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My mother is the first to whirl around on me—the guard dog, desperate for the pet and praise from my father. “Excuse me?”
She heard me. I won’t repeat myself. This is hard enough as it is.
My father folds his arms and narrows his gaze. “What the hell has gotten into you? First you barely make it in time for the festival, then you try to spring the Felix thing on me in public.”
“I’m no longer going to agree to anything that I don’t want to do, and I’m no longer going to get approval to post on social media. Never again. This is my life and I’m an adult. You both raised me, and now you’re going to have to trust me to do what’s right…for me.”
The stunned looks on their faces give me pause. I’d expected a fight or some kind of threat. But their silence? I’m not sure what to do with that, so I keep going.
“Also, I met someone. His name is Tom but he isn’t the reason I’m calling off the Felix lie—that man is an asshole.”
My mother sucks in a breath and my father’s face contorts, clearly not liking me repeating what I said earlier, except this time, there are no cameras. “Leighton, Felix is-”
“Dad, I don’t give a damn what you think of the man. It’s what I think that matters. And where Tom is concerned, he’s very important to me.”
“Tom who?” Dad rubs at his chin as if scouring his brain for a face to match the name.
Mom cocks her head to one side. “Do we know him?”
Now I look to my father. “You met him yesterday. He brought me home from LA.” I can’t bring myself to call him my driver, especially not to my parents.
The job he did doesn’t define him, and to my father, it’ll be bad enough that he isn’t in the moviemaking business.
“The driver?” Dad is now in a constant state of disdain, but I choose to ignore his question.
“I want you both to meet him. You’ll like him.” I smooth down my dress, needing a split second to make the transition onto another topic neither of them are going to like. “And I’m taking the job with Everly Simard.”
“What? You can’t.” Margot’s usually golden hue is suddenly pallid. This topic is a little too close to home for her, and while I feel for her, this isn’t about her.
“I can and I will. I’m not happy doing nothing with my life. I can make a difference with the Raven Mission.”
“You’ll damage the Price name.” Mom inches closer, tears gathering in her eyes, and I feel a pang of guilt or doubt in my chest.
“I’m not out to ruin anything. I can help people. I already am. There’s no shame in admitting you need help.”
She bristles like I’ve raised a hand to slap her and narrows her gaze. “What does that mean?”
My father steps forward and pulls her into his arms. “Margot, honey, there’s nothing wrong with aligning the Price name with raising awareness and providing support for mental health.” Arms still around my mother, he turns to me and continues. “If that’s what you want, do it. But first, we’ll need to discuss the parameters of your job. I’ll get Lois to—”
“No.” While I agree with my father about supporting mental health, I can’t help but cringe a little at how pat his answer is.
It’s the perfect media snippet, and I can already hear what he’ll say when the media asks about what I’m doing. But I’m not going to let the way my father might use this to his advantage stop me from taking the job.
Dad cocks his head to one side and squints, clearly confused. “No?”
“We’re not talking parameters or anything else. It’s my job, so I’ll do it as I see fit, and you’ll have to trust that I will respect the Price name while doing it. I don’t need your permission for this job, but it would mean a lot to me to have your support.”
Surprisingly, my parents stare at me. Silent. I tap my foot and stiffen my spine, readying for an argument. “Good. We’re agreed I will work at the Raven Mission. And to make it clear because it feels like I need to repeat myself, I will no longer fake date anyone.”
My dad rubs at the spot between his eyebrows. “Leighton, we never meant any harm. I thought you enjoyed playing the part, helping my movies.”
“I do…I mean, I used to until it felt like I couldn’t say no.” My body trembles, vibrating with the adrenaline rushing through my veins.
I hadn’t planned on mentioning the controlling aspect of my father, still unsure I’d have the backbone to lay it all out there, but I’m doing it. I need to be true to myself. It’s long overdue.
If they can’t support me, then it’ll hurt like hell, but I won’t give up my life and my happiness for them. Besides, why would I want them in my life if they don’t care about me and what I want?
“What are you talking about?” My father wrinkles his brow. “You could’ve said no.”
