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Mom and Dad come down hard on me.
Paige defends me.
Mom and Dad come down hard on her just to make me feel even worse about the whole thing.
But it doesn’t happen this time. Instead, Burt takes a shaky breath and schools his expression into something eerily close to “calm.” Wow, could they actually be serious?
“We understand,” he says in a cool tone. “We made a mistake—several, maybe. That’s why we’re reaching out and extending this olive branch.”
“Is that what this is?” I ask, leaning back and crossing my arms. “You buy me dinner and I forgive twenty-three years of being tormented.”
“Tormented is a bit of a?—”
“Understatement,” Paige snaps. “He’s being generous. How about abused? Betrayed, terrorized… take your pick.”
Their eyes go dark as they rest on my sister, but again they don’t react the way I expect. Could they really have changed?
My head is a mess, my heart even worse.
Nothing they’re saying makes sense. This entire situation is ludicrous. So why is a piece of me still clinging to a shred of hope that it’s real? After everything they’ve put me through, how can I still be a little boy that just wants his mommy and daddy?
“This isn’t about you, Paige,” Burt says with a hard look. “We’re here for him. So what do you say, Perceval? Will you accept our apology and give us another chance?”
I swallow hard, my chest tightening with each breath. My nails dig into my palms as my fists clench beneath the table. I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know what to think.
The others are waiting with intense expressions but it’s all becoming a blur. The room is shrinking, the floor swirling and wavering beneath me. There’s no air in here. Just spinning and flickering and?—
“Excuse me,” I mumble, pushing up from the table.
I don’t even know where I’m going, just that I can’t be here.
I need… I don’t know! I just have to leave.
After escaping the suffocating room, I stumble toward the sign for the restrooms. Thankfully, it’s empty when I smash through the door and brace myself against the sink counter.
Several splashes of cold water help soothe the internal chaos, although it takes several more to bring much-needed air back into my lungs.
I stare at the face in the mirror for a long time. Drops of water cling to my lashes, and one slides over the small X beside my eye. I reach up and smear it across that volatile brand.
I shouldn’t even be listening to them, let alone considering their offer. It can’t be real, it can’t, and yet…
God, I’ve been alone for so long. Sometimes it seemed like Paige was the only person on the planet who gave a shit about me, who believed in me. Then Nash came along, and for the first time, it seemed like maybe this hard, lonely path had been worth the pain.
And he led me to Larinda.
I would do anything for her. I’m doing it now. Risking everything for the person who risked everything for me, and maybe this is something I owe her. Family is so important to her. I watched with a mix of joy and envy the other day as she and her family filled that room with a touch of chaos and a ton of love. It was a glimpse of what family could be. I have no doubt she’ll pull me into hers when the time comes, but what do I have to offer in return?
Can I forgive Rhonda and Burt for how they’ve treated me? For all the damage they’ve done and pieces of me they broke? I don’t know, but I’m not sure I can look Larinda in the eye knowing I had a chance to fix things and threw it away out of pride and resentment. Is that the kind of man I am? The kind I want to be?
I’m not sure what’s led to this sudden change of heart, but if there’s any chance it’s real, maybe I need to consider it. What if there’s a possibility that I could have this burden lifted and a huge cloud removed from my life? We don’t have to be the smiling stock-photo family in a new picture frame, but it would be nice to not feel a cramp in my chest every time a thought or memory surfaces.
You don’t have to love them. You don’t even have to forgive them, but wouldn’t it be better to have a civil relationship than a hostile one?
At the very least, they’d leave me alone and let me live in peace instead of actively trying to derail my life. What can it hurt to hear them out?
With a deep breath, I dry my face and move toward the exit.
I can do this.
