, and she sighed.
“He has been respectful of my decision to not see him. Until I asked for him. He only came because I asked, but now I need to go. For him, I need to do this,” I softly replied.
Her face tightened and her chest rose with a heavy breath. She didn’t necessarily begin to scold me, but she did begin to ramble on about why going was against my father’s wishes. Her chaotic glances to my dad drew my attention as a small crowd began to fill the hallway. All of the girls in our group with their spouses along with Trixie and her fiancé.
But I barely paid the onlookers attention. Or even my mother. No, I watched my father who seemed oddly at peace. A simplistic sigh left his lips as he took a shaky step my way and gave a short nod.
“I never meant to break your heart, sweetie,” he hoarsely whispered beneath my mother’s continuing rambling. “I wasn’t ready to let you go. As your father, it’s been my job to protect you and take care of you your entire life. But I see now.”
She silenced as his last sentence cut through the whispers like a knife through hot butter. “What?” I breathed out, confused.
“I was wrong. Oh so very wrong,” he continued, and I furrowed my brows. “I simply couldn’t believe that anyone else could take care of my Tenley as well as I do. No one could feel the need to protect her as much as I do, to act on that desire, and to love her the way she deserves. It should’ve been me, as your father, to save you Thanksgiving Day. But when Weston came rushing inside, holding you, I felt so much pain and frustration because in that moment, I realized Icouldn’thave been the one to protect you. But Tenley, even if I wasn’t dying, the next step in life is for me to pass that mantle on, and I realized how lucky I am to still be alive to see it. You’re a grown woman, and it’s time I let that responsibility go.”
He smiled tenderly. “I was in denial for far too long that I was truly dying, and I’m sorry I was so harsh on Weston. It’s high time I give the reins to someone else, and it took me too long to recognize that. And when I did, I reacted horribly. Saying some horrible things that clearly are not true.”
My dad stumbled towards me, placing a frail hand against my arm and giving me a pale smile. “I clung to one rumor that made me feel less guilty for being unable to take care of you anymore. I wasn’t ready to accept that.”
“But you were fine with Cassidy, or Tommy,” I replied, shocked and trying to process what he was confessing.
“Because I knew they were never your type. And I knew you were stubborn enough to handle them on your own. But when Cassidy’s father came to dinner, I saw the way you stared at him. Like you’d seen a ghost, or someone else you recognized. Then at Thanksgiving, when I saw Weston for the first time, I knew. Even then, I knew. I simply did everything I could to deny it, because that meant life really was moving forward, and worse, I wouldn’t always be here to see it.”
Everything suddenly made sense. This mountain of a man was afraid. My budding relationship with Weston had forced him to face reality and truly process it, which was scary. Not just for him, but for me as well. This entire time he’d been concerned about losing me because we were running out of time in this world in general, and he hadn’t been ready to accept that. If he did so, it would solidify his ending minute on the clock.
