Learning to Move Forward: Novella #3.5 (9 page)

“But Evan is not easily swayed when it comes to hiring new people. He admitted that he’d have never interviewed you based on your resume alone. He did me a favor by granting the interview.”

His hands raised in the air, giving the signal of surrender. “However, you blew him away with your confidence and knowledge of dealing with people in the medical profession. He didn’t bother to read your resume until after the interview and after he’d offered you a position.” Garrett was smiling at me.

“So you mean the job was all my doing?”

He nodded. “I got your foot in the door, but Evan is very adamant and picky about who he hires. He would never give someone a job just because I asked him to. He’s a vested party in the business. The more he grows it, the more stake he has in it. That’s our deal.”

Garrett stood up. “Are there any other concerns?”

I jumped up and hugged him. “No. I can’t thank you enough for being honest with me. This has been something that’s been bothering me for a while.”

“Know that you can always ask me anything, Grace. You’re part of the family now.”

“Thanks, Garrett.”

He patted me on the back to reassure me. “Don’t mention it.”

I was about to walk away when he asked, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Shoot!” I couldn’t help but smile.

“Would you consider moving up within the WMI group as a manager?”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head and I could feel my jaw drop to the floor. “Why?”

“Over dinner tonight, my brother told me about your plan to ease his load at the restaurant, so he can focus on our company and spend more time with you. I think it’s a brilliant idea and exactly the kind of thinking we need at the main office.” Garrett’s words were very straight forward and his face serious.

“Could I get through our wedding and honeymoon first before committing to anything?” I went down the mental list I’d had in my mind regarding the talk with my parents, my work, the rehearsal dinner, and so forth.

He smiled. “I wouldn’t expect you to say yes right away. That’s the sign of a good business manager. Feel free to ask any questions, express any concerns, and we can negotiate when you get back from your honeymoon.”

Garrett and I had our issues with one another early on in his and Laurel’s romance. I didn’t trust him, but he was exactly who she needed and he was one of the few people that held all of us together as an extended family. I had to admit, he’s my brother, or soon would be.

Chapter 10

The talk with Garrett had been smooth. Trying to find a time to get my parents together and willing to sit down and discuss our issues was just the opposite.

When mine, Laurel’s, and Jonathan’s schedules aligned, they had dinner plans, were set to go see a movie, or any of a number of excuses. No matter what we offered, my mother countered with opposition. I guess their dinner and movie plans couldn’t be changed. They were obviously more important than their only daughter.

I was hurting because all I wanted to do was talk and find out why there was so much distance between us. I only wanted to tell them how I felt and see if my suspicions about being a disappointment were true.

Jonathan and Laurel thought they were behaving badly. They had confirmation from Dillon, one of Garrett’s security details, that my parents were home and nothing was on their agenda. How he managed to find this out, I don’t want to know. But they picked me up from work and we all drove over together to their house and parked ourselves at the front door until we were allowed in.

My father was quite welcoming. He ushered us inside and offered to get us some drinks and snacks. My mother, on the other hand, looked ready to pitch a fit. I noticed her move toward us when my father stood in her path and told her, in a very firm, and surprisingly domineering, voice to “Sit down now, Lisa.”

We were shocked when my mother sat down and scowled at us with her arms folded across her chest. “How dare you come over here without warning; we had plans for tonight.”

It was surprising to see my father’s hands curl into fists as he punched the arm of the chair he was sitting in. “That’s enough, Lisa! I don’t want another word out of you. Our daughter has been trying to talk to us for some time now and you refuse to listen. I don’t like the distance that your attitude has created for us. We used to be so close and loving, and damn it, I want it back before it’s too late.”

Jonathan sat on one side of me on their sofa, while Laurel was on the other. I felt his hand intertwine with mine while she squeezed my lower forearm on the other side, in show of support at my father’s outburst. I was hesitant to speak but finally found my courage and sarcasm. “So you’ve felt it too, Dad?”

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Yes. I’ve felt it ever since that damn accident. You don’t know how many times I wish I could go back to that day and tell you that you couldn’t drive or come with me to run my errands. If I’d left you at home, you would still have your hand and your life might have turned out differently, been easier for you.”

I watched as his hand ran through his hair and then down to his neck, where he flexed it in an attempt to relieve some tension. “I’ll regret that day for the rest of my life.”

Wow. He just side swiped me with that piece of information. I had no clue that he felt bad about what happened. “It wasn’t your fault, Dad. Whether I’d been with you as the driver or the passenger or not at all, the accident would have happened, but you could have been the one hurt, or worse.”

My mother piped up. “Don’t reveal any more, David.” Her tone was clipped and her face scrunched in disapproval.

Why on earth would she want my father to keep quiet? “Why can’t he talk, Mom?” I raised my voice and let my pissed off expression cross my face so she’d have no doubt that she and I had issues.

“She doesn’t want you to know that I could have reacted quicker if I hadn’t been looking at my cell phone that day. I heard the crash of the first car and could tell they were headed for us. Had I not been busy with the phone, I might have been able to pull you out of the driver’s seat and save you from going through that horrific experience.” He broke down in tears. “I should’ve been the one in the driver’s seat.”

I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders to hug him tight. “It’s okay, Dad. You pulled me out enough that I didn’t get hurt any worse than I did. I could be dead right now had you not acted at all.”

I felt my own tears forming. I had no idea my father carried the burden that he might have been able to prevent or alter my life, had he made different decisions that day. I finally got up enough courage to talk. “I thought you and Mom distanced yourself from me because I was no longer your “perfect” little girl. You’d both driven the idea of being flawless into my mind so hard that I thought I’d failed you.”

His hands came up to brush the tears away from my face. “Honey, you could never fail me. You’re still perfect in my eyes. I’ve always been proud of you. No matter what obstacles have been thrown into your life, you seem to overcome them and find your own little niche.”

He leaned back and laughed slightly before shaking his head. “All this time wasted.”

I knew my face was full of questions. “What’s wasted?”

To our surprise, my mother spoke up. “We were devastated when you were in the hospital. We realized how close we came to losing our only child. Sure, we liked things as close to perfect as possible, but no matter what you did in life, you’d always be perfect in our eyes.”

She came over to where I was kneeling at Dad’s feet and she joined me on the carpet. Her hand came up to caress the side of my face. “When you came home after the accident, we tried so hard to give you your old life back and make things as close to normal as possible. I guess that’s where we messed up. We were being overprotective and trying to force you to live a life you could no longer live.”

She held her arms up to me for a hug and I nodded. I hadn’t felt the warmth of her embrace in years and finally broke down, sobbing. “We’re sorry, darling. We wanted life to go back to the way it was, while you took the initiative and moved forward, finding your own path to the new you. We should’ve been more supportive. Our biggest mistake is that we stepped back when you showed us you didn’t need us in your life. Instead we should’ve been there to help you. Our biggest failure was the lack of communication on our part.”

“You did fail her.” I was surprised to hear Laurel pipe up. “She came to Donny and me for support. She couldn’t understand why you showed no happiness or emotion for anything she accomplished. Then when other things happened and she needed you most, you considered her moody and left her alone when, in reality, she needed you to push through her defense coping mechanisms, to be there for her.”

Both of my parents stared at me with questioning eyes. “What other things?”

I took in a deep breath, thinking of the ways I’d get back at Laurel for outing me. “My friends couldn’t accept the fact that I was different when I returned to school and dropped me. My boyfriend was already dating someone else and told me he couldn’t be seen with someone less than ideal. That’s when I fell into a group of people with interests similar to Laurel’s and discovered we had a lot in common. They behaved like true friends should, but my ability to trust had pretty much been demolished.”

Dad’s hand came up to pat my shoulder. “Honey, why didn’t you come to us?”

I replied, “How could I? Neither of you wanted to talk to me about my problems, instead telling me I should deal with them on my own as an adult would. For Christ’s sake, I was only 16! It was normal for someone my age to feel confused, add the fact that I’d almost died to the mix, lost all my friends, and so forth…there’s no way I was prepared to deal with life on my own then.”

“Well, fuck!”

I think everyone’s heads did a double take, because that surely didn’t come from my mother’s mouth. I stared at her in confusion, wondering if I might have said it out loud and not realized it, because I was known to have a bit of a potty mouth at times. Jonathan had been working with me to clean up my choice of words.

“What’s everyone looking at? Geez, you’d think no one’s ever heard a person say the word fuck before.” Her eyes turned toward me. “What can we say? We were stupid, we didn’t know how to deal with the challenges you would face and had no clue about the chaos your life had become. We should get a swift kick in the ass for that.”

“Is that all that transpired, Grace?” my father asked, concern etched on his face.

I shook my head, knowing that I had to come clean. “No. I don’t know if you remember Barry. I’d only dated him for a short time when I was 18.”

You could tell my dad was clueless and my mother was trying to recall who he was, when she asked, “Was that the college guy who drove the small BMW?”

I nodded and started crying again.

“Wasn’t that around the time you became extremely moody and…” Her eyes bulged out in alarm. “What did he do?” Her voice was furious.

“He seemed okay at first, taking me out on dates and then he talked me into sleeping with him.” I watched as their faces expressed disapproval of my actions. “I’d already lost my virginity earlier with a friend. But when I dated Barry, I was feeling vulnerable and unwanted because I wasn’t a whole person. He made me believe that I was desirable and I fell for it.”

My dad butted in. “He used you?” His voice raised in anguish.

“Yes,” I admitted sheepishly. “I heard him bragging about how he’d gotten a piece of my damaged ass and was going back for more. He didn’t know I was listening. I decided to go out with him once more so I could dump his ass and he could experience rejection.”

I took a deep breath in and finally admitted the truth. “Things didn’t go as planned that night. Barry took unfair advantage of me, despite me telling him no. I was able to speed dial Donny, but that was before I blacked out. He and Freddie managed to find me and save me from Barry before too much damage was done. I was embarrassed for falling prey to that asshole. All I wanted to do was get as far away from the town, the memories, and even both of you, as possible.”

My mother broke down sobbing, while my dad spouted several profanities. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch!”

“No need to, Dad. He got his payback. He ended up in jail for drug dealing on campus and became some cell mate’s bitch.”

My dad nodded. “Good. He deserved that and much worse.” His eyes held remorse. “Why didn’t you come to us?”

“I didn’t think I could. I felt I’d already screwed up and let you down since I wasn’t perfect any more. I didn’t want you to think even less of me.”
Finally, the truth and everything had been revealed.

The room was eerily quiet. I took the time to reflect on how I was feeling and felt a little better, but we still had a long ways to go.

Without warning, my parents wrapped their arms around me in a group hug. “We could never think less of you. No matter what life dishes out, what you choose to do or not do, you’ll always be our daughter, and starting now, we want to be included in your life while we’re still able to be. We have a lot of time to make up for. Can we at least try?” my father pleaded.

“Of course we can. But we can’t let our differing views cloud our judgment or cause chaos between us. The lines of communication only work if they’re open in both directions. If we can’t do it on our own, then I’d like to use my therapist to help us.”

They both nodded in agreement.

I felt Jonathan give my back a little nudge, which reminded me to ask. “Why are you being so difficult and not letting us have any say in our wedding?”

My mother relaxed a bit. “For starters, you’re our only daughter, our only child, so we want the best for you. You only get married once in a lifetime and I just want to make sure it will be a day you’ll always remember.”

She reached up to push one of my blonde curls out of my face and behind my ear. “I’m sorry if it seemed like we were taking over. We know it’s your day; we just want to ensure it’s the best day ever. You’re marrying a wonderful man, whom we’re happy to call son. We can tell Jonathan cares deeply for you otherwise he wouldn’t be here with you discussing everything. You’ve done well with your career and life. So forgive us if we’re a bit proud and wanting to show you off.”

“That’s what all this amounts to? You want to show me off?” It was hard to shock me, but it just happened.
I can’t believe they’re really proud of me. I feel like I’m walking on air now.

Jonathan spoke up. “You need to tone things down a bit in regards to the wedding. She was so upset the other day, I had to grab some take-out and calm her down with a nice bubble bath and some TLC. We couldn’t be around everyone at my parents’ house.”

He shook his head. “She wanted to call off the wedding and elope. It was all I could do to get her to reconsider. That’s when we opted to go see our therapist the next day and have a long discussion. Grace needs her family around her, but I won’t let any harm, put downs, or cross words be spoken in front of her, ever! Otherwise, you’ll be dealing with me and my family. We love her wholeheartedly. We always have.”

My father released me and walked over to where Jonathan now stood and embraced him. “Grace found a good man when your paths crossed. I’m thankful she has you and your family.” He stepped back and gave him a warning. “Just treat her right or you’ll have to deal with both of us.”

My sweetie laughed, looking relieved. “That won’t be a problem, sir. She’s my world.”

So it turned out that fear and a lack of communication was to blame for my parents’ behavior, but something kept bugging me. “Why did you try so hard to avoid talking with me?”